Advice needed on sending items before receiving payment

[legaleagle92481]

Hi guys. As many of you know I have been clearing out most of my personal collection to accumulate funds for mega purchases. To make a long story short I approached a major dealer about buying some of my stuff and we spent several days negotiating everything and today finally hammered it all out. I have purchased from this dealer in the past and have never heard anything negative. My issue is the dealer wants me to send several 1000s worth of items and after they received will pay me. Every other time I have sold something I have received payment upfront. In this case though due to the dollar amount I did not want to be paid via paypal and incur fees so I asked for payment to be mailed to me. Before I go sending these items I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on the subject. Thanks.

[Manram]

If they have a company or something like that i don't think that they would risk their reputation. But if it is just a guy who is a big dealer it may be a different story. Maybe others think differnelty but that is my 2 cents

[yankees506]

no way legal, i go by "pay me then you get the items". I dont take chances with my money. You never get anything in this world without paying for it first

[spartakid]

I would say possibly, depending on who it is. If they are really well-known, I can see it as being acceptable, because then it would be easy to find them and they wouldn't just vanish after receiving the items. I assume the situation is that neither side wants to get ripped off, and because you aren't using Paypal, he probably has less recourse if he doesn't get his items. If it were, me, and I felt comfortable, I may send some of the items, but a few thousand dollars worth seems like a bit much. Ultimately, it's up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

[STLHAMMER32]

If you are dealing with a large dollar amount and feel there is a risk at all it may be in both parties best interest to find a meeting point that works for both of you for an in person exchange. If you are sending a lot of bats for the price of shipping them you could possibly put that money toward a plane ticket or gas money. Just a suggestion, good luck with your decision!

[jobathenut]

LEGALEAGLE-Last year i sold like half of my signed collection to a auction place.And they asked me to do the same thing.And i have never sent a item without being paid first.But they said that's how they do buisness.And i really needed the money so after working out the details and payment details (which i didnt like also) i went along with it.As beggers can't be choosie in my case.Well it was a nightmare for me getting paid for my collection.But in the end the buyer made right on it.I just had to wait a long time after they said i would get paid for it.I had never done any kind of buisness with the person before.And totally went on trust.So thats what you should do.Do you trust the person? Because if you do there should be question to do it.I hope it works out for you.
Hi guys. As many of you know I have been clearing out most of my personal collection to accumulate funds for mega purchases. To make a long story short I approached a major dealer about buying some of my stuff and we spent several days negotiating everything and today finally hammered it all out. I have purchased from this dealer in the past and have never heard anything negative. My issue is the dealer wants me to send several 1000s worth of items and after they received will pay me. Every other time I have sold something I have received payment upfront. In this case though due to the dollar amount I did not want to be paid via paypal and incur fees so I asked for payment to be mailed to me. Before I go sending these items I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on the subject. Thanks.

[jetersbatboy]

If it's a big name like JT or BPH, I wouldn't worry. I have sold to both with a send first and pay later arrangement, both in the low 4 figure range. Also more then a few times in the hundreds, with out a problem for both. I think a lot of forum members will say the same. If you are really that worried ask about a COD arrangement, UPS and I think fedex offer this service, for a fee of course. Just my two cents.

[jetersbatboy]

C.O.D.
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/cod.html

[cohibasmoker]

Hi guys. As many of you know I have been clearing out most of my personal collection to accumulate funds for mega purchases. To make a long story short I approached a major dealer about buying some of my stuff and we spent several days negotiating everything and today finally hammered it all out. I have purchased from this dealer in the past and have never heard anything negative. My issue is the dealer wants me to send several 1000s worth of items and after they received will pay me. Every other time I have sold something I have received payment upfront. In this case though due to the dollar amount I did not want to be paid via paypal and incur fees so I asked for payment to be mailed to me. Before I go sending these items I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on the subject. Thanks.


DON'T DO IT - Here's a compromise - why not send the items in groups and/or batches of items? Use USPS and their COD program. After a batch is sent and paid for, send the next batch and so on and so on. One other point, prioritize your items. Send your least valuable items first and the most valuable items last. This way, they can'r "cherry-pick" your collection and then back out of the agreement.


Don't even think about sending anything to Canada or out of the Country.

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net

[metsbats]

I agree with Scott. If it was John or Kim I would not hesitate. Depends on your comfort level with this big dealer you are working with.

[Larry Pelliccioni]

Like others before me I can see both sides of this and have been on both the sending and receiving ends of "open" transactions. For the most part they have worked out well. It again depends on who you are sending it to and as part of the negotiations, what they are to send, when they are to send it and how is it to be sent.
I, as a dealer, would like an opportunity to have items to evaluate but it's a sticky wicket to be sure. I have been in the hobby long enough that with certain individuals they feel comfortable enough with me that they will send me the items without payment for me to assess and vice versa, I have sent items to collectors with payments crossing in the mails.
International shipments can be tricky but once again, it depends on the intangible "trust" you put on who you are dealing with.
Larry Pelliccioni

[earlywynnfan]

What about the flip side? You're asking a big-time, very well-known dealer to send you a huge amount of money on the premise that you'll send them the items! It works both ways. Which one of you has the bigger reputation to risk?

I take it there's no way of actually hand-delivering this? You can't meet up at the National or anything?

I have consigned many items to various auction houses and have never had a problem, but have never actually sold directly to a dealer.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[33bird]

I'd get paid first. I've had the bigger dealers say "I'll pay ya when I get em"..but if they want them bad enought they'll cough up the dough first. Just my 2 cents. Somebody mentioned cherry picking. They like to do that too. But, if they'd already paid ya, then they're more likely just to keep the item then try and return it and get their money back.

[Lokee]

Personally i would want to see payment before any items are sent out.

I personally have been ripped off before and it only takes 1 time to realize a mistake. I guess for others it could be multiple LOL

[Dewey2007]

If you are worried why don't you ask for half of the money up front for half of the bats you are selling. If this transaction goes smoothly you then send out the rest to complete the deal. This hobby is built on trust so w/o knowing who you are dealing with if you don't completely trust the guy then maybe you are dealing with the wrong person.

Personally if you are selling to Taube, Byington, Jaffe or BPH you don't have anything to worry about. I think their reputations speak for themselves.

[legaleagle92481]

Thanks guys. The dealer is one of the ones you guys have endorsed so my mind is now at ease. I have bought alot from the company just never sold to them so I was just a tad nervous. I will let you all know how it turns out but I am sure it will be fine and I will explore the UPS COD idea a few of you suggested.

[legaleagle92481]

Although I must note if it was not one of the well respected dealers I would never ever consider sending the items first.

[momen55]

no money, no honey!

[legaleagle92481]

Well as an update I got the check within a week of sending the items. The dealer was BPH.

[trsent]

My theory is if you approached the dealer to sell your inventory, they will expect you to send the items first and then they will pay you. If they approached you, then you have a right to expect payment in advance.

If you are worrying about 3% PayPal fees and you want protection, you may be asking too much.

People email me all the time looking to sell items, people I have no clue who they are and they want me to pay in advance? I like my theory, if you emailed or called the dealer, they expect you to take the risk. If they answered your ad selling, I can see you expecting payment in advance.

Always be careful, but don't expect a dealer to risk their money on strangers.

[Mark17]

My theory is if you approached the dealer to sell your inventory, they will expect you to send the items first and then they will pay you. If they approached you, then you have a right to expect payment in advance.


This is my theory too. Whoever initiates the deal sends the items/money first. It isn't realistic to think you can contact someone out of the blue, propose a deal, and then they send to you first.

I should note though, my little deals are typically in the hundreds, not multiple thousands. But since it is BPH, I would not have hesitated a moment. I've been dealing successfully with Kim since the 1980s and picked up 2 or 3 bats from him this year so far. Never heard a bad word about him from anyone.

[STLHAMMER32]

This is my theory too. Whoever initiates the deal sends the items/money first. It isn't realistic to think you can contact someone out of the blue, propose a deal, and then they send to you first.

I should note though, my little deals are typically in the hundreds, not multiple thousands. But since it is BPH, I would not have hesitated a moment. I've been dealing successfully with Kim since the 1980s and picked up 2 or 3 bats from him this year so far. Never heard a bad word about him from anyone.

I agree with the approach as well. Also I would like to say the Kim is the best I've dealt with for dealers. He ships ridiculously fast, returns emails quickly, is pleasant to talk to and always has nice inventory with what I consider to be reasonable prices on almost every item.