Sounds like a "reshipping" scam. Tell them you need the money sent up front all in pennies, nickels and WalMart gift cards because you don't have a bank account.

What they do is send you a fraudulant check for the gear, including shipping. Then, you deposit check and wire shipping charges to their shipping "contact." Voila, their check bounces!

I do the same with these types of deals that I do with people on eBay who don't have Paypal.

I tell them I will take a USPS Money Order for the full amount (plus shipping/handling), because those funds are verifiable on-the-spot at your local PO. Once the payment is verified, I ship.

Any other form of payment (other MO, check), I deposit it in my bank then when it clears my bank (usually 7-10 days), I ship. If it don't clear, I don't ship. Period. No exceptions.

I've had a couple of people balk, and I figure they must have been scammers. I've had some never reply to my "terms." And, I've had several good deals this way, too.

Just proceed with CAUTION.

Bill

Yup i ran into the same scam a few times. I even had one of our forum member try that stunt with me lol. If they can't pay pay pal then they need to buzz off. I'm sure that i ran into a few legit deals that seem like a scam to me.

I would rather losse a deal then the loss of money or percussion gear anytime.

Once something is gone it's gone.

I forgot to mention this. I replied to one of these ( " my godson really needs the item, but I can't make it 'cause of chemo") by offering to ship the item and then the buyer could send the money. (I was fishing for his info!) He balked at that! Guess his godson won't get the 1959&1969 ludwig drums that he "needs".

Also, sometimes if you reply to these people, you get a bunch of spam in your inbox (somehow it gets past your e-mail filter...). I just say to include a phone number in your reply to my ad or I won't respond. I ignore all of the "is it still available?" e-mails, 'cause those people are usually tire-kickers anyways...

Caddy is right, its when you reply that they got you, these scammers send out thousands of blind emails, each saying the same thing "interested in your item please tell me if its available" long ago, I got mad and responded by saying "when are you scammers going to give up?" shorty after that I got more spam than ever, when you get messages about an item that its obvious they know nothing about it (legit buyers will ask specific questions about the item) DO NOT RESPOND NO MATTER HOW MAD YOU ARE , once you do that they win.

I usually don't respond, but I have a dead email address for times when I need it. Then I tell them we can make the deal, but send the shipping company the check, and have them bring me the cash when they pick up.

Funny, I still have my stuff.

its not just about getting free drums its about tagging your email and hooked on spamming 1000's of emails to everyone with some advertisement thats a mess seller beware

Thanks for the input! I just got my third scam attempt. They all start with " i want your item". I reply and then the scam is revealed in the 2nd email. I am giving these idiots the name of my state attorney general and his regional office address. They seem to be falling for the trap. They laughed when I told the a/g's staff what I was doing.

thank again,

larry