I guess this topic goes here. Anyways, I am thinking about starting to post on the B/S/T, but I have a few questions.
That’s it.
scammers-you can tell if they are scammers by looking at their positive/negative feedback count and look at the comments or you can look in traders feedback in the child boards to find info on legits or scammers
money-if you dont feel like making a paypal and all that then just either 1. ship money to their location or 2. do what I do and just trade
hoped this helped you man
~Sam~
Well to be honest I’ve only been scammed once. It wasn’t exactly a scam but it was a loss of 70$.
For scamming you could just look at their trade back feedback.
If they have 0 and you have 0 Ship at the same time.
Here’s how my thing works.
If you have 0feedback You ship with tracking or some kind of proof that you shipped.
I’ll ship the next day.
What I find is that to have a legit trade you don’t want to take a big risk.
However the other person might be skeptical.
Once you start building feedback people with 10 or more will trust you better and then you’ll ship at the same time.
At the same time when dealing with people with 0-3 you can ask them to ship first.
For the money part what I suggest is if you don’t have paypal it’s not that hard to start.
I don’t have a bank account or Credit card
I’m 14 and I have a paypal account just for usage of internet transactions.
You could start one right now without having to give bank account info or anything.
however because you start off with 0$ in the paypal you could sell a few things and get some $$ in there.
I started out with 0 and sold some things and that began my money career.
You start off with Money order if your buying something.
That’s my 2 Cents.
Plus if you ever deal with someone you could always deal with me he-he, I own a lot of throws and you might want to PM me about it and I’ll list a few for you (;
Anyways have fun and remember , Don’t fall for scammers.
Reconsider your position on Paypal is the first thing I’d say. It’s almost a necessity.
Also, number of posts means nothing. The “trade number” and their feedback is what is critical regarding trades.
Starting at zilch, you have to prove yourself. Somehow, people right off the bat trusted me for trades. I guess my reputation precedes me. At any rate, I came in as a BUYER, not a trader, and as such, I paid FIRST up front, then they shipped. I’ve had TWO exceptions, and both to the same person, whom I sent cash to for 2 separate purchases, one of which I just received earlier today as a matter of fact. The rest were Paypal.
As a buyer or trader, even a seller, if something smells fishy, abort, regroup and do not proceed. There may be a reason for your gut instincts. Trust it. For the most part, those on the BST are honest. Yes, there’s always some idiots to mess stuff up, that’s life. Read feedback, trust your guy feeling and if you need to talk to others, then do so. You’re either giving up hard earned cash or hardware for something. You might as well get what you paid for.
Also, there’s a couple of trends to be aware of:
1: Some people throw a crappy bearing in a good yoyo. I have spare bearings to deal with this. There’s often a reason why some yoyos are sold on BST, and they didn’t like the yoyo but liked the bearing. Bearings aren’t that expensive. It would be nice if people would be more up front. BTW, some sellers are up front about this. I bought a yoyo from Jayyo who flat out said what he had in the yoyo, which actually justified the lowered price he was selling it at. I bought a CLYW from someone who said they put in a YYF bearing in there.
2: People will get a yoyo that sent sent to them in mint/near mint condition, then beat it up and demand money back. This is a tough one to deal with.
Things to NOT complain about:
Strings, at least not the string in there. Some send worn out strings. Strings are cheap, move on.
Sometimes the response is worn or worn out. Big deal. Replace it.
Sometimes the silicone job is crap. Deal with it by redoing it or replacing it with a pre-made pad.
This TO complain about:
Things should be in the order described.
Deal sweeteners that were part of the agreement need to be honored. A deal is a deal. I’ve heard of strings not being sent, or a cheap “sweetener” yoyo, or cards or strings or a bearing or a spare axle or other little things. HONOR THE AGREEMENT.
I just go with my “gut feeling”.
I am trustworthy. I get back to messages within ~36 hours, provide photos when requested, and have a general love and trust towards other yo-yoers. But on the shady side, I ship in padded envelopes without tracking, and don’t have much appreciation for the condition of a yo-yo.
Scammers will say the exact same thing.
You have to differentiate between who is 1) out there for the betterment of the yo-yo players (and community as a whole), and 2) those that want to make a buck-fiftey for false information. You have to make that distinction.
If I am every wary of a possible sale, buy, or trade, I always look at the previous posts of the user. They usually tell a whole lot. I don’t have criteria for what to look for, but grammar and posts in other sections than the “BST” are both a plus. I look for their name or posts on other forums if I am still unsure. Research and information is priceless. Put in the effort. They can’t see you looking, and you are goofing around on the Internet anyway. You have time to spare without fear of being found out.
A golden rule I go by: “If you have to ask, therein lies your answer”.
I trust my gut, even when I don’t know the reason behind the feeling I get from another user. I have been wrong before. I have trusted when I should not have, and I have distrusted and been left with a great trade experience.
So in short, research, ask for photos, research more, and trust your gut.
Hope this helps
-Jacob
I agree with all stated so far…
I’m new to B/S/T and just traded with someone the first time. I’m sure it will be a positive experience…we shipped same day, and each took a few second video of the postal receipts to verify mailing with tracking.
Back to the PayPal thing…PayPal is a safe way to pay, and it also offers some resolution options when a transaction fails. Further, if you will be buying YoYos and intend to have a bunch…you will be trading, buying, selling more than you think, so it’s good to have PayPal already set up. It is a good way to send and receive money, and also a good way to make purchases online when the option is available. If you have a bank account, you can link it to your bank account, so that the funds are taken directly from your bank account when you send money through paypal. When you have funds available in your PayPal account, you can send them electronically to your bank account.
People don’t have a lot of money these days, so it’s cool to sell some random unused personal stuff you have, generate some funds in your PayPal account, and use those funds to buy new stuff. I recently moved, and had an internet yard sale of sorts…generated hundreds of dollars a month just getting rid of unused stuff or things I’d fallen out of love with. If you are trading with someone who is also new, keep risk low as advised. I just swapped trading cards for the first time. Eventually, I’ll move up to a cheap throw and then more major stuff later, as my experience builds.
The key is to be aware of the reputation of others, but build your own at the same time. Never put yourself in a position where you will be heartbroken if the deal is not what it was cracked up to be. People have so many options to sell things with the auction sites, through people they know and such, part of the trading on here represents a sense of community. Some of us value it more than others, but as stated most people are honest and upfront. I also agree that while you should not consider the number of posts…it’s not the quantity but the quality…so do be attentive to how people present themselves on the forum. Are they commenting like jerks, or do they have something constructive to add when they comment? Consider the quality of the posts and research the username. I recommend you proceed with B/S/T but start off slow and have fun.
Paypal is important but you can get around that if you have no credit card. 7-11, Walgreens, and cvs (most of them) sell Money Pak cards. You buy one for five bucks and add whatever cash you want to, enter the code to your paypal, and you got paypal credit.
If you totally want to skip dealing with Paypal altogether, and you still don’t want it after reading all of the above…you can send or receive a check or money order. If you send a money order, you have to mail it and wait for the item. If someone sends you a money order, they have to wait. A check is worse cause you have to wait for it to clear before the deal proceeds. It just prolongs everything and some people will not deal unless you have Paypal…it’s just an easier, faster transaction.