I'm not in the market for a banjo, but if I were, this site would probably be the last place I'd consider buying from.

Thanks for the reminder and for dealing with these frauds as they become known.

Scott
I fully understand your concern, but for me the For Sale section of the Hangout is a wonderful resource. I've bought two professional quality banjos through ads on this site, with absolutely no problems. I think the key is to thoroughly check out the vendor before parting with any money. Clearly, a new member with no history of interaction with the Hangout offering a pre-war Mastertone for $500 warrants a very care ful check. We should not allow these people to diminish the value of the Hangout for bona-fide members.

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Originally posted by HSmith

Scott
I fully understand your concern, but for me the For Sale section of the Hangout is a wonderful resource. I've bought two professional quality banjos through ads on this site, with absolutely no problems. I think the key is to thoroughly check out the vendor before parting with any money. Clearly, a new member with no history of interaction with the Hangout offering a pre-war Mastertone for $500 warrants a very care ful check. We should not allow these people to diminish the value of the Hangout for bona-fide members.

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I fully agree with Harry.  I have both bought and sold, one each, banjos on BHO.  Great experiences.  I have also bought and sold a few smaller items, like tuners, pouches, picks.  The selection here simply cannot be beat.

That said, you do need to due diligence.  The first test to pass is the seller's history on BHO.  I won't buy a large item from a new, unranked seller.  When buying I like to be sure the seller acually has the item listed.  A video call is great for this.  It also allows for better verification of the item's condition.  I like to talk with the seller multiple times.  I like to google the seller, and have even used sites like "been verified" to check criminal background history.  Finally, I like to pay by personal check sent through the mail.  At least this way, I have a verifiable physical address, and can always file a complaint with the police in the seller's area, if the item fails to appear.  If any if these checks raise a warning sign, or even just an uncomfortable feeling, I move along to something else.

I once decided not to sell a banjo to a brand new member who joined the day my banjo was listed. Being older and admittedly a little out of the loop on some transaction options, I wanted a check and he pushed for some sort of banking option. I turned him down, he reported me to a moderator saying I didn’t really have the banjo (huh?), and I ended up looking like the bad guy. I had to explain myself to the moderator despite my then ranking of +6 and having been a member for many years. That same guy quit, rejoined under a different name, and I sold it to him for my original demand for a check. I didn’t really want to sell it to him because of the lies he told the moderator about me, but I didn’t want to justify myself again to the moderator.

I’m not sure what my point is, but life used to be simpler.

Steve

"No good deed goes unpunished." Mark Twain

I’m not very active on here , mostly just looking at interesting banjos , I did bought and sold few banjos on here tho in the last ten or so years , never had a bad experience… I don’t buy nothing from a new members , even if I decide to do it someday, it will be cash and carry deal only

I bought a beautiful Deering from a new member a few years back. We sent numerous emails back and forth, especially when I wanted extra photos of certain parts of the banjo. We finally spoke on the phone, and I decided to purchase it. As Scott said above, I Googled the seller as well, and he checked out just fine.

I will always be grateful when I first joined BHO back in 2013, that someone trusted me enough to sell me my first good banjo. But the internet has gotten a lot more hazardous since then.

From what I've seen, the hangout is a great place to buy stuff. Thanks to the mods, scammers are usually taken off relatively quickly, and people are warned of them. I've seen an especially large number of scam warnings this week, but hopefully the people doing it will move onto something else like mando hangout (only joking)...

It's up to the buyer to check if the sale is legit, but most sales are, and the classifieds have a wealth of banjo-specific items available to purchase.

Thanks for the heads up.

This is Leo’s banjo:

guitarandbanjo.com/sites/guita..._2307.jpg

So who in the heck is this:

https://www.banjohangout.org/classified/93414

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Originally posted by lowG

Thanks for the heads up.

This is Leo’s banjo:

guitarandbanjo.com/sites/guita..._2307.jpg

So who in the heck is this:

https://www.banjohangout.org/classified/93414

Update:  The scam ad has been removed, and very quickly—our moderators are on the ball. 

 Thank You Very Much.

I posted a Want to Buy for a docfossey banjo/guitar. A person with the handle tinsleymeekinsjr message me with an offer to sell. I was suspicious and engaged him in a dialogue via email. Turned out he is a scammer. Watch out for this guy.

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Originally posted by Fiannakid

I posted a Want to Buy for a docfossey banjo/guitar. A person with the handle tinsleymeekinsjr message me with an offer to sell. I was suspicious and engaged him in a dialogue via email. Turned out he is a scammer. Watch out for this guy.

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And he's been locked out so hopefully no one else will have to deal with him.

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

quote:

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Originally posted by Fiannakid

I posted a Want to Buy for a docfossey banjo/guitar. A person with the handle tinsleymeekinsjr message me with an offer to sell. I was suspicious and engaged him in a dialogue via email. Turned out he is a scammer. Watch out for this guy.

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And he's been locked out so hopefully no one else will have to deal with him.

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 that was quick ... 

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Originally posted by damirzanne

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

quote:

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Originally posted by Fiannakid

I posted a Want to Buy for a docfossey banjo/guitar. A person with the handle tinsleymeekinsjr message me with an offer to sell. I was suspicious and engaged him in a dialogue via email. Turned out he is a scammer. Watch out for this guy.

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And he's been locked out so hopefully no one else will have to deal with him.

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 that was quick ... 

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Any time you think you've found a scammer, let a moderator know, post an admin. report.   That way we can checked it out immediately and lock if it is a scammer.

If a suspicious buyer/seller will engage w/ u in a dialogue , & u ask the right questions , it's usually not difficult to tell if they are scammers .

What are the tell-tale sign signs of a spammer? I've been a member for about 10 years but with very little activity admittedly, but I am active in the banjo community elsewhere. I can easily be looked up and see that I am a legit seller. I have sold 2 banjos here and am currently selling a 3rd. Maybe if you had some sort of "verified" seller status on us good folk, that would help.

Colyn- i like the ones that state that they "inherited a banjo and i know nothing about banjos". Followed by pics of a valuable banjo listed for a low-ball price.

I am always VERY suspicious of those that say on a website that they 'know nothing' - find it incredble they cannot google the item/look for it on ebay or reverb to get an idea of value.

Mind you when I was young (60's and early 70's) , many junk shops had banjos hanging on the walls and they could not give them away. Now we've even reached the stage they are worth scamming over - human progress??? LOL.

Be on the lookout for a Tim Linton. Believed to be a scammer.

He offered a case for a 5-string dobro case within minutes of posting even providing pictures. He didnt want to accept regular PayPal but rather PayPal Friends/Family w no buyer protections. I balked and walked. His written english was suspect for sure. His email is lintont407@gmail.com . Buyer beware.

I’m surprised anyone would question the BHO as a a good place to buy and sell. We’ve got mods who care and will vet sellers/buyers if there’s any doubt, alert members who care and post alerts about questionable posts and access to resources to research banjos. Who could ask for more.

The scammers are on ALL the online venues like EBay, Reverb, etc. The difference is that on those sets, you’re more on your own than here.

.

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Originally posted by OM45GE

The scammers are on ALL the online venues like EBay, Reverb, etc. The difference is that on those sets, you’re more on your own than here.
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It's true scammers are everywhere. It's not true that you're on your own more there than on BHO. eBay and Reverb both offer peer-to-peer transactions just as BHO does, but those two platforms include buyer protections beyond the method of payment, so if you're scammed you WILL get your money back after jumping through a few hoops.

I would argue the opposite. Even with better access to BHO moderators who are faster and more responsive than those other platforms, you're more on your own here on BHO than eBay and Reverb. If you get scammed here, you're pretty much out of luck unless you use a payment method which has built in protections.

I've argued and suggested this in the past to deaf ears, but if BHO were simply to charge an insertion fee for every ad, and drop this suggested "donation" nonsense, most of the scams and scammers would disappear overnight. It's the reality of free advertising that attracts scammers to BHO.

I have purchased one banjo through BHO and sold two here. All of those transactions were easy and enjoyable.

As other have said, do your research.

But also, as a relatively new seller, it can be a challenge to help people feel comfortable when purchasing from you, no matter how honest you are.

Sherry , What do u think of the Bella Voce just posted for $8700 ?
It wouldn't do much for domestic tranquility but I might be interested .

Thks
Bob

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Originally posted by heavy5

Sherry , What do u think of the Bella Voce just posted for $8700 ?
It wouldn't do much for domestic tranquility but I might be interested .

Thks
Bob

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Just tried to find it and it didn't come up.  Can you give me an URL to it?