I just read lenoxmjs's post about his bad experience buying a Skip Weston on Ebay, and it made me wonder if AZers know about and/ or use escrow to buy and sell cues. Those that have, please share your thoughts on this service.
For those who don't know what I am talking about, you should!!! Escrow is a great service that allows both buyers and sellers to do business online safely. I always insist on escrow for any purchase above $100 and sometimes less, unless I feel TOTALLY comfortable with a seller's reputation based on reliable sources. If a seller says no to escrow, I won't buy from them, no matter how bad I want the goods (well, I suppose I could conceive of an opportunity so exceptional that I would be willing to GAMBLE on trust, maybe). There are too many crooks lurking on the net, so don't be the sucker they are searching for.
For a very reasonable fee, escrow will accept payment from the buyer and inform the seller when funds have been received and confirmed. Then the seller will ship the item, and the buyer has a mutually agreed upon timespan to either confirm receipt of the item as described and release the funds or reject the item and ship back to the seller. Escrow also offers dispute resolution services if the process does not go smoothly. Now, I can't say one way or the other how effective this dispute resolution might be, but just the fact that a seller will accept escrow tells you he probably isn't intentionally trying to screw you.
I STRONGLY encourage all you buyers (and sellers) of expensive cues to check the details at www.escrow.com. This is a very valuable service. And no, I am not in any way affiliated; just a satisfied customer.
Note:
Ebay used to strongly recommend escrow for all purchases over $100, but now their info on escrow is harder to find and much less encouraging. The information they have up now is not discouraging, only less enthusiastic, and it places more emphasis on the risks of fake escrow services as opposed to the benefits of escrow itself. Instead of suggesting escrow for all purchases over $100, it now says escrow is typically only used for purchases over $500. If you had seen the page before, the change in tone is very obvious even though the current info does not say anything explicitly negative or discouraging about legitimate escrow services. I can imagine two possible expanations for this change of heart (this is pure speculation): maybe Ebay owns www.escrow.com and they are losing money on it, or maybe they worry that escrow could potentially detract from Ebay's business by making it too easy for people to buy and sell securely online independently, without going through Ebay (i.e. on forums like this). For whatever reason, Ebay seems to have decided it wasn't such a good idea to promote it. Ebay does still endorsewww.escrow.com.
FWIW, I still suggest escrow for transactions over $100, but I guess it's up to you to decide if sums under $500 are significant enough to warrant the extra effort.
info on escrow at Ebay
For those who don't know what I am talking about, you should!!! Escrow is a great service that allows both buyers and sellers to do business online safely. I always insist on escrow for any purchase above $100 and sometimes less, unless I feel TOTALLY comfortable with a seller's reputation based on reliable sources. If a seller says no to escrow, I won't buy from them, no matter how bad I want the goods (well, I suppose I could conceive of an opportunity so exceptional that I would be willing to GAMBLE on trust, maybe). There are too many crooks lurking on the net, so don't be the sucker they are searching for.
For a very reasonable fee, escrow will accept payment from the buyer and inform the seller when funds have been received and confirmed. Then the seller will ship the item, and the buyer has a mutually agreed upon timespan to either confirm receipt of the item as described and release the funds or reject the item and ship back to the seller. Escrow also offers dispute resolution services if the process does not go smoothly. Now, I can't say one way or the other how effective this dispute resolution might be, but just the fact that a seller will accept escrow tells you he probably isn't intentionally trying to screw you.
I STRONGLY encourage all you buyers (and sellers) of expensive cues to check the details at www.escrow.com. This is a very valuable service. And no, I am not in any way affiliated; just a satisfied customer.
Note:
Ebay used to strongly recommend escrow for all purchases over $100, but now their info on escrow is harder to find and much less encouraging. The information they have up now is not discouraging, only less enthusiastic, and it places more emphasis on the risks of fake escrow services as opposed to the benefits of escrow itself. Instead of suggesting escrow for all purchases over $100, it now says escrow is typically only used for purchases over $500. If you had seen the page before, the change in tone is very obvious even though the current info does not say anything explicitly negative or discouraging about legitimate escrow services. I can imagine two possible expanations for this change of heart (this is pure speculation): maybe Ebay owns www.escrow.com and they are losing money on it, or maybe they worry that escrow could potentially detract from Ebay's business by making it too easy for people to buy and sell securely online independently, without going through Ebay (i.e. on forums like this). For whatever reason, Ebay seems to have decided it wasn't such a good idea to promote it. Ebay does still endorsewww.escrow.com.
FWIW, I still suggest escrow for transactions over $100, but I guess it's up to you to decide if sums under $500 are significant enough to warrant the extra effort.
info on escrow at Ebay
