Buying GPU on Craigslist how to stay safe and know if GPU works

[AnalogCanavity]

So I found a really good deal on Craigslist for a GPU, I really don’t want to go in there house to see if it’s working and if I go to a public location I don’t have a PC to test it, plus there’s no way to return on Craigslist like on eBay where you can return stuff or get your money back.

 

What should I do!

 

Thanks

[Ashleyyyy]

why don't you want to go there to test it?

[Crunchy Dragon]

Meeting in a public place is always a good idea for staying safe, anywhere there's a bunch of people would work(like a mall or something).

 

You could ask them to provide proof that it works and hope they're being honest.

[emosun]

just test it at their house. bring your mom with you if you're scared

[Bill4]

1 minute ago, Zic05 said:

So I found a really good deal on Craigslist for a GPU, I really don’t want to go in there house to see if it’s working and if I go to a public location I don’t have a PC to test it, plus there’s no way to return on Craigslist like on eBay where you can return stuff or get your money back.

 

What should I do!

 

Thanks

Normally i would go to their place and see it work or try to get them to agree to coming to my place sometimes i even let them install it if they are nervous im going to break it. 

[Mick Naughty]

There’s nothing you can do, seems pointless to ask if you aren’t gonna do what’s needed. 

[AnalogCanavity]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

You could ask them to provide proof that it works and hope they're being honest.

I think what I will do, is I will email him a random # have them video tape him with the random # on a piece of paper with the card working.

[iskander87]

16 minutes ago, Zic05 said:

I think what I will do, is I will email him a random # have them video tape him with the random # on a piece of paper with the card working.

what's wrong with just going there or asking him to go to your house??

[shea99]

1 minute ago, iskander87 said:

what's wrong with just going there or asking him to go to your house??

Guess the op isnt confident in going to a strangers house and or a stranger coming to theirs. Could always invite people round for when the swap happens tho for more security. Definitley do not buy without proper validation of the card tho.

[AnalogCanavity]

1 minute ago, iskander87 said:

what's wrong with just going there or asking him to go to your house??

Because I don’t know them. Craigslist recommendes meeting in a public place. I’ll make a poll

[shea99]

2 minutes ago, Zic05 said:

Because I don’t know them. Craigslist recommendes meeting in a public place. I’ll make a poll

Personally if you didnt feel safe going there i would say invite a few buddies over and get the seller to come to you. That way you can validate and have more protection. 

[Ashleyyyy]

23 minutes ago, emosun said:

just test it at their house.

i do this as well.

 

i don't do that with expensive stuff though, because then the seller knows you have loads of cash on you...

[iskander87]

32 minutes ago, shea99 said:

Guess the op isnt confident in going to a strangers house and or a stranger coming to theirs. Could always invite people round for when the swap happens tho for more security. Definitley do not buy without proper validation of the card tho.

ha! it's just a video card for playing games what could go wrong man? just go with a couple of friends or something, I don't remember to have feared to go a place just because I don't know who lives there... and I have been in a lots of places alone and nothing have happened to me  

[shea99]

2 minutes ago, iskander87 said:

ha! it's just a video card for playing games what could go wrong man? just go with a couple of friends or something, I don't remember to have feared to go a place just because I don't know who lives there... and I have been in a lots of places alone and nothing have happened to me  

Im just saying the op may not be confident, they may have had bad experiences and shit. If it were me id have no problem going to someones house personally. 

[Hugsy Malone]

The unwritten rule is that the buyer goes tot he seller's house..but if you want to meet in public, ask for proof of working. an for buyers protection, pay through Paypal

[AnalogCanavity]

2 hours ago, Hugsy Malone said:

The unwritten rule is that the buyer goes tot he seller's house..but if you want to meet in public, ask for proof of working. an for buyers protection, pay through Paypal

Ok, this is what I’m going to to. Send him a code, seller will write it out when seller is showing me it works in video. Meet in public place, pay him via PayPal. But how will I get my money back thourgh PayPal if it’s a scam.

 

Thanks

[aisle9]

3 hours ago, emosun said:

just test it at their house. bring your mom with you if you're scared

Get his mom raped, good call. Never, never go to someone's house. I have stories about that, none good.

 

OP, meet in a public place. Ask lots of questions before you meet. Ask for a printed screenshot of the Firestrike score. The best way to pick out a scam is to ask questions and see if you find some they can't answer, won't answer or give a cryptic, vague answer to. 

 

Inspect the damn card. If they won't let you spend five minutes looking it over for physical damage, burn marks, leakage, etc., don't buy it.

 

If you pay via PayPal and it's a scam, it's really easy to call PP and say you didn't authorize the transaction. Unless you make a habit of doing so, it's really easy to get your money back. That's actually the main reason I don't accept PayPal when selling locally. Way too easy to get scammed.

 

I've never ended up with a bad card from CL. Bad laptops, bad RAM, bad hard drives yes, but no bad GPUs. You're much more likely to come across someone who genuinely doesn't know what they're talking about than you are someone out to scam you.

[Eduard the weeb]

Yeah I normally like going to there house but when I meet with them I always bring presharpen pocket knife because Craglist killers, got fight back 

[asand1]

It's not likely that someone is going to murder you at their place, but it is common for burglars to use craiglsist as a means to scope out your house and stuff. Bring a friend or parent and go to their place to see it running a benchmark or game.

[AnalogCanavity]

43 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Get his mom raped, good call. Never, never go to someone's house. I have stories about that, none good.

 

OP, meet in a public place. Ask lots of questions before you meet. Ask for a printed screenshot of the Firestrike score. The best way to pick out a scam is to ask questions and see if you find some they can't answer, won't answer or give a cryptic, vague answer to. 

 

Inspect the damn card. If they won't let you spend five minutes looking it over for physical damage, burn marks, leakage, etc., don't buy it.

 

If you pay via PayPal and it's a scam, it's really easy to call PP and say you didn't authorize the transaction. Unless you make a habit of doing so, it's really easy to get your money back. That's actually the main reason I don't accept PayPal when selling locally. Way too easy to get scammed.

 

I've never ended up with a bad card from CL. Bad laptops, bad RAM, bad hard drives yes, but no bad GPUs. You're much more likely to come across someone who genuinely doesn't know what they're talking about than you are someone out to scam you.

I’ll do what you recommend 

[Mick Naughty]

Just get a video of it working. Not gonna get your money back if it’s a scam. Nor would I do a PayPal exchange when good are changing hands. 

 

Ive got to peoples house and have had them come to be. I’m not really a pansy though. I either want it or I don’t. The seller is motivated or they aren’t. It’s pretty simple. 

[Jrasero]

22 hours ago, Zic05 said:

So I found a really good deal on Craigslist for a GPU, I really don’t want to go in there house to see if it’s working and if I go to a public location I don’t have a PC to test it, plus there’s no way to return on Craigslist like on eBay where you can return stuff or get your money back.

 

What should I do!

 

Thanks

Personally I have sold a lot of items on Craigslist in the NYC and prefer doing this over Ebay do to the massive amount of fees involved.  However never have I ever bought anything more than a phone or two through CL.  As a seller I would never take Paypal, since people can easily do a claim and Paypal heavily favors the buyer and since there is no selling transaction the seller has little proof to support their case.  BTW what is the deal?

 

CL is primarily a cash market place, occasionally someone will take Bitcoin but for the most part there are ZERO refunds.  Unlike Ebay there is no buyer protection and you can't file a dispute with your CC company.  The 5 cards I have sold through CL no one has asked for any kind of proof of the item working.  Everyone has asked if the item works and is still under warranty, and if I have the original receipt.  I recently received a defective EVGA card and by mistake damaged the front cover and radiator.  EVGA did a cross ship and told me they would deduct amount needed to repair the card off my cross ship transaction.  This could have been at least $100 so instead I sold the card on CL detailing that the card's fan was defective and there was cosmetic damage and I sold it for MSRP due to the mining craze.  The person who bought it was a miner and didn't ask for any proof that it was working and when we met didn't even want to open the box. Point being if someone asked me for proof the card was working I probably would do it yet again with NYC being such a big marketplace I have found the people who actually ask questions are the people who tend to low ball me.  

 

Personally I would never buy a used card on CL, heck I wouldn't even buy a used card on Ebay since most of them have been mined on.  Whenever the mining bubble crashes or the tech needed for mining changes and there is a huge influx of used cards I would stay away from buying used like when all those used cars start to show up after a hurricane.