Buying and Selling Safely
25/03/2012

Our advice to buyers

We at Advistas.com endeavour to protect those buying and selling on our site and as such we do our best to screen sellers before we approve their ads. However buyers are advised to follow some basic rules and most appropriately apply common sense when carrying out transactions. If an offer appears to be too good to be true, it probably is, therefore deal with caution!

Here are some guidelines that may be helpful when buying on Advistas.com

  1. Deal with local advertisers who you may meet in person or converse directly with through their local landline telephone number.
  2. Always use more than one method of contacting the seller. Generally in addition to email or mobile phone number, a genuine seller will be willing to provide you with a home or office landline phone number when asked.
  3. Beware of paying in advance for goods; and always ask for a signed proof of purchase for the product you buy.
  4. If a product is advertised too cheaply, beware and deal with caution.
  5. Beware of seller pressure. Fraudulent sellers often put pressure on buyers to make quick buying decisions.
  6. Advistas.com does not allow (and will not approve) listing of replica or forged brand name goods, however beware of this kind of products in case they slip through the net.

Payments

a.       Pay for items bought with cash, or bank drafts.

b.      Do not send cash by post or pay money directly into seller’s bank account in expectation of receiving goods or service.

c.       Use an Escrow service (an escrow service company hold the money for a purchase while the seller ships the goods; and the buyer receives and inspects before authorising the p

ayment) available through major search engines.

Our advice to sellers

Beware if someone unknown to you claims to be able to connect you with interested buyer for a fee. Never trust such a person as they may be fraudulent.

Some guidelines that may be helpful when selling on Advistas.com

Listing a product

  1. Use lots of pictures taken preferably on a plain background to show different aspects of your product. Photos are good visual aid that will enhance the response to your listing.
  2. Make your title short, clear and catchy.
  3. Describe your product in detail. It will always be beneficial if you tell your buyers the uses of a product; advantages of having it; why you are disposing and any details about product guarantees.
  4. There are dedicated fields for emails, website URL address, phone number in the listing fields, therefore do not use these in the description text, title or images of your ads.
  5. Upload logo if your business has one. Provide a lot of details about your business – location, website, contact details etc.
  6. Stolen, replica or illegal products are prohibited from our website. Such products will not be approved and if later found and reported will be immediately removed.   

Selling

  1. Beware of fraudsters who may want to con you out of your money or goods.
  2. Hand over your goods only when full payments for your products have been received.
  3. Deal with local buyers in cash and do not ask for cash to be sent in the post to you.
  4. Bankers drafts are as good as cash when issued from a recognised bank. We do not recommend taking bankers draft from international buyers.
  5. We don’t advise to take cheques in settlement of transaction, however if you decide to take a cheque, ensure that the fund is cleared in your bank account before dispatching the item. Refrain from giving personal details to buyers unless you are certain that they are genuine buyers.
  6. Beware if a buyer offers to pay more than you asked for a product, it may be a scam.

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