am i just paranoid??

S

SIFU1A

Feedback: +2 / =0 / -0
Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
11,707
hi, a question for you guys, have a chance to buy a surefire light, good price(not a BF member, AR15net i think, and the guy only has 6 posts or so), but the addy i got is a PO box, the guy isnt in the phone directory in the city i would send payment to, and his name is almost fake sounding (dont wanna post here, but like "L. agamemnon hornblower" <seriously> for example),also his email is a hotmail account?am i fixing to make a mistake? should i just back out?? what should i ask the guy/how should i ask him??? am i just paranoid???? i have a 'feeling' about this like i have never had before.

what do ya guys think??

greg
 
Well, if the name sounds funny or weird, or something out of a TV show, then proceed at your own risk. Some good people use PO boxes. But like you said, this guy has a low post count and sounds to have a BS name, trust your gut, it could be right.
 
FWIW, I always use a USPS money order. That way of the guy screws you, you can sic the Postal Inspectors on them. I use a PO Box, but the Postal Service does not deliver to street addreses in the mountains here. But if intuition is telling you to pass... Good luck!
 
I don't think you can reasonably expect anyone to send you money knowing only a P.O. box and a hotmail address. Everyone he deals with will want a phone number and a street address even if he wants them to send to the P.O. box; if being asked offends him he won't do any trading on the net.

In general if you get a bad feeling there's probably some reason for that ... you could communicate with him more, call him voice phone and talk and see if the feeling goes away, or you could just forget it, but if you just go ahead ignoring your forebodings because the price is so attractive ... don't expect to ever see your money again.... :rolleyes: Too low a price shouldn't make you plunge ahead; it should make you more wary.

Professional swindlers avoid P.O. boxes because it makes it too easy to arrest them when they check their mail, but there are plenty of idiots who don't think about that....
 
there is plenty of stuff to buy in this world and plenty of good deals to be found

i would not deal with anyone who gave me "bad vibes" or otherwise made me uncomfortable

it takes a whole lot of "good deals" to make up for the loss caused by one deal gone bad

i would pass
 
If this fella isn't willing to give you all of his pertinent information as to address and phone number, then it would be my advice to stay away from this deal.

When I get a bad feeling about a deal, I take heed of my gut feelings and pull back. It's just not worth the aggravation.
 
An item, and the money to be paid for it...can reasonably be considered 'equal'. Who says that the money must always be sent first... If you are a 'well-quantified' individual...tell him you want the item sent first..based on your feedback record and demonstrated integrity... If he has a problem with that...maybe you should, indeed, have a problem with him...
 
thanks for the input, guys, i had printed his EM w/his info on it, i never even looked at the name, was gonna leave it out for my wife to get him a MO, and noticed the "odd" name, then the PO box, so i called directory assistance and they had no one listed by that name, not anything remotely close, i just thought "wait a minute here"?

i might try to talk to him, but i hate to offend anyone (hey dude, is that REALLY your name, lol)i honestly dont think its worth the worry/hassle/etc, i think i'm just gonna back outta the deal, and wait for another time.

if it was a BF member,i would feel a lot better about it, seems like i "know" you guys, but some of the other forums rip offs happen too often for me, a lot of folks on AR15 have gotten burned on magazines for AR's and glocks, it just doesnt seem so bad on BF (imho, anyway)

so, i think this will be the one that got away.........

greg
 
Greg,

If it just doesn't "seem right", don't do it. You can feel bad about missing-out on a good buy/good deal, but you can also feel REALLY bad about being burned in a deal that "went south". Trust your "inner-voice"...It's sometimes smarter than we are.:).
 
I would just ask him for his info, and try to confirm it. If he doesn't want to give you a street address and phone number, then don't go through with the deal.

Mike
 
If it don't seem right forget it.

It funny the day I first read your post I also had a AR15net member contact me about a trade I posted here on BF.

Until then I had not even heard of AR15net.

I was looking to trade a palm m125 and modem for a spyderco.

Anyway my first thoughts were maybe these two guys were the same peoeple.

Everything seems to be going good for my trade.
I'm trading the AR15net member my palm for a NIB # Spyderco Starmate and he does not even want the modem.

Befor I could really check up on the guy he offered to send me the Spdyerco first so I could check it out and if I was happy with it I could then send the palm, wow!

The guy does not know me from Adam and he is willing to stick his neck out to do the trade.

My first feelings of the deal changed really fast because of the way he offered to do things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top