Facebook transaction tips

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joshpackham

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Good evening everyone. I took the plunge this past week and purchased 3 cards on facebook groups. Just looking for feedback from those of you who have done many facebook deals.

First of all, I did find it super easy because you can just message back and forth with the members. I was able to quickly come to terms on the 3 deals. I messaged each seller and confirmed the price in canadian funds and paypal goods and services.

Now this to me is where it gets a little bit interesting. Two of the sellers stated I only do EMT and the third seller said normally I just do EMT but since this is the first time we've dealt paypal goods and services would be fine. I told him when the item arrives I would send him the extra so he still gets the true cost of the card.

I also did searches in each group of the person I was dealing with and on the sportscard scammers page to feel like I was protecting myself the best I could. Having said that one item was 10, one was 25, and one was 35, so nothing that I will lose sleep over if the item doesn't show up.

I made all of these this past Monday. The first card already arrived today and it arrived in a PWE, which surprised me, it was the 10 dollar card. Card is in fantastic shape so no worries there.

So basically, is EMT the normal method of payment in facebook groups?

Should I always be confirming bubble mailer in my messages?

What other things should I be doing to protect myself before I agree to deals?

I've seen a lot of discussion over what vouching means for someone, some state it just means I've done good deals with them, and other state you are putting money up for them?

Any other thoughts/comments would be great as I don't want to get burned in any facebook groups if I can help it.
 
I just made my first facebook purchase too after finally taking the plunge and signing up just for the hobby side of things. My transaction went smooth using EMT. I did check references prior to the deal. I think that is the best advice. Ask other members for references and do your research before making deals. I look forward to suggestions from other members who have been dealing on there for a long time.
 
I’ve been on face book for a month, only on for cards. I have no pictures no info about myself and have been told that is a down check. I may add some small amount of content to reassure the card folk and start another account for non card friends s I’ve received a ton of invites but not sure I want them to see the levels of geek I am.

When I’ve sold, I start with usd prices but accept converted cad PayPal or emt. About 50/50 PayPal emt. I have checked for references on every sale and purchase so far. I keep a list of all deals so when I ask for vouches for myself I can specifically call those folk to respond

Lots of tire kickers, but also lots of sales and not giving up the % to eBay is nice

Any more specific questions let me know, but again I am still new


Pacman
 
I'm curious to hear about this as well as I signed up for my first facebook account today with the intention of mainly trying to help out my collection.
 
I was really hesitant to make the dive on Facebook as well, but I LOVE it...I'd say I do the majority of my hobby time on Facebook now, though transactions are probably still about even with eBay if not slightly behind eBay.

It seems like MANY Canadians accept EMT only on Facebook, which I just do not understand. Yeah, money goes right to your bank account, but why not offer the peace of mind for buyers with PayPal? Having PayPal also vastly expands your market, as US buyers cannot send EMT internationally. The amount of times I have had to pass on a card because a seller refuses to accept PayPal is ridiculous.

The biggest and most important thing on Facebook is getting "vouches," which is essentially the same as feedback rating in a way. Before finalizing a deal, post in the group to ask if that person if okay to do a deal with. People will likely either be quick to say yes or no, unless someone hasn't used Facebook for the hobby much/at all.

Of course, sticking to goods and services is the best way to protect yourself, but friends and family is actually the "expected" method on Facebook. I was nervous about that at first, but if you get vouches for people, you should be fine. I've never been burned and I've probably done maybe 100 deals on Facebook, maybe more.
 
HammerHawks said:
I was really hesitant to make the dive on Facebook as well, but I LOVE it...I'd say I do the majority of my hobby time on Facebook now, though transactions are probably still about even with eBay if not slightly behind eBay.

It seems like MANY Canadians accept EMT only on Facebook, which I just do not understand. Yeah, money goes right to your bank account, but why not offer the peace of mind for buyers with PayPal? Having PayPal also vastly expands your market, as US buyers cannot send EMT internationally. The amount of times I have had to pass on a card because a seller refuses to accept PayPal is ridiculous.

The biggest and most important thing on Facebook is getting "vouches," which is essentially the same as feedback rating in a way. Before finalizing a deal, post in the group to ask if that person if okay to do a deal with. People will likely either be quick to say yes or no, unless someone hasn't used Facebook for the hobby much/at all.

Of course, sticking to goods and services is the best way to protect yourself, but friends and family is actually the "expected" method on Facebook. I was nervous about that at first, but if you get vouches for people, you should be fine. I've never been burned and I've probably done maybe 100 deals on Facebook, maybe more.
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Be careful with the vouches thing. The general acceptance is that say, you and I agree to a deal, and someone vouches for me... but, I don't pay you... that person who vouched for me is obligated now to satisfy the $ on my behalf! I'm not even joking. My jaw hung open when they explained that one to me in a given group.
 
BrownBullhead said:
Be careful with the vouches thing. The general acceptance is that say, you and I agree to a deal, and someone vouches for me... but, I don't pay you... that person who vouched for me is obligated now to satisfy the $ on my behalf! I'm not even joking. My jaw hung open when they explained that one to me in a given group.
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What? For real? I have never once heard that. That's crazy. My general rule of thumb is if I am dealing with someone I haven't dealt with before, I want to see a vouch from someone I trust (have dealt with myself or someone well known within the group or hobby). But I have never heard that before, the monetary backing up of the person if the deal goes bad.
 
I use PayPal g&s always, unless it is someone I have dealt with and absutely trust. Some sellers only want f&f, so if I don't know them that is an automatic pass. I had one seller backout even after I offered to cover the fees, so that tells me a lot about a person.

And the vouches thing above--I didn't know that's what that meant. I thought it was 'unofficial feedback'. Guess I won't be vouching for, say, that Quincy guy anymore. :)
 
weasel-king said:
I use PayPal g&s always, unless it is someone I have dealt with and absutely trust. Some sellers only want f&f, so if I don't know them that is an automatic pass. I had one seller backout even after I offered to cover the fees, so that tells me a lot about a person.

And the vouches thing above--I didn't know that's what that meant. I thought it was 'unofficial feedback'. Guess I won't be vouching for, say, that Quincy guy anymore. :)
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Yep, I have always understood it as unofficial feedback and have never once been told or heard about the monetary backing. I wouldn't want to be part of any group that requires or enforces that, because that's insane.
 
I`m in a European FB-Group ( like Eric said ) for at least 2 years now , and find it super easy to deal there . Never had a Problem with cards not paid , or not sent , or something like that . I always take pictures of the cards when packing , it is very easy to get a comfortable feeling if people do the same ( and most do ) , even if you don`t know them yet .
 
BrownBullhead said:
Be careful with the vouches thing. The general acceptance is that say, you and I agree to a deal, and someone vouches for me... but, I don't pay you... that person who vouched for me is obligated now to satisfy the $ on my behalf! I'm not even joking. My jaw hung open when they explained that one to me in a given group.
Click to expand...

Now this is just silly.

I've vouched for other people on FB and have never heard of such a thing.
 
BrownBullhead said:
Be careful with the vouches thing. The general acceptance is that say, you and I agree to a deal, and someone vouches for me... but, I don't pay you... that person who vouched for me is obligated now to satisfy the $ on my behalf! I'm not even joking. My jaw hung open when they explained that one to me in a given group.
Click to expand...

That's insanity. Mind you, there are people I would vouch for, and seeing that Quincy was used as an example, I'll throw his name in here as someone I would vouch my own money against. But if this was generally enforced, there's a TON of people I wouldn't.
 
I run a group where I encourage all members to ask for vouches before making trades. If someone vouched for someone and the deal went wrong, there is nothing I could do to make the voucher cover the loss.....although I would have a conversation with them about why they vouched for the particular seller. While all scammers are douche bags, they are not all idiots. Many will make multiple small deals to build up a solid reputation with many vouches before moving on to a couple bigger deals that they scam on. I read a discussion in a different facebook group where the majority agreed that if you vouch for someone, you are liable for their debt if they dont pay/send cards. Even though I disagree with this, I now give references as opposed to vouches ie Did a trade with John Doe and all went well.

Dont ever send emt unless you are 100% sure of the person you are sending it to, regardless of you past success rate. pay the 4% fees for you own protection. If you send money to some one without proper protection and something goes wrong, then that is on you. You cant be scammed unless you allow yourself to be scammed ( i have been scammed 4 times on facebook, so I too am at fault) When people come to me as an admin and tell me they sent money through emt/friends and family and then didnt get their cards, there is noting I can do to help them.
 
iheartjacquie said:
I run a group where I encourage all members to ask for vouches before making trades. If someone vouched for someone and the deal went wrong, there is nothing I could do to make the voucher cover the loss.....although I would have a conversation with them about why they vouched for the particular seller. While all scammers are douche bags, they are not all idiots. Many will make multiple small deals to build up a solid reputation with many vouches before moving on to a couple bigger deals that they scam on. I read a discussion in a different facebook group where the majority agreed that if you vouch for someone, you are liable for their debt if they dont pay/send cards. Even though I disagree with this, I now give references as opposed to vouches ie Did a trade with John Doe and all went well.

Dont ever send emt unless you are 100% sure of the person you are sending it to, regardless of you past success rate. pay the 4% fees for you own protection. If you send money to some one without proper protection and something goes wrong, then that is on you. You cant be scammed unless you allow yourself to be scammed ( i have been scammed 4 times on facebook, so I too am at fault) When people come to me as an admin and tell me they sent money through emt/friends and family and then didnt get their cards, there is noting I can do to help them.
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Well said on all fronts.
 
The three that I'm in are the following:
hobby insider forums
Hockey Card buy sell trade
Euro hockey cards: Buy, trade, sell, razz
No drama hockey card sales

would love to hear about any other decent ones
 
The Vouching this is messed up...people that think it means you back up the member financial are crazy IMO. This isn't the mob.

If anyone asks me for a vouch I simply tell them I've done whatever # successful deals and then specify that I don't back the member financially.
 
Facebook is great for doing deals, but use caution, there is where all of the bad seeds go when they are kicked off websites/ebay etc. Lots of scammers, use paypal g&s. i often add the extra $ to cover the fees. Anyone thinking to use Facebook, should really check sports cards scammers page before you start, there are 100's (maybe 1000's) of scammers listed and should convince you to protect to yourself.
 
Facebook is an unavoidable evil these days, like eBay. And that's all I have to say about it.
 
I’m selling more on Facebook then eBay and could not be happier! Been over a year and no issues. Lots of repeat customers also. eBay can stick it with all their fees!

On the flip side, buying also with no issues. Just have to do your due diligence into the seller.
 

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