Ripped Off!

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by spartacus

In addition, they have a duty of care to establish vendors are who they say they are. Not sure how this would be done, but cross-referencing addresses, credit card information and other personal information is par for the course these days.

Indeed .. I wont deal with 'cash' customers anymore, I only accept credit or debit cards, as it creates a paper trail, and I take the view that if the banks have authorised the person, that, that would be good enough as part of my id process, even then I ask for address verifiaction such as a current utility bill. I cant see advertisers doing anything else other paying by card though ? as they are not face to face transactions, so the advertising company must have some 'good' evidence as to who they are ?

[Mextli]

Originally Posted by NSS

Is the answer not Ribnet? It's great that we can currently advertise our boats for free on here, but would it not make more sense to charge a fee that is then used to pay a trusted Ribnet member to make a physical check to verify that the boat actually exists and is owned (or at least in the possession) of the seller. Not every boat would need to be physically verified of course, I'm thinking here of well known members boats, but with members pretty much all over the UK at least, such a scheme could work and also attract new members to the forum.

I doubt that is necessary, as Ribnet doesn't offer that much anoymity than gumtree, ebay etc...
Someone who just registered to sell a (scam)boat with zero posts is always to a certain point suspicious

[NSS]

Originally Posted by Mextli

I doubt that is necessary, as Ribnet doesn't offer that much anoymity than gumtree, ebay etc...
Someone who just registered to sell a (scam)boat with zero posts is always to a certain point suspicious

As things stand I'd agree, but there are regular threads about the scams on Ebay/Gumtree/B&O and other web sites. All I'm suggesting is rather than bemoaning their apparent inability to provide effective vetting of boats listed for sale, that Ribnet could be a real alternative and could become THE place to list a RIB for sale in the UK. That would mean opening it to anyone to register and list their RIB, but with the safeguard that their listing would be vetted prior to going live.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Mextli

I doubt that is necessary, as Ribnet doesn't offer that much anoymity than gumtree, ebay etc...
Someone who just registered to sell a (scam)boat with zero posts is always to a certain point suspicious

Anyone who wants to bung me RIBnet a few quid for advertising should feel free to do so

However, the current FREE service (FREE even to scabby non-supporters) seems to work quite well. In five years I can't remember one actual scam being run in the RIBs for Sale forum. Mextli is right about first time posters putting their RIBs up for sale here - caution is advised, especially if they have just joined the forum to advertise (however, there are a lot of long term "silent" members too). When I see such an advert, I tend to do a little digging to see if the background details stack up.

Worth mentioning that of course the Trade Members already "pay" to advertise their boats on the site - thanks guys!

Now, if I ruled the world - I'd make the RIBs for Sale section free to RIBnet Supporters/Trade Members and charge the rest of yiz £20 per advert

[willk]

Originally Posted by NSS

Ribnet could be a real alternative and could become THE place to list a RIB for sale in the UK. That would mean opening it to anyone to register and list their RIB, but with the safeguard that their listing would be vetted prior to going live.

It is open for anyone to register and list their RIB. What's this unhealthy fascination with the UK? RIBnet is much bigger than that

Your plan is interesting, but what you suggest requires paid staff and administration costs, and Social Knowledge don't strike me as that likely to start sending me cheques

[NSS]

Originally Posted by willk

It is open for anyone to register and list their RIB. What's this unhealthy fascination with the UK? RIBnet is much bigger than that

Your plan is interesting, but what you suggest requires paid staff and administration costs, and Social Knowledge don't strike me as that likely to start sending me cheques

Appreciate that Ribnet is bigger than just the UK, though my perception is (perhaps wrongly) that the UK membership is relatively larger than for Europe, North America, Australia, etc. so there is a greater likelihood of a member living/working in closer proximity to an unknown seller.

Just thought rather than moaning about scams on other sites that it might be feasible to provide a trusted alternative.

[NSS]

Originally Posted by willk

Now, if I ruled the world - I'd make the RIBs for Sale section free to RIBnet Supporters/Trade Members and charge the rest of yiz £20 per advert

Well, as I'd hate you to think of me as a "scabby non-supporter" and having previously listed my old Avon through Ribnet, albeit that it sold through B&O, I have just paid my £20.

[HughN]

I include the following with any eBay adverts for boats / cars:

"All of the photographs are steganographically marked and will be detected if this listing is used for fake sales on other sites."

[paddlers]

I've bought a few things off Ribnet (large outboard, gauges etc) & do feel it is a site that inspires confidence in the vendors!
Having had bad experiences with ebay,gumtree & apolloduck vendors for various boat related items I wouldn't buy anything substantial off them without travelling to buy in person as it's a real minefield. Even substantial positive feedback(outboards12 aka dan cooper aka outboardmotorseurope) mean nothing when it comes to parting with the cash.....
Big plus for this site for information and advice but I wouldn't want to be just looking at adverts for gear in the notifications column.

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by paddlers

I've bought a few things off Ribnet (large outboard, gauges etc) & do feel it is a site that inspires confidence in the vendors!

I think that a lot of people have had good experiences buying and selling on RIBnet.

Between thus all we're generally pretty good at spotting potential scams which does give a degree of screening, but every transaction should be considered on its individual merits. We know that most deals done around RIBnet have gone well (believe me, we'd have heard about it if not!) but don't assume that this is always automatically going to be the case.

Just as a reminder, if anyone spots an ad here that they think looks dodgy then the best thing to do is report it to the admin team by clicking on this icon to the left of the post. If you receive a suspcious PM then please forward it to me or one of the other mods.

[C2 RIBS]

Update from Gumtree
"all ads have been removed"

[C2 RIBS]

Gumtree may have removed them but one is back up today Ribeye Pretige 430 RIB Mariner 50hp Powertrim Trailer in London | Boats, Kayaks & Jet Skis for Sale | Gumtree.com
Original with Wolf Rock Ribeye/Pretige 430 RIB, Mariner 50hp, Powertrim, Trailer | eBay

Reported it again and asked for a report on how they manage these risk areas! Wont hold my breath

[Poly]

Originally Posted by C2 RIBS

Reported it again and asked for a report on how they manage these risk areas! Wont hold my breath

How do you expect them to manage them? Its free (or very low cost) to advertise and free to view - so who is paying for an army of "expert scam spotters"?

[C2 RIBS]

Originally Posted by Poly

How do you expect them to manage them? Its free (or very low cost) to advertise and free to view - so who is paying for an army of "expert scam spotters"?

Not having ever used gumtree, I would expect their is a log in process, they had already removed this boat as part of 13 on a scam and then within 24hrs it is reloaded. Not sure if they pay for service but if they did have they blocked the users details and log in etc etc. Not asking them to scan all the time but do expect a duty of care. Or am I being unreasonable to expect the basics

[Poly]

C2.

I've never posted on Gumtree, but Mrs P has. My understanding is you can post a certain volume of stuff free of charge. You do require to register / login to post.

Inevitably as with any web service they want / need to keep their sign up process as simple as possible (User signup forms are a major source of customer drop off). To see how easy it was I just tested and its a simple web form then click link in email. Took me less than 1 minute. Now I could suggest how they might improve this - but inevitably each of those steps would introduce a barrier which would trip up / confuse / put off some people.

Last time I used Gumtree as a buyer there was a clear warning that you should only use it as a way of finding people for face to face transactions. i.e. don't send money upfront etc. I've yet to hear of anybody here (or anyone who people here know) who has actually lost cash to the sort of scams that people are suggesting. But I am sure there are a few people who get stung. Probably the biggest pain is that it makes trying to find / estimate boat values on line harder.

[whisper]

Isn't gumtree owned by eBay?

Ebay used to watermark the photos but stopped when they developed a method of not being able to right click and copy the photos. This does not stop people from doing screen prints instead.

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by whisper

Isn't gumtree owned by eBay?

Ebay used to watermark the photos but stopped when they developed a method of not being able to right click and copy the photos. This does not stop people from doing screen prints instead.

It takes about 3 or 4 seconds to go into the page code and get the URL of the pic as well.

[Tom]

If someone copies an add, presumably they don't own the boat so what is their motivation?

Surely no one is daft enough to part with money without inspecting the boat and checking the owner's identity and entitlement to sell the boat are they?

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Tom

If someone copies an add, presumably they don't own the boat so what is their motivation?

Surely no one is daft enough to part with money without inspecting the boat and checking the owner's identity and entitlement to sell the boat are they?

Never underestimate the power of stupid people who think they've got a bargain.

"Me sell you boat sir, deliver free cheap cheap, you wire me cash first."

[AJ.]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Never underestimate the power of stupid people who think they've got a bargain.

"Me sell you boat sir, deliver free cheap cheap, you wire me cash first."

Nos, who have you come across who speaks like that I can't work out if it is East Asian of Jar Jar Binks!