About selling my playstation (price, stores, paypal, best)

[DFWgal]

Hi everyone,

I moved to the US almost two years ago and I still have some questions about how things work here. If any of you could help me, it would be great.

For example, I bought a console (a playstation2), accesories and games like a year ago and now I want to sell all these things because we're not using them anymore.

I found a webpage "domesticsale" and posted my ad. In order to let people check the console and things are working perfectly I posted I rather selling these things to DFW people or at least from Tx, besides considering the shipping, etc.

I've recieved two mails. One from a lady who told me she's not sending me phone number or anything because she's hearing impaired and something about belonging to a christian organization (... ??), etc etc. She talked about signing papers, some kind of lawyer, unknown people hired to "check my things" at home, and she asked for several personal info I'm not very comfortable to share. Another gentleman wrote me similar things. I googled his name and I just found it related to scam but it can be another person with same name... argh I'm confused!!

Do you think all those things they're asking are normal? What do you expect of a situation similar to mine? Where do you recomment to sell, etc? Any help would be really appreciated,

Yours,

DFWgal.

P.S: If I posted on the wrong section, please move it. ^_^

[eevee]

quick tips for selling stuff online:

-don't give out your home address or phone number until the transaction is being close to finalize

-don't deal w/ ANYONE uttering the words "western union" or "wire money". 99.9999% of the time, these are scams

-don't bother dealing w/ anyone not in the USA, or really, not in your state

-in fact, deal w/ cash only. I wouldn't even bother w/ Paypal since, in case there is a scam, Paypal only covers you if you deal through eBay. if you must ship out, best to use paypal than rely on a check or money order

-usually, I would say to meet a buyer outside of your home, but in the case of electronics, people want to test them out before buying them. therefore, hide anything of value when the person come over. you don't want to give anyone any reason to make a return visit to steal your stuff

honestly, you're unlikely to have much trouble w/ the above. the Playstation 2, especially the fat ones, are close to being obsolete. I can't see you getting much more over $100 for the console itself. your absolutely best bet is to find a Game Stop or EB Games or any other stores that sell new and used video games and consoles as they may buy your system and either give you cash or a store credit. if you can't find one of these stores, I'd try Craigslist and take note of the above rules (lots of scammers on CL). lastly, if you just don't want to go through the hassle (again, unless you have a ton of games and they are fully compatible w/ the PS3, it isn't likely you'll get much cash for your system), you could always donate the system to charity and get a tax write off

[DFWgal]

Thanks a lot for answering so soon!

- "don't deal w/ ANYONE uttering the words "western union" or "wire money". 99.9999% of the time, these are scams" -> precisely both of them offer this way of payment. How would a scam through western union work? I've sent money to my family using this service and everything is very simple.

I'll definitely look for the stores you recommended me. Today I called Game Trade and they offered me store credit but I hoped to get some money. Maybe I'll reconsider.

(It's embarrasing being "newbie" sometimes... LOL)

[Dd714]

Yeah they are scams, probably from Nigerea. Simply don't deal with them if they are out of town or involve shipping, period.

The way the scam typically works is this, they pay by a fake money order, you deposit it into your bank account and think all is well and good, they ask you to ship product and sometimes some sort of change for the money order you are sending. Bank later says money order is no good and charges your account back.

Sometimes they get you to send your bank info so they can "wire money into your bank". Yeah right, what happens next is you see your bank funds withdrawn. Never give anyone your bank information.

I sucessfully sold me PS2 and some games for about $100 which truly is about all you will get for it but I was happy with that. Used Craigslist, got a bunch of scammer email which I ignored, and only dealt with people locally who paid me in cash.

[DFWgal]

Yeah, I checked several ads for ps2 + accesories so I know the price people are expecting.

Locally and cash is what I was thinking at the beginning, but I didn't know where to post the ad. Maybe now that I know, I would go to craiglist. (It's scary to read "it's full of scammers, but..."!)

[Gil3]

DFW,

Definitely be careful with whom you deal. I would also personally advise against selling it at EB or Gamestop, as you will hardly get anything. Frankly, you might as well just give it away of you go that route.

Maybe you could post on CL, but as Dd 714 mentioned, be sure to sortout the scam e-mail. I would also list the positive attributes, such as "hardly used" and in "good to excellent condition". That will more than likely get you better responses.

You could also check at work to see if someone at work is looking for a PS2 system. In fact, that's how I bought my first game console. They may be old, but are still very popular. Another idea would be if there is a local college near you, maybe you could also post an ad on campus. Good luck.

Gil