Knife trading, how not to get scammed.

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Christian bradfort

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Hello everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I'll ask it. When trading a knife for some other goodie, how do I assure that I don't get scammed(aka shipped a rock) is there a way to prevent this? A service of some sort? Thanks for the insights! And again my apologies if this is not the right thread to ask this in.
 
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Most people here are honest. That said, we've had more than a few who haven't been, and when we discover them, we remove them.

You can look at a member's ratings from past deals as traders, buyers and sellers...and see whether issues have arisen.

There is no way to guarantee success. Even if you sent a knife to an agreed upon third party, there is no way to ensure an item wouldn't be lost, or that the agreed upon individual would or could fulfill their promise.

Like most things in life, there are few guarantees.

(As someone with little to no history, you might be asked to send an item first to a member who has been known to the community over a long period of time.)
 
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I've had quite a few trades here and have not had one go wrong yet. Knock on wood :) Definitely take a close look at feedback, previous posts, and I generally like to spend some time chatting before committing, exchanging phone numbers and even having a phone call can help. The unintended consequence is I've made a couple of great friends this way, so that's been wonderful. I think you can get enough that way to have a pretty good gut feeling about who you're dealing with. There will always be sociopaths of course, but I think they're very much under-represented here, it's a great community. If there's a big mis-match in feedback, i.e. if one user is much newer than the other, it's not unheard of for the newbie to send first, and the more experienced/reputable user sends once the first item has arrived. I always reserve the right to ask for that when I post, but have yet to actually do it.

Best of luck!
 
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Blues said:
Most people here are honest. That said, we've had more than a few who haven't been, and when we discover them, we remove them.

You can look at a member's ratings from past deals as traders, buyers and sellers...and see whether issues have arisen.

There is no way to guarantee success. Even if you sent a knife to an agreed upon third party, there is no way to ensure an item wouldn't be lost, or that the agreed upon individual would or could fulfill their promise.

Like most things in life, there are few guarantees.

(As someone with little to no history, you might be asked to send an item first to a member who has been known to the community over a long period of time.)
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Here, I feel pretty safe. My deal I'm having rn is on Facebook "fallkniven" forum, kind of sketchy, no track records.
 
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When I sell someone a knife, I provide them with what I call a "proof of life" photo. I take a picture of the knife in front of my computer screen with the most recent communication from the buyer clearly visible on the screen. That way they know that I do in fact have the item that they are buying.

Of course, if someone provides you with a "proof of life" photo it doesn't guarantee that they will actually send you the item, but at least you know that they do in fact possess it. Some scammers may use old photos of items they no longer have, or they might use photos taken from the internet.

If you have any concerns about a persons honesty, you might request such a photo. But then again, if you have such doubts, maybe you shouldn't deal with them at all.


Like this-

RgcPdYQ.jpg
 
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killgar said:
When I sell someone a knife, I provide them with what I call a "proof of life" photo. I take a picture of the knife in front of my computer screen with the most recent communication from the buyer clearly visible on the screen. That way they know that I do in fact have the item that they are buying.

Of course, if someone provides you with a "proof of life" photo it doesn't guarantee that they will actually send you the item, but at least you know that they do in fact possess it. Some scammers may use old photos of items they no longer have, or they might use photos taken from the internet.

If you have any concerns about a persons honesty, you might request such a photo. But then again, if you have such doubts, maybe you shouldn't deal with them at all.


Like this-

RgcPdYQ.jpg
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Good idea. Most people I recon can take such photo, but when it's in a Facebook forum, it feels like they can just, not send the knife😅 man I wish there was some sort of service regarding this issue
 
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Christian bradfort said:
Hello everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question, but I'll ask it. When trading a knife for some other goodie, how do I assure that I don't get scammed(aka shipped a rock) is there a way to prevent this? A service of some sort? Thanks for the insights! And again my apologies if this is not the right thread to ask this in.
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Generally, our members behave well. But, look under good bad and ugly on the exchange you a find a few examples of what happens when things go wrong. I would suggest that the key thing to look for is a member who is active in our community. Someone who tends to post and contribute to the site and does more than post ads in Exchange. Also, someone with some history and good feedback.

n2s
 
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Go with your gut. If something doesn't feel right, don't go through with the deal. The Knife Exchange here on Bladeforums is quite well moderated. If you're unsure of your Facebook group, this might be a better place to do business.
 
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Christian bradfort said:
Here, I feel pretty safe. My deal I'm having rn is on Facebook "fallkniven" forum, kind of sketchy, no track records.
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facebook is not something we deal with here on bladeforums. So, while I understand your issue, it is not germane as we do not link to nor promote the site.

Happy to provide you with assistance here if and when needed.
 
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