Aug 26, 2012, 3:59 PM
Post #1 of 21
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Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I honestly worry someone is trying to scam me. They are requesting a direct wire transfer, to a different name, and have zero profile info or posting history.
Is it generally a bad idea to try to buy used skydiving gear sight unseen?
Aug 26, 2012, 4:33 PM
Post #5 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I honestly worry someone is trying to scam me. They are requesting a direct wire transfer, to a different name, and have zero profile info or posting history.
Is it generally a bad idea to try to buy used skydiving gear sight unseen?
Aug 26, 2012, 5:44 PM
Post #11 of 21
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Re: [richardw38] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I have sold two canopies and bought several items off of the classifieds here. After a couple phone conversations I shipped the first canopy off with a transfer of half the selling price and the buyer sent me the other half upon arrival.
The second canopy I shipped to a rigger in Perris who inspected the canopy and held it in escrow until I got paid which was almost immediately once he received it.
In both of those cases it was easy to ship stuff off having spoken at length with the buyers and with a well defined plan for payment. Avoid anyone who won't deal with a third party, but be prepared to cover the cost of inspection/shipping (at least half).
Aug 26, 2012, 7:39 PM
Post #12 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I will probably just go through my local DZ (or just buy new).
You might have limited options going through your local DZ. Buying new is rarely a good idea for a first rig, as you don't really know what you want, and if you buy and sell new gear, you lose a ton of coin. Buynig and selling used gear, on the other hand, can often be done with no money beyond your initial investment.
Check with the Chuting Star gear store, they have an escrow program for private parties trying to buy/sell gear. The seller can ship the items to this well-established, trusted retailer, and they will inspect the gear. Provided it passes, the buyer will remit payment to Chuting Star. Once the payment clears, they will pay the seller and ship the goods to the buyer. There is no charge for the escrow, but you do have to pay for the inspections (which you would have to pay a local rigger to do anyway on a used gear purchase).
Any seller not willing to ship the goods to Chuting Star is either a scammer, trying to hide a condition issue, or just not worth the risk to deal with.
Aug 26, 2012, 8:01 PM
Post #13 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I've had two successful purchases via DZ.com and just encountered my first scammer.
Dealing with the scammer ended up not being a big deal at all, I just filed a claim with PayPal and got my money back in 10 days.
My advice is to never give money away that you can't get back somehow, whether it's through an escrow service or via PayPal. Other than that, do whatever you'd like to set your mind at ease when confirming the legitimacy of the seller.
Aug 26, 2012, 8:06 PM
Post #14 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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The scammers are usually pretty easy to spot, especially if you keep an eye on the Security & Scam alerts forum. I had one a couple weeks ago that sounded a little fishy, and sure enough, the language used by this potential buyer was similar to that used by another user that had already been flagged as a scammer.
Generally, the scammers will reveal themselves to be scammers pretty quickly and legit jumpers will ask (or answer) questions in a legit way. If I don't know someone, I'll look 'em up on Facebook and generally we'll have at least a couple mutual friends. A quick check with the mutual friend and we're good to go (or not).
Aug 27, 2012, 2:47 AM
Post #15 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I've made four purchases fairly big ones (2xAAD, two rigs) on DZ.com and I always brick myself when paying for it.
All of them arrived as described though.
Usually scammers are pretty easy to spot and you can usually tell quite easily people who know their stuff as they will use terminology only peeps who throw themselves out of planes would know.
Though this does not always apply!
My 2nd rig was bought off a guy who was tunnel rat . Had done 1000s of hours in the tunnel. But it didn't click with him in the air. Phoned up his tunnel to check if was legit though and it came in the post a few days later.
Aug 27, 2012, 4:22 AM
Post #16 of 21
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Re: [Tatetatetate] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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With 18 jumps, do not buy anything without going through your instructor or local rigger for help and advise. You just don't have the experience yet to know what you don't know or what questions to ask.
There is lots of good used gear on this forum and a lot of good advise above.
Aug 27, 2012, 9:41 AM
Post #17 of 21
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Re: [Lindenwood] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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I bought my reserve on dropzone.com and it worked like a breeze. The seller and I talked via email a few times, on my request he shipped the canopy to the rigger at Skydive Chicago for them to check out. The rigger at SDC called me and gave me a report of how it checked out and then I sent the money to the rigger. The rigger sent the money to the seller and packed the reserve in my rig and voila! Successful exchange. Use a rigger you know and trust. Anything about "wiring" money or that kind of thing ... personally I'd be skeptical of. Not to say they're all bad, but why be unsure?
Aug 27, 2012, 4:01 PM
Post #21 of 21
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Re: [Tatetatetate] Shoukd I be weary of buying gear online here?
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Secondly instructor? Rigger? I don't have one of those either. I don't have a home DZ and I'm not welcome at any of my local DZs either
This is where an escrow service like Chuting Star comes in handy. You don't need to 'know' anyone to get them to escrow your deal, you just have to pay for them to inspect the equipment.
Of course, a jumper with a rig and without a rigger is a problem. You could just find a rigger whenever you visit a DZ, but if you buy gear without a riggers inspection, you're taking a chance that when you do present it to a rigger to be packed, that you'll be denied your request.
There are a variety of things to look for in an inspection, and riggers will be familiar with the in's and out's of each type of rig. They'll also have a list (or they should be able to research) any Service Bulletins or Airworthyness Directives on the rig, and if they have been complied with. You could find a greta deal on a rig with 10 jumps on it, but if there's an outsatnding AD on the container, you're not going to get it packed until the AD has been complied with.
