Information to note before making payment for puchases

Hi guys,its coming to year end and seems there might be more possible frauds in popular watch forums so some things I like to share with bros who are new to buying online from overseas collectors;



1)Few types of sellers

a)member of few to many years with lotsa of postcounts,particpate regularly in forum thread discussions.well known collector or big time seller,very trustworthy and reputation is rock solid. No issue IMO but not 100% fraudproof.



b)newer member with lower postcounts,sometimes particpate in forum thread discussions and only sold few things in forum. Main concern is the 'smoothness' of deal as probably he hasnt done much international sales.



c)new member with extreme low postcount or zero post count and first post is the post of his sales thread.





For the above types of members,you know b) and c) is the one that you need to do most homework on. Everyone starts as a new member so doesnt mean new/newer sellers should be avoided. Check members profile,what are the post he made,threads he started. Does he reply intellgently with watch lingos,technical terms or simply trying to chalk up post counts. That will tells you something about the particular seller...well for the start.





2) Authentication of watch or person(using his forum or real full name)

I will not go thru this as you guys know what to do,can always consult the more experienced guys or make your own judgement with your collecting experiences. Always take note of the watch's serial number and save a copy of the photos taken by seller from his sales thread in your computer. Do a random google of similar watches on old sales threads and discussion,same setting of photo layout and serial number.



If pics arent clear in the sales thread,ask for better closeup ones to be sent to you via email. This way you be able to get his personal email address which will come useful later. You have a right as a buyer to ask for better pics but if you wanna hoot first talk later,then its be a risk taken.



google his name whether its forum nick or real name and sure you can find more details.



3) Obtain his personal email address + paypal address

As mentioned in point 2),you can use his personal email and also paypal email address to do a check for his sellers background and any signs of possible frauds. Probably you will know more about this seller. I manage to find out one buyer of my watch is a US Special Forces colonel and one seller is a book writer in USA. Know your seller/buyer helps you in this watch collecting scene.



reason to ask for personal emails: easier to communicate via smart phones while on the move outside than having to log into forums and ask for better pics. More than often ,we can find some results in search engines with our email address. Note those newly created email address with no results maybe a telltale sign that its newly created just to register with that forum or probably fraud purposes. Not necessary so but worth to ponder about. From his email address googling,you also can find if he is member of other wach forums,his other hobbies or if he is into any dispute or even banned from other forums.



Try to keep in touch using forum's PM service and also personal email address. If you cannot reach the seller via PM,you can try using his paypal email address.



Fraudsters always create new email address and country of where he is from and where his paypal stated should tally. You dont wanna paypal a guy in Africa when he claims he is from USA. Keep all email conversations in forum PMs and emails as proof.





4)Paypal(for ppl you dont know well or new seller to you)

Remember if you know the guy or can trust the guy,sending as gift/money owed is up to you but NOTE,sending money as gift/money owed means no buyer protection for you! So try to send money as comemercial or goods purchase. Either way,copy n paste web address of sales thread as proof on the comments box. You can pay a bit more money to seller and tell him you will not send as gift. You need proof to fight a case!



Anything wrong within a certain date,you can still lodge a paypal dispute or cancel the funds.



Always take note of the paypal email addy(example like xxx@xxmail.com.cn or xxx@xxxmail.com.it) should tally with country of seller. Also his paypal's country thats stated .



5) what are bros for?

Can always ask around in forums or SCS about certain seller or watch and bros here will try to help authenticate.

Very gd info.

Thumbs up





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Always use google as well. Google the seller email, nick, name, you never know what comes up.

Great online buying guide bro! Especially last point, whenever possible try not to paypal as gift. Rather pay more to cover seller's paypal fees, at least if there are any disputes you can contact Paypal and possibly get a refund.

Just enquire from seniors here, if I have bidded and purchased a watch from ebay from a seller from US using USPS one month ago, till now, I have not received the items, what shall I do? is it normal that item from US take a longer period to receive??



Cheers

"silverguy"

Just enquire from seniors here, if I have bidded and purchased a watch from ebay from a seller from US using USPS one month ago, till now, I have not received the items, what shall I do? is it normal that item from US take a longer period to receive??



Cheers

For me,I always use USPS but still there are various postage types to choose from. Of coures cheaper ones arent fully trackable(airmail international,1st class internatonal,pirority...only trackable till the article leaves USA) and better ones are fully trackable online(express,expedited). so which one did you use and have you got the article number to check on USPS website?



Depending on where seller is from,sometimes a ULU state/county might not have the right sorting facility and article will need to be transfer to few places before it leaves USA. And from USA ,more than often ,it will not be direct flight,as like budget airline ,your article will transit by several countries before reaching SGP.



normally 1st class mail,I will receive in 2 weeks.

"oOsiMm"

[quote="silverguy"]Just enquire from seniors here, if I have bidded and purchased a watch from ebay from a seller from US using USPS one month ago, till now, I have not received the items, what shall I do? is it normal that item from US take a longer period to receive??



Cheers

For me,I always use USPS but still there are various postage types to choose from. Of coures cheaper ones arent fully trackable(airmail international,1st class internatonal,pirority...only trackable till the article leaves USA) and better ones are fully trackable online(express,expedited). so which one did you use and have you got the article number to check on USPS website?



Depending on where seller is from,sometimes a ULU state/county might not have the right sorting facility and article will need to be transfer to few places before it leaves USA. And from USA ,more than often ,it will not be direct flight,as like budget airline ,your article will transit by several countries before reaching SGP.



normally 1st class mail,I will receive in 2 weeks.[/quote]

Thanks. I only able to track at a sorting centre at Chicago and that's it. I am wondering whether it has lost in transit. Sho moody..coming to one month..:(

bro,more than likely it left USA at chicago sorting facility riao hence no update and now in transit. Also you cant tracked it riao cos the next thing is to wait till it arrives at your doorstep. Good luck (no pun intended) ;)

"oOsiMm"

bro,more than likely it left USA at chicago sorting facility riao hence no update and now in transit. Also you cant tracked it riao cos the next thing is to wait till it arrives at your doorstep. Good luck (no pun intended) ;)

Thanks Bro...Appreciated :)