What is the safest method of receiving payment for expensive items being sold on Gumtree?
I intend to try to sell a laptop on Gumtree. Since this is my first time selling something online, my knowledge of this is near zero.
I've researched the safest ways to sell items on Gumtree and I've decided that I'll ask the buyer to come over, inspect the item, and upon approval of its condition, close the deal. The problem I see is the method of receiving payment. Since I intend to sell the laptop for 800+, cash is not an option.
I thought that I'd ask for payment to be made through Paypal but then I remembered some of its irritating policies and the buyer's ability to ask for a refund.
After that, I thought that I'd just give the buyer the sort code and account number to my bank account and ask for the money to be transferred. This is the only option I feel like I have left. However, the buyer will also known my address so I'm not sure if it's safe for me to disclose this much information.
Is there a safe, foolproof method of making the sale and receiving the payment?
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Cash is an option. It's less common than in Europe, but 40 £20 notes are not that difficult to count or keep secure. If you are worried about security, you also need to worry about the "purchaser" just running off with the laptop without even pretending to pay.
It's almost entirely safe to give out your sort code and account number. You already do this if you ever write a cheque, for example.
There is a small risk that someone could set up a fraudulent direct debit in your name. But those can only be to organisations that accept direct debits so there's not much motive to do it, and you'd be able to reverse it as soon as you notice.
It's highly unlikely that someone could use your address + account details to get any other access to your bank account. If they did it would probably be negligence on the part of the bank.
The only difficulty with a bank transfer is that it's not guaranteed to arrive immediately, so if you're trying to do the transaction in person it could be a bit tricky. The sender would also need to be able to trigger the payment while at your house, e.g. from their phone.
In most cases payments do arrive immediately (so called "faster payments"), but you'd still be reliant on your online account view updating quickly enough to be able to see that it had arrived.
You might also be able to use "Paym" for this. Once you've registered a bank account to receive money, the sender just needs your mobile number. However I'm not sure if it solves the problem of being able to verify the payment immediately. According to their FAQ, payments can take up to two hours but most are received immediately.
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