How to execute a straight up trade while protecting each other?

[Slothead56]

Thinking about an even trade with a guy I’ve never met. The transaction would include shipping guitars both ways.

I’m pretty trusting by nature and have never been burnt but all my online transactions have involved a protected method of payment.

How do we do this to assure that both parties are protected from the other? I have no reason to believe the other party is anything but on the up and up. But I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me.

Or do I walk away as there is no protection?

[Tnfiddler]

Call him on the phone and you spend a LOT of time getting to know each other and talk this deal over for one. I just did a straight-up trade a few months ago and there's no telling how many times we talked on the phone before the deal started. We updated constantly via text and phone calls as it proceeded.

[SoCalSurf]

What will undoubtedly follow will be statements saying that you would be foolish to do such a thing and that trusting a stranger is asking for trouble and that you deserve anything bad that can go wrong. That's my guess.

I recently traded guitars with somebody I had never met nor previously had any interaction online. We lived across the country from each other. We both had guitars listed for sale, they were comparable in value/asking price, and both thought it would make more sense to trade them than to do separate transactions. We asked a lot of questions about each other's guitar, sent additional photos, and were both excited about the trade.

This took an awful lot of communication via email, texting, and phone calls. For several days. I asked the type of questions I felt I needed to ask to get a sense of his sincerity and trustworthiness, and he did the same. We were both able to verify our places of work and that sort of thing. We just built trust over a relatively short period of time.

What resulted was a mutual trade of shipping of guitars that we are now both very happy with. We took pictures of all shipping receipts and the like and both knew exactly when our guitars were to arrive. It ended up very positively for both of us, and took some work on the front end.

Was I a fool for doing something like that? Perhaps. Would I recommend you do it? That would be based on the extent to which you can create a relationship with this other party that satisfies your doubt. If not, you should walk away.

[RP]

While there's no substitute for good communication, I'd make it a double sale using PayPal, i.e. I buy your guitar, and you buy my guitar....

[lowrider]

There was a little while ago with a 3 way trade where the poster didn't get his guitar and apparently was never getting it.

I wouldn't do it. There are easier ways to get a new guitar. And I would never buy a used guitar that I couldn't play first. To me, it's just too big of a risk.

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by RP

While there's no substitute for good communication, I'd make it a double sale using PayPal, i.e. I buy your guitar, and you buy my guitar....

Exactly what I was going to say. Kind of tedious to do this but very much worth it just to give you peace of mind.

[guitararmy]

I've done it once with a forumite and it went fine. The PayPal double purchase thing sounds intriguing though...

[LadysSolo]

I've done a trade, other party lived in Boston and I live in NE Ohio. Many communications (as mentioned above,) we agreed on the date to ship and both sent tracking numbers, photos of the packing of the instruments (from both of us,) and the trade went off with a minimal hitch (she had no one there to receive, so she had to pick it up and the post office the next day.) I was happy, but as suggested, I had a good feeling about it or I would probably done the double purchase (which is likely safer, but I was feeling good about the trade.)

[jpd]

"RP While there's no substitute for good communication, I'd make it a double sale using PayPal, i.e. I buy your guitar, and you buy my guitar...."



Seems to be the best and most "secure"...but what if one or both are short of funding?....back to trusting

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by RP

While there's no substitute for good communication, I'd make it a double sale using PayPal, i.e. I buy your guitar, and you buy my guitar....

This. Basically, set it up through paypal and pay each other. Then, Paypal covers you.

[redir]

A good confidence man would have a wonderful conversation with you on the phone, you would be best friends by the time you hung up. I think the Pay Pal idea is a good one. Even if it was just $100 bucks you would at least have verification and not have to pay large fee's.

If I knew someone on this forum and they have been very active for years here and in reading his past postings I could kind of get the gist of who he is then... maybe.

[Sasquatchman]

the one and only time I traded an expensive guitar one for one, I drove 3 hours to do it, no shipping. Spent the afternoon at the dude`s house, talking about the guitars, playing them, making sure we were both okay with the trade, and at the end of it, I suggested we trade for a week, see if we were both still happy and go on from there, ie either of us could veto it inside that week. worked good.

[Red_Label]

Geesh... uptight people all up in here. I've done many trades on various forums and never been burnt. Some of these trade items were $2-3K guitars and amps. Most of my trades are on The Gear Page, and when I see that a guy's been a member for 5+ years and has a positive feedback rating of over 10 items, I generally feel good. I have over 500 feedbacks and a 100% rating on ebay since 2001, so I usually throw that out there if the other guy is nervous. I also give my cell # and email, and even my employment info (23 years in the same local government job) if it comes to it. I can usually get a good feel for who I am dealing with within a couple PMs and/or emails. To each his or her own... but I do a LOT of trading/selling/buying and frankly it's just not worth the stress to me to worry about things. I get a vibe off of someone, make my decision, and roll with it.

[vindibona1]

I wouldn't do it. Far too risky or at least difficult. The cleanest way is for each of you to "purchase" the other's guitar at a set realistic price. Once fund are received then ship the guitar. Once received by the other party, then you send the same money (back, but as a purchase) for the purchase of the other "trade" isntrument. In other words, you're both "purchasing" the other's instrument, but at the same price so that a third party is pseudo-administrator of the trade. Additionally, you would want to make sure that the "title" of the instrument doesn't change hands until it is received, (with signature required) so you can be the claimant aginst the insurance company should something to wrong, making sure that the instrument is properly insured, so that if anything were to go wrong you'd be covered financially. Also if anything were to go wrong with either shipment the "purchase" of the other instrument could (should) still go through, presumably through the funds recovered by insurance. It's complicated, and perhaps a bit difficult and risky... but it could be done. But again, I wouldn't do it.

[pszy22]

Who first proposed the trade?