Face to face watch transactions - any thoughts/advice/tips?

[train-time]

Did a couple face to face about 10 years ago. They were both well know TRF members. Wouldn't do a face to face today, especially if it was not a well know TRF member. Just too much risk.

[joli160]

Just don’t, be happy with less and sell it to a dealer and avoid the headache or worse.

[southtexas]

Do it at your bank. Before you hand him the watch, get him to give the money to the teller. They will count and authenticate it for you. If the money is good, deposit it or put it in the safe deposit box. Plan your entrance into and exit from the bank accordingly. Could be a set-up to get you coming or going. That’s a long shot but I’m sure it happens a lot.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by DRS Enabled

Thanks all for the responses. Whole thing didn't feel comfortable to me at the beginning and after reading these responses I think I will just wait and wait for a seller who is willing to do a transfer wire instead of cash / shipping instead of in-person.

[pdnb]

Originally Posted by DRS Enabled

Thank you all for the replies. Buyer doesn't have any references but sadly, neither do I. So difficult for me to request wire payment up front because if I was in his shoes I probably wouldn't do that either.

We've been exchanging communication via our work emails so we know each other's identities, place of work, office address, etc. I see him on Linkedin with a proper profile. Makes me feel a bit better.

The bank suggestion is a good one. I will aim for that if I follow through with this. I've always done transactions via trusted dealers before but receiving a higher price is very tempting, notwithstanding the risks involved.

I used LinkedIn; but this only works if both buyer and seller are heavy user and rely on it for their profession.

I have done F2F on in the bank. I will only accept cashiers check if the seller is from same bank as me.

Banks have to report any deposit larger than 10k cash. Banks don’t like cash; they like digital transactions.

Of course I do video face time ahead of time. When buyer is checking out watch.

I prefer wire and ship next day insured with 3rd party.

F2F is not fun if the transaction is large. Lots of details need to think about as others are pointing out.


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[1William]

You have made the right decision on not doing the deal F2F. So many chances if something happening that will give this a less than happy outcome. I deal almost exclusively with our Trusted Sellers, buying and selling, and for the slight cost of the transaction the safety and security of the transaction makes it worth it.

[red1108nyc]

Good decision. Face-to-face transactions can lead to many unwanted outcomes if not properly vetted before hand.

[shaunylw]

I’ve met face to face quite a few times, but i wouldn’t do it again unless i knew the person. I can remember one time, i think it was here, i sold a sub to a member that was local.It’s not even about you and the buyer, you could be the greatest humans on the planet. What happens when you walk out the door of Starbucks with 20k in cash and you get robbed by the guy watching you count bills at a table? No good!

As a seller i like to give folks my LinkedIn, i work for a very large publicly traded company. I sent a picture of my ID and a pic of the front of my Amex, no numbers, so they can see i am who i say i am. I’m fully aware that when you are wiring 10-15k, you’re fully trusting that person with money you likely can never get back if they scam you.

As others said, bank or police station is the route to go.

[NachoNeal]

Almost all the banks I go to these days don't even have a guard. And the one bank that I go to that does have a guard, he's like 102 years old and doesnn't carry a weapon.