How do sellers online present their ads?
- slightly used.
- no defect,
- no history of repair.
- 98% in good condition, blah, blah.
Reasons of selling the gadget
Now let me ask you, why do these people sale electronic gadget online such as mobile phone, camera, tablet, pc, tv, etc? One of the most probable reason, there is a hidden defect in the gadget that happens every now and then. As the gadget behaves normally the owner may decide to sell it online hopefully it will function normally at the selling place. Second, the seller will make money from a stolen gadget. Third, reason for selling, is that the owner was unsatisfied with the new gadget. Fourth, the owner may want to upgrade his gadget. Other reasons for selling are the owner needs cash for emergency and etc.
Now we focus on the first and second reasons which the gadget has a recurring defect that behaves normally and sometimes malfunction every now and then, or a stolen one which you may want to avoid .
How to detect a defective or stolen gadget
The key here is to catch the fish in the seller's mouth. That is to read between the lines of the messages of the seller.
First, when the seller sends another person to meet the buyer. At first, the substitution seems reasonable because the seller was busy. I refused to meet the other person on the agreed time and day. But when I asked to meet the seller for the second time after a week, the seller still had to send another person instead of herself because she had to visit her hometown. The second excuse of seller has made me suspicious that the gadget was stolen or probably has a hidden defect.
Second, when the seller refuses to allow you to test the gadget all you can. When I send a message to test everything I can on the gadget, there was no mention of possible test all you can in the message of the seller. If the seller is truely not hiding anything he or she must agree to allow you to do all possible tests on the gadget.
Third, when the seller refuses to communicate with you through cam to cam via skype or yahoo. When this happens the seller is afraid to show herself on camera. This is suspicious act especially when the seller is offering her transaction via shipping.
Fourth, when the seller replies with dishonesty. This is difficult to discover at first. But as you do exchange messages with the seller, you can spot incongruity of information or possible hint of trick. Your reason helps you detect the kind of dishonesty that the seller sends you in her or his message. The tip here, do not delete your previous messages with the seller.
Fifth, very unusual low price of a gadget compared to other gadget online. Based on the current prices online the very low price is very suspicious. But there is an exception to it which is to be discussed later. Keep on reading.
If detecting defective and stolen gadget above is not enough I think it is worth discussing also about how to detect legitimate and free from defect gadget.
Guide on how to detect a legitimate and good gadget
1. Gadget with Receipt, Box and Warranty This is most reliable presentation of ad with item for sale with presented receipt, box and manuals, especially if it is covered with warranty. However if warranty is expired you can still check the gadget carefully. This tip supposedly should not be included in this category of detecting legitimate sale because it is so obvious. However it seems not a good idea to exclude it here.
2. Very Reasonable and Honest Presentation of an Ad You can sense that the ad is filled with words of sincerity and truthfulness and no hint of deceit. One example of this is the presentation of the story or life of the gadget, like how old or how new the gadget is. It seems everything is in detailed presentation. This means that the owner and seller knows very well of his or her gadget. And this is a convincing way of selling the product.
3. A Gradual Lowering of Price of the Gadget as week passes by. Since I reveal this tip, illegitimate and bogus sellers may try to follow this idea. However legitimate and honest sellers has this tendency to have a gradual decrease of price of their gadget as days or weeks passes by in order to have a sale. Of course you will not solely rely on this tip number 3. This tip will only give strong confirmation that the seller is genuine and honest when combined with other tips as discussed previously.
4. Fair Price of a Gadget. A seller who has bought an expensive gadget will not sell it at a very low price. It is common sense the seller would at least want to regain the money more than half the price of the gadget. I did not say that low priced second-hand gadgets are not good. But bigger percent of gadgets at a very low price have hidden defect. So half the price and above are most likely good. Since this tip is not hundred percent true though helpful, other tips must be used also for your confirmation of an honest and legitimate seller online.
How to be not a victim
When you finally have found a seemingly good and true ad of a gadget that you like, you may do the following:
1. The seller must agree that you can test all you can with the gadget. It is very important to have this agreement before meeting up. At least the seller may have an idea how long will he or she wait upon the meeting.
2. Test the seller's tolerance. Even though the seller agree with you that you can test the gadget everything you can, the seller might forfeit this agreement when the test lasts for long hours. At least you have the idea how impatient or cranky or how tolerant the seller is. You can do this by asking the seller by sending him or her a message: "What can you guarantee that the gadget is free from hidden defect?" Other seller reacts to this question negatively. When this happens, the seller is impatient and most probably would easily back out during a long test. (Note, this tip is optional if the seller is a kilometer away. But if the seller is hundred kilometer away you can use it. It is up to your own discretion.)
3. Do a research on how to spot a genuine gadget from a fake one. Many were victims of fake one without the knowledge on how to find a mark on a genuine one or hidden codes for mobile phones.
4. Avoid a seller who uses a trick. I find seller very unfriendly who uses time pressure on a buyer like me. Example, the item is available for two days only because the owner will travel abroad. After two days onward I found out that the gadget is still posted online. It is a form of dishonesty that the buyer may tend to back out from these kind of seller.
Related Topic:
How to sell effectively used gadget online
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