https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-not-get-ripped-off-in-pinball-vids-guide/

Looks to me he has no reputation.

You are right to be wary, especially with what is essentially a blank profile with no participation on the forums.

I wouldn't arrange shipping for this sort of situation, but if he's willing to meet in person and do cash on the glass, it might be ok.

Hopefully Tommy Skinner will jump in here. I think he knows every pinballer in Lafayette, IN

I sent him a message.

5 1/2 hour road trip. This sale could be done in person if he's serious.

I’m in Lafayette. Never heard of the person. Let them know I’m happy to meet them and help hem broker a deal if they are sincere buyer. I run the local league at Main Street and have my own location as well. Let me know if I can help.

If he issues a wire transfer for whatever you are asking, I suppose you could trust him.

Tough call. I'd be wary.

After wire transfer, why worry?

This:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-not-get-ripped-off-in-pinball-vids-guide#post-1813449

Any. Serious buyer would want to pickup and see this pinball in person. Like others have said 5 1/2 hours is not far.

That's not a wire transfer though...

I have had a couple as well, even offered to western union me money for a part I a selling. Red flags.

Three safe ways to sell a pin.

1) Bank wire. His bank wires your bank account the funds. There are fees for this service.

2) Personal check. Take a personal check, wait for it to clear. Then ship.

3) Cash is always King. As long as the bills are not counterfeit.

Dude everybody deserves a chance I find it unlikely someone would go for a 1 year long haul scam. lol I've found most people in this hobby here don't use pinside frequently if at all and especially the old timers, I'm trying to turn as many people on to pinside as I can. Just make sure payment is a lock!

Had someone check the bills with a marker, was worried as I had just sold a pin and not did that with the money I got in. Worked out fine. Are Counterfeit bills a big issue? Maybe I should get a marker.

What does big mean to you? The marker is not foolproof but it does lower the risk of accepting fakes. Is the cost of a marker and a couple extra minutes to check them worth it to you? Your local banker or other entity that handles a lot of cash might have relevant information for you.

Any way to differentiate cash vs credit card for a FF Paypal payment? Buyer/scammer would have no recourse through paypal to get cash back with FF payment. They could still claim it was unauthorized through their CC company if they used a card.

Exactly. That scam is intended to look like one.

The funding source is not visible for the recipient of the payment. They just see who it came from.

The marker only tests the paper. Look for the bill's watermark too.

We have banned some long-standing accounts that were basically dormant and suddenly later went active with a scam. While it's more likely that a scammer will want to get started ASAP, some have gotten smarter and will register accounts, then let them sit for a while first for a cooling off period.

F&F can be charged back. Also keep in mind that there are plenty of hacked paypal accounts floating around. Beware of the "it's my girlfriend/boyfriend's account and that's why my name isn't on it".

To the wish-washy buyers out there getting any ideas, keep in mind that PayPal will do a through investigation on a fraudulent chargeback and even look at your mac address of the devise you made the payment on and the previous devices you've used! If they find you have been lying to them they'll crucify you. lol

That's why I like to wait 5 days (minimum) to ship an item, most people will catch a fraudulent charge on their card within those first 5 days.

Used an odd method to finalize a deal Wallmart to wallmart, straight forward cash in hand my end $100 bills.

I miss 7/11 money orders lol

Hell, I miss 7-11, none in my area for years.

This is too great a 1987 Sleven, just like old times schmoozing the night clerk...duddeee that magazine rack, aisles full of Garbage Pail Kids lol

yup, almost every town has a Walmart nowadays. have him send money thru them. he gives you a number, you give to service desk, walk out with cash.

Percentage wise, counterfeit currency is not a big problem. The trouble with percentages is if there is a large sample size a small percentage still works out to big absolute numbers.

And the percentage argument does not mean much when are one of the percentage losers. This is why I never considered LASIK surgery for my eyes. LASIK has a low percentage rate of failure. But that don't mean much to me. Be on the wrong side of that percentage and you will find yourself blind.

how can this be substantiated?

Actually I was TOTALLY WRONG, I just got off the phone with PayPal and you are right Friends & Family transactions are even more risky than using payment threw paypal for goods and services. If a buyer does a chargeback the funds WILL be withheld immediately from your account while PayPal deals directly with the credit card company through their investigation. Now the final decision is up to the bank to make and is taken out of the hands of the paypal team! That sucks!!! Now I'm thinking Walmart is truely the best option next to Bitcoin???

Well I dont want to seem douchy. Is it common to crucially inspect all of the bills? I did not take it as a douchey move by this person however.