How To Be Safe/Secure In Trades/Sales Here. Also Ebay?

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Hi, I think this is the best subforum for this question.

I’ve been thinking for a while about trying to sell some items, mostly new, some used, on Ebay. Mostly because it’s not easy to do locally. When I purchase things online, other than directly from a retailer, I choose Amazon (.ca, or .com if I have to). I don’t like Ebay (due mostly to their dependance on paypal, which has recently changed). But I don’t know how one, an individual that is, can make “one off” or “single” sale(s) of an item on Amazon, or if that can even be done.
So, I’m curious if anyone here sells things on ebay (or better yet Amazon) in the capacity I just mentioned. And if you, could you give me the basic rundown, or link to somewhere else that can explain?

So, just today I’ve been browsing several sub forums and threads here looking to see if people here do any buying/selling of things, like new and used garden related equipment, for example. And I see that there is a thread in the “trading post” section for this. Also, I know that there’s a fair bit of gifting, trading, and exchange of seeds and stuff like that, which is great. But I’m always concerned about this and how to be smart, safe and secure with personal details, and with knowing the type of person one is dealing with.
Eg: You want to send someone a gift, or you’ve agreed to sell/send someone an item (say a piece of garden equipment). Do you just package up a parcel like you would in any other (“normal”) situation, with the destination address, and your personal/home address and send it off via postal service or a courier (ups, fedex, dhl, etc.)?

Thanks for any information and advice on this.

Sincerely,
John Doe
1234 Real Street
Actual City, Legitimate Province/State
11111, Defnite Country

(Just Kidding^)

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@Nitt hopefully I can answer a question or 2.
IMO Ebay sucks, and I’m not sure how to sell “one offs” on Amazon. Facebook has a group called “Regrow” which people sell used/slightly used/new equipment. I have purchased a couple things from there.
I see you found the “used equipment” thread here.
Folks use privnote here quite a bit for sending personal info securely, “notes” are destroyed after reading. Privnote.com
Write note, copy link, paste link. Get a privnote, open link, write info down, note destroyed.
As far as shipping, seeds go thru snail mail without issue. Equipment, just box up indiscreetly, send UPS, FedEx, DHL, snail mail etc.
Typically I either don’t put my info on package, I use senders address as the return address, this way even “lost” or “undeliverable” packages will still make it to the destination.
All of the seeds that I have received, only a couple envelopes have a return address.
Seeing as seeds now fall under the “Farm Bill” in the US, I don’t worry about it like I used to back in the “old days”.
Hopefully I answered a couple of you questions.

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I used to be dead paranoid about receiving stuff like seeds from peeps here and elsewhere that I didn’t know really well. Even from vendors as I was worried that if intercepted by customs or just the RCMP somehow that would put me on their radar as a grower and I’d end up busted.

Now that growing is legal I don’t give a rat’s ass anymore about that.

I never had a problem mailing out seeds to other people but would decline taking any in return so I didn’t have to give out my addy. I’d just pick out a return addy in the phone book from a business in the town I was going to mail the letter from. Not from our small post office tho. :slight_smile:

:peace:

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USPS works great if you’re in the US. You can have your package tracked and insured. I’ve had seeds not show up when they said they were supposed to and called told them I was missing a package. They asked what was in it and I said expensive seeds! It came the next day. In a lot of places in the US it is decriminalized or legal and the authorities could care less if you’re getting seeds.

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Some really good info. Thanks very much.

Haha. That’s funny. So, you’d actually go to a post office that you don’t regularly use to mail the letter/parcel from?
Thanks.

I’m in canada. But it’s legal here too, and I have medical ‘license’ as well.
Ok, thank you.

It’s equipment that I’m wanted to sell. Definitely stuff people would be interested in. I just don’t know enough gardeners, and can’t get enough eyes on it.

I’ll consider these options. Thanks guys.

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You betcha. I don’t do paranoid half-assed! :slight_smile:

I’ve had a medical for the last 8 years too but a 50+ year habit of looking over your shoulder for cops is hard to break.

:peace:

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Properly cautious I’d call it. I understand 100%, hence this thread.

Not 50+ years for me, but again, I fully understand. Respect.

Thanks.

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