For the record, I have had very good success with Craigslist in the past, and can usually detect something fishy. But I'm not sure about this one.

I listed that BMW jack adapter that's on our Sale and Free Items forum, also on Craigslist. This morning I received a reply asking "Hello, Would you consider shipping to 27106?", and signed with his first name. I'm in Zip Code 02364, so I thought it odd that he even found it.

I did reply, saying I could probably toss the adapter in a small padded envelope and would do so for another couple of dollars.

He replied: "That sounds great. Please send over your paypal info. I will send funds later tonight or tomorrow. I'm currently traveling."

For some reason, the "I'm currently traveling" is raising a flag for me. What's the downside of sending Paypal info then waiting for payment before I ship?

Any other suggestions? I suppose I could wait a day and see if he follows up.

BTW, it's so dang nice out now I'm heading out for a ride, so won't see responses 'til I get back in an hour or so. So thanks in advance.

There are fixed postings that this is 100% a scam.

"Oops... I sent you $10,000 by accident. Can you please send me $9,995.00 back ?"

Engage him about the specifics of the item. Ask him what kind of car he has.

I'd be mostly suspicious over a request to ship without mentioning the item.

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There are sites that let you search all of Craigslist. I was able to find your posting pretty easily. But, why someone would search all of Craigslist for this item? I'll search all of Craigslist for specific vehicles, but not something inexpensive that can easily be found.

I would assume it's a scam of some sort and just ignore it from here on out.

Not to be devil's advocate, but I recently had a wonderful transaction that initially scared me - shipping across the country, a heavy, fairly inexpensive item. I told him that if he overpaid me, I wouldn’t refund him, and he laughed.

It's a scam. tell them you'll ship if they send cash first.

There are legit buyers, but anyone who is legit will mention the item at least.

Tell him he can mail you a postal money order. He will probably never get back to you.

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mattkime
Engage him about the specifics of the item. Ask him what kind of car he has.

I'd be mostly suspicious over a request to ship without mentioning the item.

I did do this. We talked about compatibility and he really did have a vehicle that fit the rack parts.

Thanks, all. His reply did use the Craigslist anonymizer email address, but did have a first and last name attached. It also had Jack Stands as the subject. At least he was sort of on the right track insofar as he didn't just call it "the item".

"Oops... I sent you $10,000 by accident. Can you please send me $9,995.00 back ?"

That was my first thought. But is it even worth the effort for a $10 item?
I'm going to ignore it for a while and see if he follows up. If he does try again, I can always tell him I'll list it on ebay and he can buy it that way.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2022 02:59PM by wurm.

PM sent.

"Tell him he can mail you a postal money order. He will probably never get back to you."

There ARE ways of counterfieting USPS Money Orders.

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testcase
There ARE ways of counterfieting USPS Money Orders.

True, but would anyone bother for $12, and if you cash it at the post office first, then you have cash in hand before you ship (or you find out it’s counterfeit before you ship). Hopefully the USPS can actually detect counterfeits before cashing it…

Scam.

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testcase
"Tell him he can mail you a postal money order. He will probably never get back to you."

There ARE ways of counterfieting USPS Money Orders.

Yes, and the solution is to cash them at the post office to be sure.

If you’re really worried about it, have him send you a USPS prepaid shipping package with the postal money order, and then you simply put it in the bag or box, and he has paid for shipping.