Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about the different scams to be aware of as a reseller.
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Reseller Hangout Podcast - 5 Scams To Be On The Lookout For When Reselling
Rob: What's up, guys? On today's episode, we are talking about five common scams you wanna be on the lookout for when you're selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Rob: So today we are talking about five common scams that you might see if you are selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Melissa: And also works with OfferUp too.
So any or Craigslist, any of these local apps is what we're talking about today.
Rob: Yep, that's right. So we're gonna dive into 'em, give you five to be on the lookout. These are not the only ones that you might come across, but these are definitely, are the most common, the ones that we have dealt with the most in throughout our, reselling career.
Melissa: And we actually, we're doing this challenge right now, so this came up a lot. We're talking about selling more on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp, locally. So this was one of the biggest questions was, well, what about scams? Because I'm listing my items and these people are messaging me. How do I know if it's legit or if it's a scam?
Yep. So, we just wanna dive into those.
Rob: Be on the lookout. So, scam number one?
Melissa: They want a lot of personal information. So right up front, they want your, you know, email, phone number, all this stuff, like right in the beginning and you don't wanna give them all your personal information.
Rob: Yeah. So, yeah, exactly.
So if somebody's reaching out and doing that, typically any of these marketplaces they are going to set up a meeting point with you to where you can meet up with them. You can message 'em through Messenger, or however, Craigslist has a safe way of doing it. OfferUp has a safe messenger way, that you can stay on platform if they get outside of that and start asking you for, for other stuff, phone numbers, addresses and all that kind of stuff.
It might be a scam. Just be careful with that. Be on the lookout for people trying to get too much information from you.
Melissa: Yeah, there was, just listed this week. I have a sewing table and I listed it on Marketplace and somebody messaged me right away and said, I, I want, that's, I want this item.
I can come pick it up right now, and then they wanted my, I think my phone number right away. They wanted something to take me off platform. I said, no, all communication can go through the app. So that was like the second thing they said to me. And I was like, no, all communication can go through the app and crickets. Yeah, so if you have a long dialogue back and forth, you do like to talk to people on the phone, so there is times where it, but in the beginning, right off the bat, usually you have some dialogue going back and forth before you do give a phone number.
Rob: But typically if somebody does want to connect with you with a phone number, They're gonna reach out and give you their phone number.
They're not gonna ask for your true if it's legit. Now, I typically don't give out my phone number. Sure. Unless somebody has reached out and said, hey, this is my phone number. You can contact me to set up the arrangements, to pick up arrangements and all that kind of stuff. So, if somebody is reaching out to you and giving their you their phone number for a text or call, that's definitely, it's probably not a scam.
But when they're asking for your phone number before they give their phone number, typically that is not a good sign. So, get away from that.
Melissa: Yeah, just stay on platform as long as you can. And then if you do, like we do sell a lot of large items, so they might be a little higher dollar items and they might wanna talk on the phone with you.
And that's, you know, that's fine. And you kind of judge each, each individual, transaction or, or message. So the second one is they want your email and the reason why, and this goes with personal information, but they wanna get your email. And the reason being is one reason. There's a couple reasons.
Yeah. But one of 'em is because then they can. Email you a confirmation of payment and air quotes if you're listening to this on the podcast, which is just basically a Photoshop of a payment and it's not really in your account. So this happened to you.
Rob: I just had this happen, last week, put on.
What was this for?
Melissa: You had one with the glove, remember he wanted you.
Rob: I did, but that was, he actually went to extremes on that one. But the person before that wanted, was it the bike? The exercise bike? I don't remember that. We got outta the trash, I think it was oh yeah. Yeah. They wanted my email address so they could pay me through Zelle and then they were gonna have a sister, brother, or somebody else pick it up.
And typically when you start going through stuff like that, yeah, not a good sign, but I had known because prior to this, about a year ago, we tried to sell baseball glove on OfferUp. And the guy got on the phone.
Melissa: He actually talked to you. That's the first time you.
Rob: I've never had somebody scam me and get onto a phone call to me, try to scam you or try to scam me and get on a phone call with me.
I've had them tell me, hey, I can't talk on the phone. I'm on a ship off of Africa and I don't have cell service and I can only type. I've had that happen before, but this guy got on the phone with me, got my email. And then sent me a PDF or a picture, that he sent payment and the payment was coming my way and then I had to buy.
Yeah, well that's another scam. But, he wanted me to buy gift cards to release the payments into my I think that was Venmo or Venmo or Zelle. But, a whole bunch of hoops I had to jump through to get it. So typically if they want your email address, they're trying to send you photos or they're trying to send you fake stuff through your email.
Melissa: And he sent you the screenshots and it showed the amount of money, I think it was $300 for that glove, is what you were selling it for. Yeah. And he showed that amount of money was sent. You look in your account, you log in and it's not physically there. So he's like, until I see in my account, sorry, not, you know, but it's, you can see how people would believe it and it's.
Rob: People are going to extreme lengths to scam people.
So just be careful If somebody does want your email address and they're trying to pay you through that, if you do give them your email address. If you do accept Zelle, Venmo and all those, it's not uncommon to do that stuff. Yeah. But make sure you have your phone open your app open and you see the money come in and it'll tell you who it's from and all that kind of stuff.
So make sure you can verify that before you release whatever you're selling to somebody else.
Melissa: Yeah. So yeah, we, we don't like to do online payments, but we will, we do know that it is more common practice now. We prefer cash, but we have stood in front of somebody. They paid us with PayPal or Venmo, or Zelle and we just have our phones there.
Money's there. Yep. We're good to go. You can't take the item till I see the money in my account.
Rob: And then typically when somebody pays you with that, and not typically all, once the money comes over, they can't get it back. Yeah. So as long as it's showing, make sure it's not pending in your account. Yes.
Or your pending balance is that, make sure it is actually into your account. Before you actually release whatever it is that you're selling.
Melissa: So, and one thing, I don't know if that guy that sent you the email was from his, like he was saying here's a screenshot of the payment or if he was trying to send it from PayPal.
Cuz that's one another scam that's very common. I get this from Facebook all the time, like it looks like official Facebook. Like you're doing something wrong, your ads are banned or whatever. Or PayPal, your, something with your account is messed up and, and then you go and you click on the actual email address that's sending it to you and it's some user.dot dot, like a whole bunch of letters and numbers and it's not even anything real.
So, so you can always check that too if you're getting like, you have money from PayPal or whatever it is, check the, check the sending address, check the sending address and make sure.
Rob: A lot of people put like PayPal, 1, 2, 3, 4. That's true. 7 21. And they'll put some long thing as their email address, but it is not from PayPal.
Melissa: So I think your accounts the best thing to do.
Rob: Absolutely. Account. And you can see where the, the email is actually coming from.
Melissa: But the number three, which you already touched on, was, the gift card. So that is another big one, is, that's a big red flag right there. Don't ever go buy gift cards because they're not sending you legit money.
They're just trying to get money from the gift cards. So.
Rob: Yep. So be, be careful. Be very, question it, be very, what's the right word? Careful. Yeah. I just, if somebody's asking you to get gift cards for whatever reason, do not do it. It has nothing to do with buying and selling something. You should not have to go buy a gift card to release funds into your account.
You should not have to give a gift card to anybody else. Some people will tell you, hey, go get me $200 in gift cards and I'm give you a thousand dollars, for this item, but I need $200. And, and just know it's a scam. Anytime they're trying to get you to buy gift cards when you're trying to sell something to them, stay away from it.
It's a scam. So we've had that happen a lot. That is something that a lot of people even tell us, hey, I gotta go buy gift cards for something to, to release funds. Just don't do it. Stay away.
Melissa: Yeah. And then number four, which you just touched on, was over wanting to overpay for an item. So almost anytime, and this also is kind of, I guess a bonus one is, usually it happens right when you first list something.
So it's you first list something and one of the first people to message you. You know, sometimes you do have a hot item and people message you right away, but typically scammers find it fast for some reason. And it's like you have an item listed for $200, I'm gonna give you $500 or even, you know, $250.
Any something extra for the item. It's usually a big red flag.
Yeah. And don't go through with it.
Rob: So they're gonna say, please hold the item. I'll send you $500. And, I will have somebody come and pick it up once the, check clears and I'll have a moving company come and pick it up. Stay away from it. It's, it's a joke.
Most people, you know, I know if I want something, I'm not paying more than it, Typically I'm offering people less money than what they're asking. Exactly. Not going out and saying, hey, I'm gonna send you double the price of it. Just hold onto it and I will send a moving company once a check clears or once the funds are available.
Typically, once they get to that, they're gonna want your bank routing number. They're gonna want a lot of stuff so they can wire you the money or they can send you a cashier's check. They're gonna want your address, your phone number, and all that kind of stuff. So it's a scam. Stay away from it. Anytime somebody's trying to pay you more money to hold it, even to ship it, they might tell you, hey, I'm gonna give you an extra $200 to ship it.
It shouldn't cost you, but $20, but keep the extra money for your inconvenience. That's a scam. Stay away from it anytime somebody's doing that kind of stuff.
Melissa: So, yeah, the only time I think you that would ever be is if you had a super hot item and a lot of people, and you told, said, look, I have a lot of interest in this.
I can't, you know, and they might be like, well I'll pay you $20 extra. I really want this item. Like that could be the only time that it could be legit. Cuz somebody really wants an item, but it has to be a really hot item. So. Yeah.
Rob: But they are gonna say, they're gonna pay you and then they're gonna meet up with you in right away.
Yeah. They're not going to say, hey, I'm gonna send it to you. I need your address, I need your phone number, I need all this kind of stuff so I can wire it so I can do all that. Anytime they get into that, no. But Melissa's right if they do say, hey, I'll give you an extra $20 if I can do it because they know they're getting a good deal.
Say okay, great, you're giving me the most. When can you meet up? Let's meet up and take care of it. And then they'll give you the extra $20. So when you're doing that, and they're gonna meet up with you in front of you and either pay you through the app or give you cash. You know, that's legit.
But when they're doing all that other stuff, stay away from it.
Melissa: That was my number five, is, my cousin's uncle's brother had an emergency, so somebody else, my sister is gonna come pick up the item from you and I'm gonna pay you this way. And so I guess they all come back to paying you. Yeah. Through a different way because they're trying to get the item for free.
Or get gift cards and whatnot. So that basically, if they're trying to arrange somebody else to get it, that's is a red flag. Not always, it's the, you know, but yeah, that doesn't mean it's necessarily a scam, but usually people will meet you unless they're saying like, my husband or my wife are gonna meet you, but somebody else.
Usually it's an uncle or somebody.
Well, when you just a family emergency.
Rob: Just know and this kind of goes into some more points that Melissa has, but just know it when it doesn't feel right. Like I've had some guy say he was deaf and he's gotta use his computer to communicate.
Melissa: Oh, I remember that.
Rob: And he's on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic and he's an oil rig, you know?
And just crazy, crazy stories when you come up with crazy stories. Typically it's a scam. Stay away from it. It's it, Yeah. You, you wanna run from it. So, some other points, that you, like, Melissa, I think she wrote down, use your heart. You, you, Yeah.
Melissa: Trust your gut.
Rob: That's it. Trust your gut. You, if you, if it doesn't feel right, get somebody else's opinion.
Give somebody the benefit of the doubt. But get somebody else's opinion and say, hey, does this sound right? Or does this sound like a scam? And if somebody else says, it sounds like a scam, most likely it's a scam. Get away from it. Don't, don't mess with it.
Melissa: Yeah. And scams can be. At first, they can worry you because you don't wanna get scammed.
But once you see them and you can recognize them, it really only takes like two or three messages back and forth and you can, and then you're done. And you're done and you know it. So it's not like we're not nervous about losing money on scams because we can recognize them. So it's just kind of seeing them.
If anything, it's just more annoying because you have to go through. But it's not even, I mean, it's not a lot, It's not like it's a couple messages back and forth. Yes, it's annoying, but probably more annoying than any, than that you could actually lose money.
Rob: So for example, the, the person with the bike who wanted to pay me is Zelle, and they wanted my email address.
Zelle, you can do from a phone and use a phone number, you don't need an email address, you can use an email address. But typically Zelle is connected with your bank and your phone number, not an email address.
Melissa: And she wanted your email.
Rob: And she wanted my email address so she could send me confirmation.
When that happened, I told her, no, I'm not doing Zelle, you can bring me cash. And right there communication stopped and it was like, okay, well I can't scam this guy. I'm not wasting anymore time. Just know that's the case and you if, If at all in doubt cash is king, make them bring cash. If you're worried about the app, don't download a special app on Zelle or Venmo.
If you don't have that, tell 'em, hey, I can't do that. All I can do is cash. That's what the normal expectation is. If I give you an item, I wanna get cash back at the same exact time. It's not the end of the world. Most people can't easily run to an ATM, grab some cash, pick it up before they meet you. So, definitely do that.
And if you're meeting people in public places, some people would think that you're meeting 'them, you know, they give you an address and you get there and it's in the middle of nowhere and they're gonna rob you or something like that. If you tell 'em, hey, I'm gonna meet you at my local police station, most people are not gonna be that hesitant to bring cash to a police station or a fire department.
Or a strip mall, right? That you know a lot of people around, they're not gonna be that hesitant. That would be the biggest red flag. If somebody wanted to meet you and they give you an address out in the middle of nowhere, and you map it in, it's like, whoa, this is Timbuktu. No. Okay, this is crazy.
They're gonna rob me. They're, I'm gonna take $200 and they're gonna rob me. That's the kind of stuff. But when you're telling 'em to meet at a public place where there's a lot of people around, police officer, fire a fire department, something like that, you know? That's not a scamming. Nobody should worry about bringing cash to a deal like that either.
Melissa: And we talked about safety just on an episode right before this, not that long ago. So, definitely check that out if you're, you know, wanting, make sure that you're safe when you're doing these transactions. But yeah, I, I feel like once you're aware of it, it's really hard to get tricked. I will say that OfferUp phone call was one of the, like you've never talked, you've never had to somebody and that, so that was interesting.
So that was a new one for us. But for the most part, they're easy to spot once you learn them. Yeah. They're a little different on eBay. And we'll dive into eBay another time. Yeah. These are more just for the local, any of the local apps, marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp. So, and on eBay, they tend to disappear once you build your feedback.
Yeah. On Marketplace, not so much. It's kind of, you get a more when you first list an item and then they kind of go away.
Rob: So I will say, back to the one about the baseball glove, the guy who said he paid me, sent me an email stating that the money was in my account and all that kind of stuff. He got on the phone and got very belligerent with me and was very upset saying, hey, I paid you, I need my item, you can clearly see.
And he was talking to me, telling me this stuff. Yeah. And he was foreign. But he was telling me, hey, I don't have the money anymore. I can't get it back. You're gonna have to send me this item. And I said, listen, that's interesting. It is not in my account until you get it into my account. I don't wanna have anything to do with you.
And I ended up blocking the guy's phone number because I didn't wanna mess with him. I knew he was a scammer after that. There's no possible way that he could send me a transaction. It wouldn't even show up as pending or anything like that in my account. And I had no recollection in the counter or no visible thing showing that he was trying to send me money other than him emailing me with fake email confirmation. So, just know that going into it, if the funds are not in your account there, you can have people that will go to extreme links to scam you.
But at the end of the day, if the item is exchanged for the money or you do not give the item up until you have the money in your account, then you should be perfectly fine.
Melissa: But most of ' em won't get on the phone, but they, you never know.
Rob: In my 20 some years, I've never had a scammer get on the phone and physically talk to me.
Melissa: But that's the ones that do like the IRS ones that call you. And then they say that, I had that one. Remember that one? I was driving home from work and the the guys like, there's gonna be a police officer at your house if you don't pay us.
And I was so nervous and so I can see how they can get in your mind. And like, I was on this phone with this guy and I finally, I got home and then I think you took the phone. And then I was like, after like taking a step back and realizing like this is just a scammer. Like what the heck could these people like trying to get immediate money if they would put as much effort into actually doing something. Yeah. Meaningful that could make money. I mean, come on. Like who does that? . I couldn't believe it. It was so maddening. Anyways, so that had nothing to do with Facebook Marketplace. That was just a random, random phone call, but still it was annoying.
Rob: People will go to extreme lengths, so just be careful. Yeah, and like Melissa said, use your gut.
Ask the friend, ask somebody if it sounds legit.
Melissa: Post on facebook, there's a lot of Facebook groups. You can always, you know, add a comment to one of our posts. We're all over social media. Yep, and somebody will answer, we'll answer you, but there's a lot of great groups out there too, to get if you're just not sure, like you're just want an extra set of eyes.
Sometimes it just takes an extra set of eyes and it's easy to be like, okay, yeah, that's definitely a scam. So. Yep. Anyways, so.
Rob: Awesome. You guys rock guys, if you have not done yet and you enjoy the show, please take a second rate and review this podcast. We greatly appreciate it mean the world to us to help other people in their reselling journey.
That's it, in their, their business, to go to the next level. So if you have not done yet and you do enjoy the podcast, please share it. Rate and review it. We'd greatly appreciate it.
Melissa: Thank you guys.