OLX is possibly the most popular site today for selling and buying used stuff.
I have myself used it extensively to buy and sell stuff and have also transacted with unknown faces, purely over phone or Whatsapp.
But like any other such free sites there are a number of fraudsters and sharks floating around.
One just has to remember the phrase "There aint no such thing as a free lunch" while viewing listings.
You have to be cautious both as a seller and buyer as there are a number of smooth talkers who can easily take you for a ride even without your realizing it.
Today a colleague of mine almost fell into a trap and managed to wiggle out at the last moment.
He was attracted by a 'Chennai' listing for a brand new sealed Macbook pro for Rs. 22000 and messaged the seller.
Warning 1: The very first caution he threw to the wind was the pricing - GREED
Warning 2: The seller provided him with an international number to communicate only over WhatsApp - Warning
3: Next he gave him a warehouse located in California from where macbook would be shipped via Fedex without paying custom duty or GST - Mega warning
Warning 4: Only 50% advance was asked to be remitted to a bank account in India, held in the name of an Indian
But he threw all caution to wind and decided to pay the 50% advance. But providence saved him as he could not make the payment due to some server issue with his bank at the time:
That is when he told me about the "awesome" deal and wanted me to pay on his behalf as the offer was only open till that evening as per the seller.
Then I took up Whatsapp conversation with the seller in glaring view of my colleague and it just took me three messages to expose the fraudster.
So my suggestion is to not fall for unrealistically low prices and or fall into any kind of honey trap.
As a Seller: This was another incident with a friend who had listed an expensive amplifier at an inflated price for sale.
He was pinged by a prospective buyer who was willing to buy at the quoted price plus shipping only by Fedex to his address in NOIDA.
My friend then shared his bank account details, and email address as requested by the buyer and within 15 minutes he got a message from the buyer that the payment was processed and he will get a confirmation email.
My friend then duly got an email which appeared to be from Citi Bank.
It stated that the bank was holding Rs. X to be credited to my friends bank account with ICICI after proof of dispatch by Fedex was submitted by email to them.
I wonder which banks handle such transactions on behalf of their customers for used items between two individuals where there is no prior documentation, Letter of Credit approval etc.
But my friend was blinded by the fact that he could sell the amp at the quoted price which was on an inflated side.
Since he is not comfortable with packing, he called me to help him with packing .
i was quite surprised that someone was ready to buy at his quoted price, and when I asked him if he had received the full payment, he said "So and so bank was holding the money pending shipment".
Well the rest is history, and the amp later got sold locally at half the quoted price.
These are just a couple of devious methods, there a many more ways people get fleeced.
So under no circumstance, throw caution to wind and fall for fanciful transactions on OLX and similar sites.
"There aint no such thing as a free lunch"
I have myself used it extensively to buy and sell stuff and have also transacted with unknown faces, purely over phone or Whatsapp.
But like any other such free sites there are a number of fraudsters and sharks floating around.
One just has to remember the phrase "There aint no such thing as a free lunch" while viewing listings.
You have to be cautious both as a seller and buyer as there are a number of smooth talkers who can easily take you for a ride even without your realizing it.
Today a colleague of mine almost fell into a trap and managed to wiggle out at the last moment.
He was attracted by a 'Chennai' listing for a brand new sealed Macbook pro for Rs. 22000 and messaged the seller.
Warning 1: The very first caution he threw to the wind was the pricing - GREED
Warning 2: The seller provided him with an international number to communicate only over WhatsApp - Warning
3: Next he gave him a warehouse located in California from where macbook would be shipped via Fedex without paying custom duty or GST - Mega warning
Warning 4: Only 50% advance was asked to be remitted to a bank account in India, held in the name of an Indian
But he threw all caution to wind and decided to pay the 50% advance. But providence saved him as he could not make the payment due to some server issue with his bank at the time:
That is when he told me about the "awesome" deal and wanted me to pay on his behalf as the offer was only open till that evening as per the seller.
Then I took up Whatsapp conversation with the seller in glaring view of my colleague and it just took me three messages to expose the fraudster.
So my suggestion is to not fall for unrealistically low prices and or fall into any kind of honey trap.
As a Seller: This was another incident with a friend who had listed an expensive amplifier at an inflated price for sale.
He was pinged by a prospective buyer who was willing to buy at the quoted price plus shipping only by Fedex to his address in NOIDA.
My friend then shared his bank account details, and email address as requested by the buyer and within 15 minutes he got a message from the buyer that the payment was processed and he will get a confirmation email.
My friend then duly got an email which appeared to be from Citi Bank.
It stated that the bank was holding Rs. X to be credited to my friends bank account with ICICI after proof of dispatch by Fedex was submitted by email to them.
I wonder which banks handle such transactions on behalf of their customers for used items between two individuals where there is no prior documentation, Letter of Credit approval etc.
But my friend was blinded by the fact that he could sell the amp at the quoted price which was on an inflated side.
Since he is not comfortable with packing, he called me to help him with packing .
i was quite surprised that someone was ready to buy at his quoted price, and when I asked him if he had received the full payment, he said "So and so bank was holding the money pending shipment".
Well the rest is history, and the amp later got sold locally at half the quoted price.
These are just a couple of devious methods, there a many more ways people get fleeced.
So under no circumstance, throw caution to wind and fall for fanciful transactions on OLX and similar sites.
"There aint no such thing as a free lunch"