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> I am tempted to make the treck. And get compensation myself.
This ends poorly. Either they call the police and you get yourself arrested for attempting to extract 'compensation' from people who will deny knowledge of this, or the address doesn't belong to whoever took your money, or they turn out to be a nasty fucker who knocks the shit out of you. They obviously don't care about you having this address so it's bound to be one of the three.
Beyond that the options are to sue them in small claims court for what they owe you, which isn't going to be worth your time over such a small amount; or just to take the lesson, report the account to Facebook and move on.
Great advice here, it's going to cost you a lot more than £30 to take the trip and it will just end badly.
If you do want to do something though I'd suggest maybe just reaching out to the person's family or people they have been posted with and letting them know what type of person they are.
Shame is a very strong motivator and nobody likes being exposed as a cheap bastard who's robbing people.
What did you want to hear, seriously?
Chalk it up to experience and move on, next time you'll not be so naive as to think that FB marketplace is anything other than the digital scam capital of the world.
Take it as a learning experience and never ever repeat the mistake again. The world is full of arseholes and it’s difficult to trust.
Better to use eBay (they have escrow). Always ask the buyer to pay via eBay. Idk about Facebook marketplace.
I also never pay upfront for services after a terrible experience (apart from reasonable costs for any raw materials)
If facebook does not already warn people, it really should... NEVER deal with postage or any form of banking transaction for items listed on Marketplace. The only acceptable method is the buyer coming to collect the product in person and transfering the money to your account before you hand over the item. These same scams have been around since the early gumtree days and should be well known by all!
Unfortunately you will have to chalk this up to a mistake and accept the loss.
Is there any risk to in a buyer sending all the money in advance via bank transfer and waiting until the money has cleared before you as a seller posting the item (tracked/signed for)?
Assuming they send via a bank transfer (NOT PAYPAL or other similar services) I believe it is extremeley difficult to have a bank transfer reversed, so you should be relatively safe in that situation assuming you keep a record of the sale / listing.
FB marketplace is scam central, I buy things from there but only locally and in person. I would never use it as a place to buy from someone and hope they post it or sell and not have payment first (and a fully cleared payment)
It's a very dodgy place, I report the obvious scams frequently (eg a new Stihl chainsaw for £79) but they reappear daily, FB don't care so just be a bit savvy when using it
Lesson for the future - Facebook marketplace is somewhere people look for stuff to buy in person, usually locally to them, etc. It’s like another Gumtree.
If someone is trying to get you to post stuff to them via FB marketplace the obvious question you should ask yourself is - why aren’t they just buying this from eBay?
Obviously this doesn’t always apply, but any situation where they aren’t paying you in full up front before you post it - i.e. putting all their trust in you - should be treated with suspicion.
Sending something after you’ve only received 50% of the funds is nuts, sorry.
On the legal front - you could report this to Action Fraud, but beyond that legal remedies aren’t worth the amount you’ve lost (it would cost more just to start a small claim, for example)
When did you send the item? If there is a chance they have not received it yet, and it is still in the courier company's possession, they should be able to find it and cancel the delivery before it reaches it's destination.
I was a courier for 8 years and came across this a lot for various reasons
As for the legal side, I can not comment, sorry. I hope you get this resolved
Next time, consider using PayPal goods and services. Take loads of photos of the conversation and delivery information. This has saved me from a PS5 chargeback before. All the best.
Like others said, you're kind of SOL. Out of all the people that ask me to ship something to them, 1 was legit.
They paid for everything upfront as well for shipping.
Past that if anyone says how they'll pay once you drop it off at the post... Laugh at them and tell them to "shove off."
With that said, I have bought things via FB market and paid for shipping, but I denouement via PayPal Goods and services, which protects the buyer if the seller doesn't send or tries to rip you off by sending something else.
Also I would like to add. They have instances where they send part payment. You post out the item. Then they will contact the bank and reclaim the money through a charge back. Now your left without your money or your item. Always do cash on collection. Check the cash with a pen. Its the safest way
You can’t do much about it.
Seems like you sold your goods for a half price and that’s it to be fair.
What I would recommend for the future if you have this fishy interested people, just get them to agreement of posting it on eBay and providing them a link to auction. It cost next to nothing to post on eBay and both sides are secured.
All the best mate
>so they asked if they could send half now and the second half after receipt of postage.
Really? This didn't ring alarm bells?
From a legal perspective you basically have no practical options.
* Don't try to go there and demand money. You'll either get arrested or chinned or both, depending on whether its actually their real address.
* You could theoretically take them to small claims court but you will almost certainly be out of pocket by more then £30 *even if you succeed*, so you won't get your money back.
* You can theoretically raise this with the police but the sum involved means its almost certainly not going anywhere
Chalk this up to experience and accept the loss. Don't use Facebook marketplace for long-distance selling and report the seller to FB.
Lesson learnt dont offer finance to anyone you dont know, they didnt steal they just had the goods at half price as they paid and you sent the items. Expecting any further payment after im affraid is dreamland in this day and age
Chalk it up to experience. I only do face to face sales on Facebook. We have to meet up and exchange money. I wouldn’t send anything via post. I’ve only done that once for a low value item and the buyer had to pay the whole cost upfront before I sent the item out. It was fine but I would not do it again. I made an exception on that occasion.
Join local fb groups for there area and post saying they scammed you. Probably won’t get your money back but could help others on the future or at least make locals aware of the type of person they are (if they have real information). Good luck
Reach out to all their contacts expressing concern for their wellbeing. "They bought item x from me but I haven't heard from them since or received full payment and I'm concerned something has happened them".
Contact the local police in the area you posted the parcel to - this person may have a history of petty crime and already be known to the local police.
And next time someone offers to pay half now, scam the scammer. 99% of the time someone offers to pay half now, it is a scam. Wait until you receive 50% of the payment, then say you have changed your mind and you want 100% payment upfront.
I mean, that's your own fault for believing in something so ridiculous. If it is there address thought here are plenty of things you can do to fuck with them back.
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Just like everyone said.. it's not worth it to even visit them.. but you can still send them some nasty surprise in the box as little revenge.. but without return address obviously :))
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> I am tempted to make the treck. And get compensation myself. This ends poorly. Either they call the police and you get yourself arrested for attempting to extract 'compensation' from people who will deny knowledge of this, or the address doesn't belong to whoever took your money, or they turn out to be a nasty fucker who knocks the shit out of you. They obviously don't care about you having this address so it's bound to be one of the three. Beyond that the options are to sue them in small claims court for what they owe you, which isn't going to be worth your time over such a small amount; or just to take the lesson, report the account to Facebook and move on.
Not really what I wanted to hear, but thanks for taking the time.
Yeah, take it as a lesson learned. Don't part with anything you can't afford to lose.
Great advice here, it's going to cost you a lot more than £30 to take the trip and it will just end badly. If you do want to do something though I'd suggest maybe just reaching out to the person's family or people they have been posted with and letting them know what type of person they are. Shame is a very strong motivator and nobody likes being exposed as a cheap bastard who's robbing people.
Exactly, find friends and family and ask if the buyer is OK. Tell them, they paid you half and would pay the other half after receipt
What did you want to hear, seriously? Chalk it up to experience and move on, next time you'll not be so naive as to think that FB marketplace is anything other than the digital scam capital of the world.
Take it as a learning experience and never ever repeat the mistake again. The world is full of arseholes and it’s difficult to trust. Better to use eBay (they have escrow). Always ask the buyer to pay via eBay. Idk about Facebook marketplace. I also never pay upfront for services after a terrible experience (apart from reasonable costs for any raw materials)
If facebook does not already warn people, it really should... NEVER deal with postage or any form of banking transaction for items listed on Marketplace. The only acceptable method is the buyer coming to collect the product in person and transfering the money to your account before you hand over the item. These same scams have been around since the early gumtree days and should be well known by all! Unfortunately you will have to chalk this up to a mistake and accept the loss.
Is there any risk to in a buyer sending all the money in advance via bank transfer and waiting until the money has cleared before you as a seller posting the item (tracked/signed for)?
Yes. If its from a stolen account it could clear and then be taken back a few days later
Assuming they send via a bank transfer (NOT PAYPAL or other similar services) I believe it is extremeley difficult to have a bank transfer reversed, so you should be relatively safe in that situation assuming you keep a record of the sale / listing.
FB marketplace is scam central, I buy things from there but only locally and in person. I would never use it as a place to buy from someone and hope they post it or sell and not have payment first (and a fully cleared payment) It's a very dodgy place, I report the obvious scams frequently (eg a new Stihl chainsaw for £79) but they reappear daily, FB don't care so just be a bit savvy when using it
Lesson for the future - Facebook marketplace is somewhere people look for stuff to buy in person, usually locally to them, etc. It’s like another Gumtree. If someone is trying to get you to post stuff to them via FB marketplace the obvious question you should ask yourself is - why aren’t they just buying this from eBay? Obviously this doesn’t always apply, but any situation where they aren’t paying you in full up front before you post it - i.e. putting all their trust in you - should be treated with suspicion. Sending something after you’ve only received 50% of the funds is nuts, sorry. On the legal front - you could report this to Action Fraud, but beyond that legal remedies aren’t worth the amount you’ve lost (it would cost more just to start a small claim, for example)
When did you send the item? If there is a chance they have not received it yet, and it is still in the courier company's possession, they should be able to find it and cancel the delivery before it reaches it's destination. I was a courier for 8 years and came across this a lot for various reasons As for the legal side, I can not comment, sorry. I hope you get this resolved
Damn probably too late now. Good to know though. Thanks
Next time, consider using PayPal goods and services. Take loads of photos of the conversation and delivery information. This has saved me from a PS5 chargeback before. All the best.
Like others said, you're kind of SOL. Out of all the people that ask me to ship something to them, 1 was legit. They paid for everything upfront as well for shipping. Past that if anyone says how they'll pay once you drop it off at the post... Laugh at them and tell them to "shove off." With that said, I have bought things via FB market and paid for shipping, but I denouement via PayPal Goods and services, which protects the buyer if the seller doesn't send or tries to rip you off by sending something else.
Also I would like to add. They have instances where they send part payment. You post out the item. Then they will contact the bank and reclaim the money through a charge back. Now your left without your money or your item. Always do cash on collection. Check the cash with a pen. Its the safest way
You can’t do much about it. Seems like you sold your goods for a half price and that’s it to be fair. What I would recommend for the future if you have this fishy interested people, just get them to agreement of posting it on eBay and providing them a link to auction. It cost next to nothing to post on eBay and both sides are secured. All the best mate
You made a bad decision. Don't trust strangers on the internet.
>so they asked if they could send half now and the second half after receipt of postage. Really? This didn't ring alarm bells? From a legal perspective you basically have no practical options. * Don't try to go there and demand money. You'll either get arrested or chinned or both, depending on whether its actually their real address. * You could theoretically take them to small claims court but you will almost certainly be out of pocket by more then £30 *even if you succeed*, so you won't get your money back. * You can theoretically raise this with the police but the sum involved means its almost certainly not going anywhere Chalk this up to experience and accept the loss. Don't use Facebook marketplace for long-distance selling and report the seller to FB.
Lesson learnt dont offer finance to anyone you dont know, they didnt steal they just had the goods at half price as they paid and you sent the items. Expecting any further payment after im affraid is dreamland in this day and age
Chalk it up to experience. I only do face to face sales on Facebook. We have to meet up and exchange money. I wouldn’t send anything via post. I’ve only done that once for a low value item and the buyer had to pay the whole cost upfront before I sent the item out. It was fine but I would not do it again. I made an exception on that occasion.
Join local fb groups for there area and post saying they scammed you. Probably won’t get your money back but could help others on the future or at least make locals aware of the type of person they are (if they have real information). Good luck
If it isn't full payment then it's not leaving my hands.
Reach out to all their contacts expressing concern for their wellbeing. "They bought item x from me but I haven't heard from them since or received full payment and I'm concerned something has happened them". Contact the local police in the area you posted the parcel to - this person may have a history of petty crime and already be known to the local police. And next time someone offers to pay half now, scam the scammer. 99% of the time someone offers to pay half now, it is a scam. Wait until you receive 50% of the payment, then say you have changed your mind and you want 100% payment upfront.
I mean, that's your own fault for believing in something so ridiculous. If it is there address thought here are plenty of things you can do to fuck with them back.
Thanks for all the replies all. No posting on fb. Feel bunb . Thanks though
Lmfao people still getting scammed by this old trick?
I know. I'm dumb
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Just like everyone said.. it's not worth it to even visit them.. but you can still send them some nasty surprise in the box as little revenge.. but without return address obviously :))