Beware of SCAMS!

[bozzi]

Someone here offered me a gibson L5. Beautiful pictures. Good description. He gave me a name and an address (most probably not his).

but when he asked to be paid via paypal friends and family I immediately got suspicious. The pictures were too perfect. I googled a little but and found the original listing.

When asked, he also sent me a video of “him playing” which was a pretty well known youtube video that he downloaded. Video was from a music store (i forgot the name). That sealed the deal lol. I told him he is a scammer and that was it.

it’s sad that even in this little community there are scammers lurking and trying to squeeze working musicians just because the instruments are expensive.

anyhow, you’ve been warned! Never ever pay via PayPal friends and family! Never pay if you are not sure!

[Marty Grass]

Sorry to hear this. I'm glad you posted your transaction.

Last year I chased a Gibson ES-345 that seemed too good to be true on Reverb. I suspected a scam but used PayPal through Reverb. Someone from PayPal called me every day with an update. The package never arrived. I got a refund pretty promptly.

I told the PayPal lady that I should have known it's a scam since the 345 was $800. She told me that every day there are lots of sales that go through with items sold at a small fraction of their market value.

[bozzi]

Wow. I actually got scammed on Reverb as well, but paypal wouldn’t pay me back!! I really hate paypal lol. I had to ask my credit card company for a refund. I did get it eventually, but i am still mad at paypal (and that chinese scammer).

I mean, at some point it became an obvious scam. it was coming from china instead of New Zealand that he said he was from. The dimensions of the box had nothing to do with a guitar, and eventually i never got anything. I later discovered that it was a parcel from “Shein” shop that was sent to another person in the city i live in. When he picked it up, it was proof enough for paypal that.. I got my guitar!! When confronted about it they said something like “it is for resale anyway”. WHAT?! I never received anything!

I was mostly just mad at myself because i should have known better.

[michael_s]

I have bought a couple of guitars from various sources with payment through paypal f&f.
Never an issue, but I did my homework - phone/video calls with the seller (and the guitar), researching the seller's social media profiles, requesting photos of the guitar with a piece of paper that bears my name etc.

But of course you can never be 100% sure...

[tbeltrans]

When it comes to guitars, I buy local because:

1. I live in an area where there are plenty of guitars to choose from, both in shops and in private sale.

2. I much prefer to see and try before I buy and don't want the hassles and risks of shipping it back.

3. I read all too often about scams or other things that can go wrong such as lost in shipping/stolen/damaged when buying such items long distance.

Edit: Also, and very important, buying local helps the local economy. Even buying from a private seller, it is likely that at least some of that money will find its way back into the local economy for groceries, gas, strings and stuff from local music shops, etc.

Tony

[ARGewirtz]

Fortunately I haven’t been scammed but just last week I had someone try to scam me on Reverb.

I recently posted a “For Sale” thread on this Forum for my DJArgus Excel. The post got 215 views and a handful of “Likes” but no real interest so I listed the guitar on Reverb to test the broader market. Within the first hour after I listed the guitar I received this message thru the Reverb messenger: "Buying this  for our&nbsp church; contact Frank at segokat76 on G mail for purchase.Thank you. Fe Wang." Ok, so it’s a pretty pathetic attempt to get me to contact someone outside of the Reverb message system so it didn’t take much to recognize this as a scam. But, had the message been even somewhat intelligible I could see how someone might be tempted to reply and get sucked into any number of scams.

Although Reverb has its share of scammers, from what I’ve heard from others it can’t compare to the scam cesspools Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.

[Stringswinger]

Paypal once left me out in the cold on a scam from China and I lost about $30. Since then, I have used my AMEX card for all Paypal purchases. I will have recourse with AMEX. At the time (many years back) that I lost that $30, I was still a practicing attorney and thought about suing Paypal, but for $30 it was not worth the agravation (and I could foresee a judge dressing me down for taking up courtroom time over such a piddling amount). I am sure some overpaid Paypal executive decided that cheating people (by not living up to their guarantee) in small amounts is quite profitable. Beware of Paypal!

I have had good luck otherwise with EBay, Reverb, Craigslist and this forum buying and selling gear. A couple of guitars bought on EBay showed up with undisclosed defects, but I bought them right enough that I was able to recoup my purchase price.

It is a minefield out there folks. Be careful, but at the same time. do not pass up a great deal from a known quantity. There are longtime users of this forum whose integrity is real and whose guitars are great.

[vinnyv1k]

I agree with Marco. Their are many members here that is far less risk then eBay or Reverb.

[Cunamara]

There have been other threads here about similar scams.

[Fear the Reaper]

After over 20 years on Ebay and 10+ on Reverb I'll take my chances with the fine folks on this site any day of week. Just will do my due diligence. Also, I recently provide a reference for a person I bought from several times on this site with no problems. Smooth transaction for the buyer.

[FredH]

I had someone on this forum offer to sell me a guitar at at least 50% of its market value. Provided pictures as well - with a complete description of the item. I immediately became suspicious and with a little effort, discovered that the same guitar sold a year earlier for 50% more than he was asking. He simply lifted the pics and info and posted it elsewhere. He had only recently joined the forum - which he was obviously using for his nefarious activity.

Folks, do be careful! There's lots of dishonest characters out there who will use any means necessary to scam, obviously without any conscience.

[jim777]

I fairly recently had a guy on here offer me my choice of 2 absolutely gorgeous VDAs, and for well under a thousand dollars less than you would have seen them for on Reverb. I bought one, it's my favorite guitar, and Joe is a Prince among men I would buy from one of the older guys on here that has been posting for years without any hesitation.

jim

[Fear the Reaper]

+1

I fairly recently had a guy on here offer me my choice of 2 absolutely gorgeous VDAs, and for well under a thousand dollars less than you would have seen them for on Reverb. I bought one, it's my favorite guitar, and Joe is a Prince among men I would buy from one of the older guys on here that has been posting for years without any hesitation.

jim

[HeyNow]

1) check their history here - if a new user, definitely be more wary and almost certainly don't transact with
2) put their images into Google Images search - it will find similar images and possibly the same image
3) WTB ads always invite scammers - report them to admins

I've always offered non-fee payment methods as options but also offer normal PayPal G&S. I've never been a fan of G&S because you can get scammed easily as a seller, but 80% of buyers prefer it.

Interestingly, depending on the $ amounts and items being transacted, it's more common to do Zelle, Venmo, wire e.g. a lot of people in the watch community since there are a lot of high value transactions. You have to go on their feedback score. It's not just eBay that has their own feedback mechanism. Sub-reddits also do as well as other forums.

Paypal G&S is being reported to the I R S nowadays so it's even less desirable as a seller, so the other payment methods, to me aren't alone a dealbreaker as a buyer. If I trust a buyer, I wouldn't have a problem with F&F, Zelle.

[ARGewirtz]

Fortunately I haven’t been scammed but just last week I had someone try to scam me on Reverb.

I recently posted a “For Sale” thread on this Forum for my DJArgus Excel. The post got 215 views and a handful of “Likes” but no real interest so I listed the guitar on Reverb to test the broader market. Within the first hour after I listed the guitar I received this message thru the Reverb messenger: "Buying this  for our&nbsp church; contact Frank at segokat76 on G mail for purchase.Thank you. Fe Wang." Ok, so it’s a pretty pathetic attempt to get me to contact someone outside of the Reverb message system so it didn’t take much to recognize this as a scam. But, had the message been even somewhat intelligible I could see how someone might be tempted to reply and get sucked into any number of scams.

Although Reverb has its share of scammers, from what I’ve heard from others it can’t compare to the scam cesspools Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.

As coincidence would have it, at the same time that I was posting my previous scam experience above I received a second message on Reverb. This is sad and comical at the same time, although maybe not so funny for someone who falls for it. Here’s the message:

“Hi. This is Precious. I'm very interested in this guitar, and I'd like to buy it as soon as everything checks out. Please let me know what it comes with. Are there any flaws I should know about? Since when have you been using it and hope it still sounds/functions great? Kindly send me a mail with more information and pictures if available preciouswilde@outlook.com Thank you”

Not to allow Precious the last word, I decided to reply:

“Hello Precious and thank you for your interest in the guitar. It is a very fine and unique instrument. I would be happy to provide you with any additional information about the guitar not already included in the description on Reverb along with additional pictures to help you make your decision about purchasing the guitar. Please note that I will ONLY communicate with you through the Reverb messenger and not through your email or other outside website that you provided in your message. If that is ok with you then let's move forward with the purchase and please feel free to make any offer. Cheers, A”

No surprise that I have not heard back from Precious .

[Fear the Reaper]

Sorry to hear about you and Precious.
On the other hand I am disappointed that a Nigerian Prince hasn't contacted me yet on selling his vintage Gibson L5 for $1,500 US.

As coincidence would have it, at the same time that I was posting my previous scam experience above I received a second message on Reverb. This is sad and comical at the same time, although maybe not so funny for someone who falls for it. Here’s the message:

“Hi. This is Precious. I'm very interested in this guitar, and I'd like to buy it as soon as everything checks out. Please let me know what it comes with. Are there any flaws I should know about? Since when have you been using it and hope it still sounds/functions great? Kindly send me a mail with more information and pictures if available preciouswilde@outlook.com Thank you”

Not to allow Precious the last word, I decided to reply:

“Hello Precious and thank you for your interest in the guitar. It is a very fine and unique instrument. I would be happy to provide you with any additional information about the guitar not already included in the description on Reverb along with additional pictures to help you make your decision about purchasing the guitar. Please note that I will ONLY communicate with you through the Reverb messenger and not through your email or other outside website that you provided in your message. If that is ok with you then let's move forward with the purchase and please feel free to make any offer. Cheers, A”

No surprise that I have not heard back from Precious .

[ARGewirtz]

I am disappointed that a Nigerian Prince hasn't contacted me yet on selling his vintage Gibson L5 for $1,500 US.

You haven't been contacted to buy the Prince because his wife Precious has taken over that part of the business while he has moved on to the much more profitable romance scams.

[RJVB]

You're mistaken, Nigerian princes only deal with the romance of 419 million scams

[Stringswinger]

I hope that there is a special place in Hell (not that I believe such a place actually exists) for those who cheat musicians.

[SedanDelivery2022]

There's a post on one of the synth subs on reddit. Someone paid 2800 for a synth on Facebook marketplace and received a bag of flour. The seller's name was "Jon Doe."

Yikes. Yep, have to use some common sense.

[jazzshrink]

There's a post on one of the synth subs on reddit. Someone paid 2800 for a synth on Facebook marketplace and received a bag of flour. The seller's name was "Jon Doe."

Yikes. Yep, have to use some common sense.

A bag of flour? Are you sure the seller wasn't Jon Dough?

[Skip Ellis]

I'll stick to buying here and AGF - whole lot better class of people. I've got one on Reverb now, but that's a rarity with me. I doubt anyone will buy it because I've got it priced high enough to cover their outrageous fees.

[Woody Sound]

A bag of flour? Are you sure the seller wasn't Jon Dough?

[Rickco]

should of been dough, Im venting. I was contacted (thru a private message board...yeah i know) at the end of the transaction the scammer sent me a fake cashiers check for $2k more than we had agreed! I was pretty sure I was being scammed from the start so after consulting with local authorities (i never sent him anything)I had him send his "payment" to a p.o. box. I thought the authorities might want it for a data base or something but no. They all said he (they) had aready moved on to mark number xxxxxx and as long as I wasnt injured or compromised be happy. Im old now, I used to think I was street wise....musta been a different street

[Mark M.]

I hope that there is a special place in Hell (not that I believe such a place actually exists) for those who cheat musicians.

If there is, it’s likely filled with accordions.