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Craigslist
 

Hello guys

I was wondering if you guys have any tips for buying items from craigslist and gumtree safely?

Always meet up at a mutual location with plenty of people around.
if possible, ex. a police station,For your own safety.

Cash only, no checks no money orders for stuff you are selling.
If you are buying something, bring your debit card and have them wait outside of the ATM you are using. Never carry large wads of cash if you can avoid it. I usually only have like $60 bucks in cash, anything more requires my debit card.

If possible, bring a friend along to wait for/with you near by to see the transaction.

Make sure you inspect the item thoroughly before you fork anything over, especially electronics. (If you are buying a game console, see if you can meet at a gamestop or electronics shop to make sure that the thing works as described, etc)

Obviously, never have them come to your residence. No need to have a stalker around you

Just a few of my many safety measures :p

Craigslist sort of dead for me lately as a seller. No sales at all.

As for buying, I got some good deals a few times, while checking my whether my listings got ghosted or not.

Latest were a few Crucial 512GB M4 SSD's for a bit over 300$ each.

I have never used Craigslist for selling. Only advertising websites (back in the day, not anymore I guess) and buying. You can get some CRAZY good deals on Craigslist if you know what to look for. You just have to sift through a lot of CRAP. I have had ZERO problems with buying, I have almost always met the sellers at houses, office buildings, coffee shops, etc. You just have to be careful and use the ol' saying "If it seems too good to be true, it probably IS." If you feel unsure or are skeptical, like CJMixers said, meet in a public place during the day. If the "seller" isn't willing to do that, just pass.

Good luck and be safe!

cjmixers is right on with his tips.

almost all of the US has concealed carry laws. good start for me. but the other guys have good ideas too

Craigslist is good to start with, but eventually you might face an issue where it takes a lot of time and energy to buy products (I mean, you can only be in 1 place at any time right?), so it's very hard to leverage to multiple your business. On the other hand, if you order things in wholesale palettes, on the other hand, the transaction cost to get the item is much cheaper (especially time-wise).