6 Red Flags to Look Out for when Selling Items Online

I’ve been helping a friend downsize recently, which has resulted in a lot of online sales of their belongings. Selling things online has a lot of benefits, but it can also open us up to potential scams and people that are up to no good. I’ve seen a lot of good and bad behaviours over this last while, so am sharing some of the red flags I’ve been looking out for when selling my items online.

Why I love selling items online

Selling items online might not be for everyone, but I love doing it for so many reasons.

Here are a few of them:

1. Stretch your budget – Selling items online gives a little extra cash flow and can help to make your budget go a little further.

2. Reach your savings goals – Selling items online can help with reaching savings goals by increasing cash flow.

3. Reduces waste – Selling items online can help keep used items from the landfill and can help reduce waste by having less new items purchased.

4. Giving someone a good deal – It’s a great way to give someone a good deal while also making a couple of bucks. It seems like thrift stores are getting more and more expensive these days, so this is a great in between!

5. Motivation when decluttering – Decluttering can be a pain sometimes, but knowing that there will be a little extra cash flow as a result might be some good motivation.

Red flags to watch out for

My preferred place to sell items online right now is Facebook Marketplace because you can see a lot of details about the person you are selling to. While a number of these red flags are associated with Marketplace, they can certainly be applied across multiple platforms.

Here are 10 red flags to watch out for when selling items online:

1. Asking you to text them instead of respond to platform’s messaging system

Personal information is a sought after thing and I believe it should be protected. There is no need for someone to be texting or calling you if there is a messaging feature associated to the selling platform. If people push for my personal information I just don’t sell to them. I don’t want my phone number to be added to more call lists or have people try and use it for some other nefarious purpose. It is good to think through the amount of personal information that a person is gaining from you during your transaction—your name, where you live or work if you meet them there, etc. Being aware can help keep you from over sharing your information.

2. Asking to give you a deposit by e-transfer

E-transfer scams are huge in online sales. I choose to deal with cash only not only to protect my email address information, but also to remove any risk of falling prey to one of these scams. What can happen is that the scammer will send a link that looks very legitimate, but when you click on it the site is fake and it is used to steal your banking log in.

The typical type of message for these scams goes like this:

“I really want to buy this item but I am out of town for the next few days. Can I e-transfer you full payment for the item and pick up when I return?”

3. Asking you to ship items when you don’t offer this service

This can be another e-transfer scam in the making because if you are shipping and not seeing the person, you will likely need to receive an e-transfer or share other personal financial information. If you’re set up for this service that is great, but if the ask is unsolicited chances are they are after more than what you are selling.

4. Asking for your address before a pick up is confirmed

As a safety precaution and in an effort to protect my personal information, I do not give out my full address until a pick up is confirmed. I also never give out a unit or a buzzer number and always communicate through the messaging app. If someone wants to know the pick up area to determine travel distance and timing, providing the closest intersection is enough to gauge these things.

If someone is pushing for your full address, it could be a sign that they are simply phishing for your information and it is good to use caution in these instances.

5. Profiles that have spam-like details and friend lists

I will often take a look at someone’s friends list to try and gauge how likely it is to be a spam account. I do this mostly for newer accounts to decide whether to move forward with selling to the person. If an account has very few friends or thousands of friends, there is a greater chance that the person isn’t real.

To be fair, I do remember the days of collecting “friends” as more of a status symbol so I try to keep this in mind if there are other factors that speak to the person being true. I try to look for friends on the list that look like real people and people with similar names that could be family members.

If they have a profile where you can see posts and profile picture changes, take a look at what they are posting. Are the posts similar to those where you can tell the account was hacked? Can you see multiple profile picture changes through the years? Ask yourself whether you can see a real person posting the posts you see.

6. Profiles that are less than 2 years old

It is rare these days that adults are creating new Facebook profiles. It is certainly possible, but newer profiles are something to look out for. Newer Facebook profiles are more likely to be scammers or bots phishing for information or trying to bait you into an e-transfer scam.

That being said, investigate the profile to see if you can get more information. I recently sold some items to an older gentleman whose profile was less than two years old. I decided to move forward with the sale after checking out his friends list and seeing mostly family members on the list. This profile appeared to be a grandparent that set up a recent profile to be able to see family photos.

Good things can happen too

Even with all of the potential financial and phishing scams out there, I have encountered so many great people while selling items online. I love being able to connect with people and learn bits about them in our short exchanges. Just because moments are brief, doesn’t mean they can’t be uplifting!

Check out these posts if you’re looking for more thoughts and ideas on selling items online or in other ways:

How to Sell Your Used Items Online

8 Things You Should Buy Secondhand Instead of New

Garage Sales: Why They’re Important and How to Host a Successful One

Your How-to Guide for Successfully Consigning Clothing (Plus a list of consignment stores in the Lower Mainland BC)

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