Online buyers

[Hank Buffington]

How do you know if an online buyer is legitimate? I just got an email from some guy in Abu Dhabi, UAE who's interested in two of my paintings. He wants to know if I take credit cards. I have no idea how he found my web page and I'm reluctant to even respond to the message.

[Armand Cabrera]

It is a scam. IF he is legitimate, he will call and deal with you directly. I get at least one of these a week. They want to overpay for the shipping and have you return the money with the paintings. They just want your bank account info and they can drain it. These have been going on for years newspapers and TV shows have run articles about the scam and people still get taken by it.

[Hank Buffington]

Thanks Armand. I deleted his message.

[Donald Maier]

How is it a scam if they offer a credit card? I would like to know too. If you accept the credit card and it clears, then you know you have the funds, if not then you can always tell him to go away. My experience with scammers has been where they offer to send you a certified check and want to pay for 3 times the amount you are selling the work for. Then they want money back. I received three cashiers checks for $980.00 = $2,940.00. He said he wanted to pay in advance for more of my artwork and didn't want to go through the ordeal of individual checks clearing the bank. I took the three cashier's checks to the bank and the bank told me one was real and the other two were forgeries. The real one had already been cashed (I think that is what they said, not sure). Anyway, I told the guy he was a crook and that he had better relocate because the authorties would soon be paying him a visit.

I should think that a credit card would be the only safe way to do a transaction. Two other ways is to 1- Use Paypal or 2- get on a site like www.yessy.com and place the piece there. Tell your buyer to purchase it through the website. They will handle all the fund transaction and you only ship after the funds have been paid. My advice would be to suggest those two alternatives and if they want your work they can follow your methods.

I am not saying Armand is not correct. But tell me how you "know" it is a scam. He my have just deleted a real buyer.

I am on several other websites and have sold successfully on 3, and not at discounted prices. I recommend Yessy. It is $59. per year and they take 10% commission. But it is safe and you can upload as many as you want.

Armand Cabrera said:

It is a scam. IF he is legitimate, he will call and deal with you directly. I get at least one of these a week. They want to overpay for the shipping and have you return the money with the paintings. They just want your bank account info and they can drain it. These have been going on for years newspapers and TV shows have run articles about the scam and people still get taken by it.

[Tony Robinson]

I wouldn't be so hasty to consign it to the scam bin either, Hank. The offer of a credit card is a good sign your enquirer could be legitimate. I'd fish his email out of the 'Deleted' bin and contact him. A friendly local business, such as your gallery or framer will probably be willing to take his credit card details for you perhaps for a modest commission. Importantly, they will also require the CVC (card verification code) which are the last 3 digits printed on the back of the card. This is used to verify transactions in which the cardholder is not present. It varies slightly from one card brand to another but the retailer will know. Ask for a telephone number and convenient contact time and also the brand of card intended to be used to pay for your paintings so they can check first with their card machine provider.
These transactions happen every day the world over.
As for Armand, I hope you don't have a bin laden with Abu Dhabi credit cards (ouch!)

[Marilyn Timms]

Great discussion. My initial reaction was SCAM, too but you guys make good points about the credit card thing. I don't have the capacity personally to accept credit cards so I would be VERY interested in how this all works out for you, Hank. Hope you make bags of money....and get to keep it

[Hank Buffington]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I had emailed a reply explaining that I didn't take credit cards but haven't heard back.

[Armand Cabrera]

Hank,

The credit cards are stolen, the bank can take up to 60 days to reverse the charges after you have made the deposit to your account. When they do, you are responsible for the money and you have to go through all kinds of trouble to get it back. They just did a special on this on dateline NBC.
Reputable people may contact you first through email but they will be more than willing to talk to you on the phone afterwards. Artists are so gullible and are always so desparate to make a sale. This scam has been around for decades.

[Janis Ellison]

I was contacted by someone who wanted to buy two paintings. After I was contacted by email by someone who wanted to buy 2 paintings from my website by sending a money order for over the amount. After much discussion back and forth thru email they wanted to send me money order for more than the amount of the painting and refund them the difference. I decided this was a scam and later learned from other artists that they did this, their bank accepted the money order, they were out their paintings and 3,000. They refunded. Because later the bank realized the MO were counterfit. These correspondences were also from foreign country.

[Zan Barrage]

Tell him to pay through western union the exact amount of the purchase and shipping. All is well.

[Donald Maier]

I recently sold my first original watercolor to a buyer in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They saw my work on FineArtAmerica.com, and although I have had several bogus buyers try to scam me out of money and artwork, this time it was a real buyer. After learning how they work, I began accepting only PayPal transactions, or allowing up to a month for any checks (especially cashier's checks) to clear the bank. I was paid the full price as posted online and the money was in my account within 24 hours of email contact. PayPal is a wonderful thing in my opinion. And, I believe they also accept major credit cards too.

[Becky Joy]

I have paypal on my website. I've sold several paintings to people I've never talked to until they buy. I've also had people email me almost every week asking what the price would be, can they pay with cc etc. I just email back, " the price is as stated and I use paypal only". that is the end of it if they are not legit. 

Paypal accepts major credit cards, so there is no reason for them to give me a credit card. They can use their cc with paypal. I'm also sold on having paypal on the website. I want to make it as easy as possible for someone to buy.

[Mary Ann Cherry]

If you mention that you will only accept paypal, you may never hear from the potential buyer again.  It is a very typical and prolific scam to send that bank money order for over the amount, and then request a refund of the overage.  Then the bank discovers that the money order is a fake.  The buyer is left with your lovely painting and some money that is actually a real money and all you have is a fake money order.  Never send a painting to a buyer that is out of the country until you know that their money is good.