Buying gear protocol questions

[Jacked 0]

I just received my A license and am looking to gear up.. I have found a couple of nice rigs that I have inquired to purchase here but when I go to close the deal I get no response.. I was told by my JM at our DZ that I could use them as a middle man so to speak for buying used gear. I give the DZ's listing and the master riggers name there. I offer to pay shipping and if necessary pay return shipping back if the gear is not as advertised or deemed not air worthy for some reason, I even offer the seller to have their DZ rigger call ours and if they can get together and agree I would just send the money out. Is this too much to ask or do people really expect you to send three or four grand out to a complete stranger? These are not featured members mind you. I need to know how it's normally done here so I can get on manifest at the best rates... Thanks

The end result is directly connected to the effort applied

[fasted3 0]

Keep trying. I've used that payment plan and it worked for me; there are other ways, just be careful. No, don't send money out blind.
When you find what you want, try and make the deal quickly. Once a seller commits to do the deal, they should follow through, but until that point, they are free to sell to somebody else. You saying, "I'll take it," does not necessarily mean you'll get it, if somebody else beat you to it.
The seller should tell you what happened, IMO, but some won't bother.

But what do I know?

[virgin-burner 1]

i got lots of scammer-emails when i've had my kit for sale.. so people might be a little more careful now. i bought some stuff from people i "know" from the forums..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[Croc 0]

Most dealers sell used gear. Why not buy from one of them?

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[GravityGirl 0]

There are a few dealers on here that broker used gear. (Myself included) It allows a bit of comfort for both buyer and seller. The downside is that it takes an extra week or two to verify the sale and make sure that it's a good fit, etc before releasing funds. But it has worked out well for us. I personally charge $100 for a full rig and $50 for a canopy. Gets split between buyer and seller.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[hchunter614 0]

I sold a canopy to GravityGirl when I downsized and she was a pleasure to work with. Would use her again in a heartbeat.

[Zymurdoo 0]

The last rig I purchased was through DZ.com and I did exactly as you have outlined above.

I explained to the seller that even though the gear had been inspected by their rigger, I would need my rigger to inspect it before I would put it in the air. The seller stated he really didn't want to send the gear without payment but if he were in my shoes he would want to do it exactly the same way. I explained that if the gear was as good as they said it was that they would have their cash within the week and that I would cover his shipping charges if I purchased the rig.

I had them ship the gear, insured, to my local USPA listed DZ at their expense. I had my rigger inspect the gear ASAPractical (be there if you can, you will learn a lot about your "new" gear). During the inspection we discovered several small issues with the container that would need attention before my rigger would deem it airworthy. After a little phone tag with the seller we agreed to complete the sale of the main and reserve canopies only and I returned the container to them. I made payment through Paypal for our newly agreed amount and reimbursed him for the initial shipping charges.

This arrangement is quite common in my experience. While there those looking to rip us off, real skydivers, who are acquainted with real dropzones, are pretty trustworthy. Just do your due diligence in asking the right questions about the seller as well as the equipment. Verify what they tell you about themselves by calling their local DZ for a reference and offer them to do the same with you.

Good luck shopping and as always...Blue Skies!
Rick

PS- What are you looking for? I may have it sitting in the closet.

Blue Skies, Soft Docks and Happy Landings!
CWR #23
(It's called CRW, add an e if you like, but I ain't calling it CFS. FU FAI!)

[jb88ci 0]

The 'escrow' thing probably isn't a bad way to go. I bought one complete rig, a container/reserve combo, a container and a main this year... I was buying my first gear too and kept finding better deals so, i'd pull the trigger and buy it.

I sold all the gear i didn't need.

I bought everything except the container/reserve package off of the forum here. The container/reserve came from ebay and was 10yrs old never assembled.

I still haven't received the main canopy or refund but the DZ operator assures me he's going to refund me soon. This transaction took place in November.

Everything else I bought was as described and was shipped fairly quickly. I think I was fairly lucky but was willing to take the chance for the price i paid for the gear. If I was putting out several g's for a package, i'd probably have bought via escrow of some sort.

As for the main, that is the price of doing online business sometimes but again, it was really cheap and was bad form to never have sent it after it was paid for.

[Jacked 0]

I just bought my first rig through the dropzone.com, following the exact guidelines stated above in my original post, Cindy Sky was more than agreeable and in fact, sated that "this is how it's normally done." DZ's don't mind helping out their customers this way. I had no problems with the exchange. My DZ has a good reputation in handling the middle man role and the transaction was flawless. I want to let everyone know this method works and makes good sense for both parties involved.. I passed up a few real good deals because of the reluctance to agree to a method a peer or FPS (Fellow poor skydiver) would easily understand. Thanks for every one's input and hopefully anyone with the same concerns will pick up this post with a search and get on board as I have.. Blueskys and special thanks to Cindy Sky for a great deal and Skydive Suffolk my home DZ for being one of the best!

The end result is directly connected to the effort applied

[BMichaeli 1]

i purchased my first rig off DZ.com from a stranger. what i did was send a check for half the amount plus shipping to the owners DZ and when his DZ got the check they sent it to my DZ. after it was inspected and i was given the OK i sent the second half again to the owners DZ. then the owners DZ called my rigger and said the money cleared and he could give me the rig. i would suggest check over money order or paypal because you can prove the they deposited the checks on your bank statements.

[heavydude 0]

I guess I am an exception but I have bought 2 complete rigs and misc other items on DZ.com with no problems. Just sent a check and it came as promised. All of this stuff was big canopy stuff so was not real "hot" mainstream stuff though. I havnt run across any real scammers yet !