How to avoid scams selling goods online

Yesterday, I was contacted by two people who wanted to buy my 2017 MacBook Air that I’m selling. At first, I advertised it on Facebook Marketplace and later on Gumtree, the leading classifieds website in South Africa. I’ve been using the Internet since 1993 and learned the tricks and trade of selling online, and how to avoid scams when selling goods online.

Facebook Marketplace is great for selling on the largest social media site because it allows people in your local area to find your products easily by searching. It also allows you to share your product listing with groups and on your newsfeed. Once you make a sale, you can mark the item as sold, and also who the buyer was. I’ve sold many items on Facebook Marketplace, mostly used electronics.

Gumtree, on the other hand, is a classified website and app. It also allows you to sell products in your local area by choosing the province and city where you are based. Sadly, Gumtree is notorious for attracting scammers. Even though Gumtree offers a lot of tips on how to avoid scams and fraud, it doesn’t stop people from trying to scam you when you’ve advertised your product.

With Facebook Marketplace, you are usually contacted via your Inbox, and therefore, you can view the Facebook profile of the person who has contacted you. On Gumtree, the buyers can contact you via email or your mobile number. In both cases, I was contacted via WhatsApp by two prospective buyers.

The first person claimed to be in Pretoria and wanted to buy my 2017 MacBook Air for his son. I sent him my Capitec Bank account details, and he asked instead to make a payment via PayPal. I sent him my email address, and he asked me to send him a payment request. The problem with PayPal is that it doesn’t support the South African Rand, only USD and some other international currencies. Anyway, I sent him the amount to pay in USD and even shared the screenshot with him on WhatsApp. He never did make the payment.

The second person who also contacted me on WhatsApp claimed to be in Port Elizabeth. He told me he will make a payment from his Standard Bank business account. He sent me a payment confirmation, his ID and a photo of him with his ID document. He insisted the driver would collect the 2017 MacBook Air within 10 minutes. Eventually, I heard someone hooting from a car outside my house, but I just ignored them because there was no deposit in my Capitec Bank account. Suddenly, this person deleted their ID photo and the photo of them holding their ID. I had already reported them to WhatsApp as a scam.

Anyway, here are some safety tips from Gumtree for selling online. Follow your gut instincts to avoid scams selling goods online.