Hey guys,

Does anyone (moderators) provide an escrow service on this board? I did a search and found nothing.

[ May 16, 2005, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: timmyturtle ]

what is an escrow service

^^^ I believe it is a middle-man when buying and selling gear, so that nobody gets screwed over. If in doubt, maybe do it COD.

An escow service holds the money until both parties are satisfied.

Nope. But feel free to use Paypal. Its probably the most widley accepted among buyers/sellers.

Yeah, the buyer didn't opffer paypal, but I'll check. As for COD, I've never used it. Can anyone enlighten me, as the buyer requested it (cost(s), security, etc.). Cheers.

IMO COD is one of the safeest ways to do buisness. IF the buyer doesn't pay, he doesn't get the goods. Only problem is for the seller that is on the hook for shipping. Other than that its pretty failsafe.

Hey
Escrow is what was described above by Jeepbeats & Drew. It costs a bit more (was ~2%), not sure of actual cost now since I haven't used it in 4 yearsish. COD is good too, but it is not offered across borders like US seller, CAD buyer or vice versa. (If you know of a shipper that does this reasonably please let me know)
Later, J

One problem with COD is often times the delivery person will not allow you to open the box before accepting the delivery.

There is some sort of protection for the buyer no? IF they open it and its not what they want or is damaged?

Thanks for the help guys.

From what I have heard from the post office people is that you cannot open the package until you pay for it...

I understand that, but isn't there some sort of protection if after you open it and its either damaged or not what was promised?

Isn't that mail fraud, which is worse than murder almost?

Good point. I assume that in that situation it would be the same as receiving junk/being scammed in a normal transaction (without a Canada Post guy standing in your front hall). This is why an escrow service is, for all intensive purposes, probably the safest transaction method.

I asked that myslef and the Canada Post lackies said that once you pay for it it is up to you to deal with the shipper. After they have recieved your cash they have done there duty...but hey I have had other mis-information from those clowns so who knows...

I would assume that it would be mail fraud which I am sure the coppers would be just delighted to investigate that :rolleyes: