Home > Classifieds > New ad
Place a new classified ad
Warning!
There is a common SCAM that you may encounter if you place a classified ad. The scam is conducted through e-mail. It doesn't happen for every classified ad -- you may be approached by one individual attempting the scam, you may be approached by several, or you may be approached by none at all. The scam doesn't happen just to people placing ads on the Touring Cyclist website, it happens at every popular classified ad site on the Internet, large or small. There is nothing practical we can do at the Touring Cyclist to stop the scammers from trying, other than shut the service down completely. There is nothing the police or other authorities will do to help you if you get caught by this scam -- it is too hard to find the scammers, and they often live in countries that won't prosecute them.
Here is how it works. You may be contacted through e-mail by a potential buyer who is willing to buy your item without ever seeing it, at whatever price you are asking. The buyer will want to pay using a cashier's check or money order for a large amount, ofter hundreds or thousands of dollars higher than the price of the item you are selling. The buyer will ask you to pay back to the buyer this extra money.
Don't do it! The cashier's check or money order will turn out to be a forgery. You will find out too late, and your bank will insist that you pay them back. You will have no way to recover the money or your item from the buyer.
Here are the key elements of the scam to watch out for:
- The buyer is usually in a foreign country or at least not near you.
- The buyer will take the item without seeing it or asking any questions about it.
- The buyer wants to pay with a cashier's check or money order.
- The payment is much higher than the amount owed. You are supposed to pay the balance back to the buyer. There is usually some complicated excuse for why the payment is so high.
- There is sometimes a third party who will pick up the item and the extra money being returned to the buyer.
Watch out for this scam. If you do not want to risk being approached by these scammers, do not place a classified ad.
The rules
This is a place to help our St. Louis-area customers buy and sell used bicycles and equipment. Please post a listing here only if you live in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and only if you are an individual, not a business. The Touring Cyclist reserves the right to refuse any ad submission, and reserves the right to withdraw any posted ad, at its sole disgression.