Agreed it will always be a case of caveat emptor.

 

Here's another thought. Maybe have the seller also post a piece of paper with his username along with pics of the items for sale. I know it's kind of annoying but it helps prove the articles are at least in his/her possession and not just some image pulled off a site.

 

And then follow up with a pic showing the buyer's screen name. That way, you know the pic is recent.

 

Buy the seller !!

first look at the duration of his membership.

then u can go to the seller's profile/statistics to see the threads he started or participated in..
obviously, if the he is only posting in 'for sales' or participating by saying "nice car" here and there just to increase his number of posts.. he is most likely a scammer.

then look at the pics he is posting.. and if pics are in doubt, ask for more pics.. still in doubt? ask for pics with current date hand written on paper.. real sellers don't mind doing this because they really want to sell the item.

maybe even tell the seller u will have someone local go examine it just to gauge their reaction.

and if YOU have ANY doubt, walk away !!

be sure to make the payment with buyer protection.

when the item arrives, try to open it infront of the mail carrier/ups/fedex driver to verify the content in the box.

did i mention if u have any doubt about the seller, just walk away ??

 

A suggestion - on some of the other forums I frequent, the "for sale" threads require a date-stamped photo of the item otherwise the thread gets locked.

Every for sale thread should have photos of the item, along with a piece of paper that says something like: "6speedonline forum" + "username" + "todays date"

This should help in preventing people from selling stuff they don't actually have in their procession.

 

I read but almost never post. . . .it'll take me 20 years to get enough posts to sell something

 

Unfortunately, I think you hit the nail right on the head - it is ultimately the buyer's responsibility to screen the seller and vise versa.

This is a good suggestion, but it doesn't necessarily protect a buyer if he is intentionally out there to scam someone. Several of the "bad actors" we have recently banned joined this forum specifically to scam other users. They went to great efforts to create multiple identities...I do not think that a date stamp would necessarily have protected the buyers as they could have easily created photos for that purpose.