HOW TO AVOID GETTING SCAMMED

How many people have ever been scammed on the internet before? I know I have and the feeling sucks. As for me, I buy and sell sneakers and clothes on websites like ebay, grailed, instagram and even the facebook market place, this post is geared to help people on how to avoid getting scammed on these platforms by taking the right precautions when trying to buy or sell your fire pieces.

What is a scammer?
If you ever seen The Departed? a scammer is the online equivalent of when Frank Costello played by Jack Nicholson, sits Leo's character down and tells him he smells a rat. The feeling Frank felt is the same one I get when these motherfuckers even dare to fuck with me and my things.

Moral of the story is that Frank hated rats, and so does the reselling community. But unfortunately they live among us just like rats. And there are tons of them lurking the internet with fake accounts and made up names trying to pull a fast one on individuals. Trying to make a living or trying to look good so they can go to the club or on a date. What scammers like to do is either con you out your hard earned money or fire grails.

My Stories
There was a time in 2013 where I was looking for Jordan bred 1's and I was on the Facebook market and I fell for a scammer who had that sneaker for a really good price, cant remember the exact number I just know it was good. The things I didn't do to prevent the scam from happening is I didn't ask for more additional pictures and I didn't give the pictures on his page a through look. You may think that wont go long a long way but it will, if the picture looks like its low quality or kinda looks like he screen shot the pictures and uploaded it. Be careful. Have communication with the buyer, and seller ask questions it will go long way for you it will give you the chance to the feel them out and see how legitimate that person claims to be. Lucky enough for me PayPal was able to refund my money in full but there ways you can get scammed PayPal believe it or not which ill talk about a little bit later.

The second time I got scammed happened last year and it is undoubtedly my biggest "L" ever in reselling history this "L" comes from a stupid stupid mistake I did on grailed where I was trading Legend blue Jordan 4 and supreme air forces both never worn for a green supreme box logo and V lone x Nike collaboration and looking back it I should have know something was up because he was willing to trade one of my items the legend blue 4's and one of those 2 shirts. Which should have been a red light because those items have way more hype then my 4's.

I'm gonna save you every detail of the story, but one big point I would like to make is do not get emotional when you see something you want for a good price take a step back and just think logically don't rush into anything if you aren't sure, talk to friends or ask groups on Facebook, Instagram, or forums to get a second opinion. Trust me, your wallet and closet will thank you later. Grailed has an alert that warns to not condone business out outside the grailed so they can protect you and our items listen to that shit. My advice here is avoid trades online for me personally trading online is bad for business unless they in a 30 mile radius from you and could meet up personally.
What I will say this scammer did something I think scammers really wouldn't do ever and that he facetimed me when we were at the post office to make sure we had the same item and facetimed the whole time until we left. We had a conversation almost the whole time talking about clothing, but little did I know this guy was a fucking coward. This motherfucker sold me no more questions never would I think scammers would do that never the less have a decent conversation with me.

So yea, he got me from the start this guy seemed genuinely interested in making this trade legitimate. He provided me with pictures and all of them taken in the same location in different angles at my request when a buyer or seller does this it usually this means the item and the seller could me more trusted. Still I feel I should have taken better precocious and not been so gullible, but I have this problem that I always give people the benefit of the doubt and that is something I need to get rid because I learned the harsh way doing this trade.

Other Signs to Look For

I just want point out just couple of more things to look out for that I feel I didn't mention in my stories and that when buying ebay or grailed you want to read the description of the item and make sure it say 100% authentic. That way if any problems arise for explain, the item you get does not match the description. You have the right to file a complaint and this will increase your chances of winning that complaint. Look at these pictures for example.

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If the description says they're aren't sure of the authenticity of the item it's most likely fake. I know the price looks good don't we all wish we can buy a 2011 Supreme Comme Des garcons hoodie for 200 bucks but sadly we can't... so don't do it yourself unless you don't care then by all means do you.

When buying or selling from Paypal either be paypal invoice or paypal gifted be careful scammers will be quick to try to screw you over and say that you never sent them the correct item or that you purchased the right product. This has never happened to me, but I read some war stories and boy do I feel for them. Best way to avoid this is by telling the person who is going to purchase and if you are the seller you should do this already. So if the buyer sends you the invoice and you are selling Adidas Jeremy Scott Wings 2.0.

In the invoice you should have detailed description of the item an example of that should be.

100% authentic
Brand new Deadstock
Never worn
Adidas Jeremy Scott wings 2.0

That is what the invoice should so you are better protected in the long if they try to get funny on you later. Also, don't fall for people saying they emailed you the invoice, PayPal wont send you an email of the invoice it would be done through their website.

To recap

• Buy from trusted eBay and grailed accounts with great feedback.
• Minus my situation be communicative, ask for pictures be specific, ask for different angles see if the pictures are taken in the same location.
• Know your shit!!!
• Always read the description make sure it 100% authentic.
• Always be descriptive when writing invoices on PayPal to better protect yourself.
• Try to stray away from trades my personal opinion. If you do try sending each other the value of the items through PayPal then ship and if everything checks outs return the money to each other that way you are both protected.

So that's it those are my stories and tips on how to avoid getting scammed. So let me if you have ever been scammed for anything online and if this helps in anyway and if you have any tips that you guys know that can help me and others please let the Steemit world know.