Best Practices for using The Knife Exchange

Over the years we have had our share of issues with situations on the Knife Exchange and as a result here is a non-exhaustive list of suggestions for how to have a stress free experience.

PAYPAL 
We understand that PayPal is incredibly easy to use and that convenience makes it popular. That said, we STRONGLY SUGGEST that you ONLY use GOODS & SERVICES for payments for any product you purchase on the forums.  Goods & Services provides you, as a buyer, protection if someone's account gets compromised.  This happens all too frequently as many people out there reuse their email &  passwords on every site they go to.

If you send payment via Friends & Family, we cannot help you recover your money. We cannot assist you if you get scammed. All we can do is ban the compromised account after reports come through, which often happen too late.  If you must pay with Friends & Family, then demand verification that the item is in hand and ready to ship before sending payment.  You still won't get your money back if you get ripped off, but you'll have more information to file a police report.

VERIFICATION
A good seller will happy to provide proof that they have what they are selling.  We strongly suggest taking a photo of the item in question with your BladeForums.com User Name and current date visible on a piece of paper when listing an item for sale. Make sure the username & date are visible from multiple angles to prevent accusations of it being edited in.  If a seller will not do this? Be suspicious.

SHIPPING
Don't cheap out on your shipping. Be sure to insure the package and ship it appropriately - padded mailers are often damaged in transit and nobody wants to receive an empty envelope. Items should be shipped appropriately, in boxes when necessary, with sufficient padding & tape to prevent item loss or damage.     

REMOVE YOUR PERSONAL INFO FROM YOUR PROFILE PAGES
Seriously, don't leave your phone number, email address, paypal info from your public facing profile pages, so scammers don't spoof valid buyers or sellers. If you are conducting transactions and revealing your sensitive information in publicly viewable profile comments, you are leaving yourself open to social engineering. Stop being an easy target