Any decent seller on the BST should provide you with:
Accurate description of the state of the yoyo, accompanied with enough pictures, and the willingness to send you more if you need them to further inspect the state of the yoyo. If the seller refuses to send you more, red flag.
A set price that mentions if it includes shipping or not. If the seller is not clear about the cost of the yoyo or the cost of shipping, red flag.
Appropiate communication. Ghosting without notificating about it is red flag.
Is comfortable with G&S. If they complain about not using F&F, red flag.
Provides a tracking code. If they not, massive red flag.
Has a good feedback on the community.
Most people on BSTs are responsible and cool with all the things above. If you find someone who presents any of those red flags, or simply gives you a questionable feeling, you’re more than free to not make bussiness with them.
id only trade something that is either low price (string, begleri, couple pads or bearings) or with someone that is a friend and/or active on a social platform
I have over 200 confirmed trades (this sounds like a copypasta…) through this forum with probably another 100 or so through FB/YYN (RIP). I’ve been BSTing since I think 2010 and in that decade I’ve had less than 5 bad trades.
All in all I’d say it’s very trustworthy. And if you’re ever skeptical of someone, it’s quite easy to either check their profile for their trading history or do a ‘rep check’ and a few people are likely to chime in with their experiences with dealing with that particular person.
Being as niche a hobby as yoyoing is, the overall population doing any trading is fairly small, so scammers and poor traders are usually quickly called out and dealt with.
I believe YYE now requires a certain amount of posts/activity time before you’re able to post in the BST, though I may be wrong. Perhaps @codinghorror or @jhb8426 can answer that.
you can’t always do that though… or you can. but, the best relationships i’ve made, and some of the best ‘transactions’, were international high-value trades. i’m not suggesting you just go that route. but, developing relationships is the key to successful bst transactions
We keep talking about it but can’t seem to get it done…
I’ve always been a big advocate of that approach. Theyo forum had that in place and it does help though it’s not fool proof. Some guys just go rogue sometimes for various reasons, personal issues etc. While I’ve seen some nefarious characters wait it out and build a rep, even do a couple of good trades to build a rep then hit a few at a time with scams.
But overall, the BST is a good place, you just have to watch what you are doing and choose wisely.
I’ve built a huge portion of my collection through the BST over the last 10ish years.
I believe over 100 trades/purchases which enabled me to have access to some YoYo’s that I would have otherwise never been available to me.
Because I’ve been dealing with many of the veterans of this site, it’s been a real pleasure thus far.
As has been stated already, just educate yourself on who you’re dealing with. This site is filled with great sellers/traders.
I’ve had pretty positive BST experiences on both here and FB. However on FB, I only bought from known throwers I was familiar with (ones who ran yoyo companies) or players I knew personally. My first experience on YYE was a solid positive experience which happened a few months back.
Best thing is to check their track record (can search their name) and do the G&S method just in case the deal goes south.
Yes, but it doesn’t take much to reach level 1. We’re (m) referring to something more like a a minimum of 30 days and 30 posts or similar. I see people with as few as 3 posts and a member for 1 day get level 1.
That is true, but scammers are (mostly) very lazy people. Most of them won’t even get to trust level 1.
To be fair, we have seen a handful (and I mean like one or two) of sophisticated scammers, that probably would have even gotten to 30 days and 30 posts – which is an extremely high bar.
I’ve seen it happen before. There was a guy on TheYo forums who did it 3 or 4 times. Kept coming back with a new name and a different IP etc. A couple of times he waited almost a year to pull the scams.
very incorrect, assuming scammers are lazy is lazy… and @codinghorror of all people should know better.
the whole reason i started my own BST was because scammers are taking advantage of the fact of this, and very similar assumptions on the Facebook Yoyo BST & Talk.
AAAAaaaaaaaannyone can get into the Facebook Yoyo BST & Talk, or YYE Forums for that matter. Not anyone can get into the
Fatguy Snacks Yoyo BST #FairTradeYoyos#FSYB
Only real issue I ever had was a packing one. Recieved a yoyo that was packed in multiple layers of USPS envelopes. This can be ok if it’s just the yoyo, but this particular one had the original box, which due to the packaging arrived in less than desirable shape. No harm done to the yoyo, but with a G2 I want my boxes in good shape as well. Maybe a little nitpicky, but with something collectible, the packaging can mean a lot to the value.
Tons of excellent advice here. Just to echo everyone else, use PayPal Goods & Services!!! Also make sure to ask if there is any damage and for pics of any damage, no matter how small. Picture should be representative of the condition of the yoyo. Might seem commonsensical but I remember a dispute awhile back where the seller was trying to argue that the pics provided weren’t meant to be representative. If there any ambiguity about what you’re getting, back out.
I’m also super selective with the people I buy or trade with (esp trading since there’s no PayPal to use in any disputes). Anyone who doesn’t have an established reputation, I don’t deal with. Make sure you check the Feedback section of the BST/search for the user.
Lastly, there have been a couple of yoyos that have been counterfeited—YYR Draupnir and Sleipnir, I believe—that I just won’t obtain secondhand. This only really applies to these two models, I believe, and all exchanges I’ve seen have been legit, but you’ll see “is this real/fake?” topics crop up from time to time when trades happen.
But that said, I’ve bought, sold, and traded a ton of yoyos over the past couple of years and not had an issue. The first one is always scary but most people—especially here—act in good faith. Just communicate, be transparent, insist on PayPal G&S even if you pay the fee and tracking, and check their rep and you should be fine.
