[tadghostal]

I've received a few replies from folks on this board who are willing/able to help me pick up the Banksy's that I LOVE, and now I'm ready to buy. However, I'm a little bit skittish about sending large sums of money to somebody that I've never met and have no form of recourse with.

Guess I should have though about that issue before posting my want ad.

The best thing I can think of is to have the transaction handled through ebay. Assuming the seller has a decent history of selling and 100% feedback, that's about as safe as I can imagine this deal being. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated.

Jay

[numusic]

tadghostal said:

I've received a few replies from folks on this board who are willing/able to help me pick up the Banksy's that I LOVE, and now I'm ready to buy. However, I'm a little bit skittish about sending large sums of money to somebody that I've never met and have no form of recourse with.

Guess I should have though about that issue before posting my want ad.

The best thing I can think of is to have the transaction handled through ebay. Assuming the seller has a decent history of selling and 100% feedback, that's about as safe as I can imagine this deal being. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated.

Jay

Post the details on here, presuming no one has anything to hide and then it's out in the open. You can ask to check their ebay ID, but no reason to use it really,far more peopøle get scammed on ebay than anywhere else. It also increases fee's etc.. it's always best in these cases to speak with each other on the phone.

[scud80]

use an escrow service (like escrow.com) and split the fee (it's about 3% if you pay with a wire transfer or double that if you want to use a credit card).

[tomhills1]

it's a hard one as i've never traded on here, i would get as many photos, provenance etc as i could before i even contemplate a purchase - wherever i buy from. once you're happy it's the real deal and the forum member has good respect etc i would arrange to meet to seal the deal. i met the fella i bought my grin from in person as a private sale having met on ebay. i had all the photos and proof of purchase etc before i agreed a meet. then i drove up to the midlands with the cash hidden in my car, found his flat, parked round the corner and walked round to his place. i went in looked at the goods, and his kate AP, rude copper with fuck the police spray work and backdoor bombhugger. shook hands went to the car got the cash and payed the man and took my print. no worries.
i think you have to trust your instincts and maybe take a mate for the ride if it makes you feel safer. get a few opinions and see what you think, if you're unsure at all leave it. better to miss out than get mugged, in my opinion.
good luck.

[tadghostal]

I should have clarified--

I live in Seattle, Washington. Most of the sellers seem to be in the UK, so meeting face to face is going to be a particularly difficult trick.

Let me grab the member information and post it here. . .

[tadghostal]

zippy and weststar have both offered grin reaper, which is frankly my favorite.

weststar is new (like me) to the boards, and zippy is a 2 star member. Has anybody else had successful/unsuccessful dealings with either of them?

[numusic]

tadghostal said:

zippy and weststar have both offered grin reaper, which is frankly my favorite.

weststar is new (like me) to the boards, and zippy is a 2 star member. Has anybody else had successful/unsuccessful dealings with either of them?

ooo, now we have to say who's nice and who's not.. ha ha. Suggest you just pick the person you're dealing with before posting, unless you're planning on buying two.

[tomhills1]

i know zippy is an active member of this forum and the ebay one. he may be an elaborate scammer but i doubt it, again check all the details you can before doing the deal but i would be confident everything is legit. that's not to say the other fella is dodgy, i just don't know anything about him. checkout all you can about both sellers and their prints, if you don't feel comfortable wait. check ebay as well as you have more protection as a buyer but whatever feels right.

[RBK]

tadghostal said:

I should have clarified--

I live in Seattle, Washington. Most of the sellers seem to be in the UK, so meeting face to face is going to be a particularly difficult trick.

Let me grab the member information and post it here. . .

I'll help a fellow American out, since I've bought a bunch of prints from lovely people in the UK. The first was direct with someone from the forums, most have been from Ebay.

Ways to have a secure transaction:
- Agree that 'go with your gut' - if you think something is sketchy better to be safe than sorry and follow your feelings. I have extensive email correspondence or phone conversations with a potential seller. Things such as Ebay feedback, forum respect scores, other members vouching for someone, add to helping you make that determination of trust.
- Paypal offers a good layer of security bc if you have issues you can dispute a transaction and the funds in question are taken out of the sellers account while the investigation goes on. And if you pay via credit card, through paypal you basically have 2 layers of fraud protection.
- Don't skimp on secure shipping & insurance. Depending on how expensive the print is - consider using Fedex or UPS (avoid DHL based on horror stories from various members). That isn't to say that insured/trackable Royal Mail is bad - done plently that route also. Requesting double-tubed (tube within a tube) is probably wise on prints that cost more than 500 GBP.

Hope this helps. And since I've spent time helping you out, show me some respect

[Run Pig Run]

This probably won't help the yankeedoodledandies, but what I would do is ask for name address and home phone number, then phone 118 118 and ask for the home phone number. I this matches up ring them at home and discuss the best way to exchange. If after that they run off with the money at least you can send pizzas, taxis and parcels of dog muck to their home address for the next ten years.

[lesroy]

lol, bombhugger, I think I will meet you somewhere public if we ever do a deal

Seriously though, if you look at the gold stars under forum members name, that is their "trust level"

Bombuggers and mine for example are the same... hence we are very trustworthy. This is how Silky decideds how trustworthy and safe we are. Here's the scale:

1 Gold Star: Only trusted with small amounts of change, ideal for confectionary purchasing.

2 Gold Stars: Trusted enough to collect empty POW tubes without stealing them.

3 Gold Stars: Trusted enough to deal with but not Banksy prints, probably only Kate Moss Postcards.

4 Gold Stars: Proper trustworthy by now. Would reliably send you a Banksy print or your money.

5 Gold Stars: Good enough to let them into your house to see your Banksy collection whilst you were out and your wife is asleep upstairs.

6 Gold Stars: These people are mega. They would "House Sit" your Original Canvasses, complete Kate Moss Collection and would die for their protection.

7 Gold Stars: These rare folk would happily look after your Da Vinci's, Van Gogh & Banksy's without a naughty thought for their Million pound value. 100% reliable in every way.

8+ Gold Stars / Silky: Well, Silky is Banksy, why would he nick your prints, he f**king painted them?

I hope that helps a little.

PS... the only thing to mention that overrides all this is:

"If they are from Liverpool, no matter how many stars they have, YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM... it is the same as having no stars!"

[corblimeylimey]

tomhills1 said:

it's a hard one as i've never traded on here, i would get as many photos, provenance etc as i could before i even contemplate a purchase - wherever i buy from. once you're happy it's the real deal and the forum member has good respect etc i would arrange to meet to seal the deal. i met the fella i bought my grin from in person as a private sale having met on ebay. i had all the photos and proof of purchase etc before i agreed a meet. then i drove up to the midlands with the cash hidden in my car, found his flat, parked round the corner and walked round to his place. i went in looked at the goods, and his kate AP, rude copper with f**k the police spray work and backdoor bombhugger. shook hands went to the car got the cash and payed the man and took my print. no worries.
i think you have to trust your instincts and maybe take a mate for the ride if it makes you feel safer. get a few opinions and see what you think, if you're unsure at all leave it. better to miss out than get mugged, in my opinion.
good luck.

That operation sounded like a drugs deal, were you packing heat?

[GD303uk]

a few months ago i was after a picture and posted a thread asking for one ,
a forum member emailed me and he sent me the picture, i had never met him or realy spoke on the forums yet he sent me a picture free, i was humbled by the gesture and promissed to myself i would find something they would like and send it to them,
i did they / we were happy and karma was in perfect ballance,
i am not suggesting that we all just send our pictures out free but the point is people on these forums and in this art collecting world are usually good trustworthy people,
i have traded several times often with people i dont know and all has gone good so far (touch wood)
and I am from Liverpool
good luck
GD

[lesroy]

lol hopefull you appreciate the Liverpool dig just a wind up my son

[Ågentßacardi]

lesroy said:

lol, bombhugger, I think I will meet you somewhere public if we ever do a deal

Seriously though, if you look at the gold stars under forum members name, that is their "trust level"

Bombuggers and mine for example are the same... hence we are very trustworthy. This is how Silky decideds how trustworthy and safe we are. Here's the scale:

1 Gold Star: Only trusted with small amounts of change, ideal for confectionary purchasing.

2 Gold Stars: Trusted enough to collect empty POW tubes without stealing them.

3 Gold Stars: Trusted enough to deal with but not Banksy prints, probably only Kate Moss Postcards.

4 Gold Stars: Proper trustworthy by now. Would reliably send you a Banksy print or your money.

5 Gold Stars: Good enough to let them into your house to see your Banksy collection whilst you were out and your wife is asleep upstairs.

6 Gold Stars: These people are mega. They would "House Sit" your Original Canvasses, complete Kate Moss Collection and would die for their protection.

7 Gold Stars: These rare folk would happily look after your Da Vinci's, Van Gogh & Banksy's without a naughty thought for their Million pound value. 100% reliable in every way.

8+ Gold Stars / Silky: Well, Silky is Banksy, why would he nick your prints, he f**king painted them?

I hope that helps a little.

PS... the only thing to mention that overrides all this is:

"If they are from Liverpool, no matter how many stars they have, YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM... it is the same as having no stars!"

So what you're saying is... the more talkative someone is, the more trustworthy he/she is? ;D

[Ågentßacardi]

tadghostal said:

I've received a few replies from folks on this board who are willing/able to help me pick up the Banksy's that I LOVE, and now I'm ready to buy. However, I'm a little bit skittish about sending large sums of money to somebody that I've never met and have no form of recourse with.

Guess I should have though about that issue before posting my want ad.

The best thing I can think of is to have the transaction handled through ebay. Assuming the seller has a decent history of selling and 100% feedback, that's about as safe as I can imagine this deal being. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated.

Jay

Going back to the original topic, I think the easiest way to assess a member's reliability is to simply ask the forum. Put a post here (like you did to inquire about zippy and weststar) and request that people who have traded with them previously give you some assurance/feedback. The people being "checked up on" should not be offended because this is what they'll do themselves if they were in your situation... with so much money involved, it's only the smart thing to do.

The star system is correlated to the number of posts a member has made. While that should have some bearing on a member's credibility, it's not 100% foolproof... just because a member isn't as talkative doesn't necessarily mean he/she is not trustworthy. On the other hand, scammers would simply post a few threads, hit a victim or two, and then disappear into obscurity (unless they're stupid). So it's a bit tricky if a member has a low number of stars. As for respect points, they're not foolproof either, because a couple of members on here that I think are 1000% trustworthy don't seem to have the respect points to reflect that for reasons unknown to me.

Bottom line - easiest way is to ask around, or PM some members that you trust if you don't want to make a public post. That being said, I can personally vouch for Silky (duh), HowAboutNo, ratpack, Jesus was an ape, and martin (aka mido) since I've traded with them in the past. All 10000% trustworthy. I doubt that you're trading with any of them, though...

[tadghostal]

Any chance we could get a thread started where people could leave feedback about a trade or sale they've had between members of this board? We're doing that on thegiant.org boards, and it is extremely useful. You find out quickly who can't package a print for shit, who's slow to pay, and also who goes above and beyond to share their love for the art (and make sure they pay/ship/package/trade accordingly!).

Just a thought. This approach is best when used as a sticky thread (somehow made to stay at the top of a section).

[HowAboutNo]

I do beleive we have that very thread here. Please don't start another!!

[tomhills1]

corblimeylimey said:

tomhills1 said:

it's a hard one as i've never traded on here, i would get as many photos, provenance etc as i could before i even contemplate a purchase - wherever i buy from. once you're happy it's the real deal and the forum member has good respect etc i would arrange to meet to seal the deal. i met the fella i bought my grin from in person as a private sale having met on ebay. i had all the photos and proof of purchase etc before i agreed a meet. then i drove up to the midlands with the cash hidden in my car, found his flat, parked round the corner and walked round to his place. i went in looked at the goods, and his kate AP, rude copper with f**k the police spray work and backdoor bombhugger. shook hands went to the car got the cash and payed the man and took my print. no worries.
i think you have to trust your instincts and maybe take a mate for the ride if it makes you feel safer. get a few opinions and see what you think, if you're unsure at all leave it. better to miss out than get mugged, in my opinion.
good luck.

That operation sounded like a drugs deal, were you packing heat?

without incriminating myself too much, lets just say years of experience came in handy that night. heat? i always go equipped. lol.