Lesson Learned

...almost the hard way.

Now that our trailer is a fond memory, we've been thinking about what to do next. The current plan is to buy a small storage trailer to park in the driveway. We would fill it gradually as we empty the house, empty it in our current storage area...then eventually sell it.

Hollanders that we are, we'll only buy if the price was right. And boy, was it! Horse trailers are just as common as storage trailers in our part of Colorado, if not more so. And this was a beauty -- a good brand, and priced about a third of the others on Craigslist.

A flurry of e-mails...SOLD. But after we'd agreed to buy, the seller said, 'I brought the trailer to Utah -- Ebay Motors will be shipping it to you.' No extra cost.

Hmmm. That low price -- and free shipping? On the other hand, 'she' said she was getting rid of it because it was too much a reminder of her husband's death. And the price compensated for not being able to see it close-up. (The photos were GREAT, by the way.)

She would have Ebay Motors send us the invoice the next day. Good...so far. 

The invoice shows up. I'm doing something else, so don't pay a lot of attention. The Brick is staring at the computer screen. He read it through carefully. (We're both surprised we don't have to pay for shipping; he wanted to make sure there wasn't some exemption clause in the fine print.)

*Only the invoice didn't originate from Ebay. (And it's from Ebay Motors?)

*They would ship -- AFTER we pay. (They're not offering a receipt...but say if we're not happy, the trailer will be shipped back for free. Really? After shipping it to us for free?)

*They wanted us to pay part of it via Paypal -- and the rest in Ebay giftcards. (Interestingly enough, the giftcard amount would be just beyond what Paypal would be willing to refund, if the transaction was bogus.)

*And the seller's English was somewhat odd at times. (She was supposed to be American.)

Put it all together, and what have you got? S-C-A-M.

For one thing, we would never pay in giftcards. That's typical modus operandi for scammers. For another, there was no corresponding invoice in the "My Ebay" account. (From Ebay Motors?!?) And for a third, when I looked up the ad again, Craigslist had forcibly removed it. Hmmm. Did someone else catch the uneasy red flags the Brick noticed, and complain -- or were they fleeced of their money first? We'll probably never know. (P.S. The seller never answered our e-mail explaining why we weren't going forward with payment. Go figure.)

Or maybe we should try Ruby's approach: "I'll rip their faces off!"

It's back to looking for a storage trailer -- plus a 'live-in' trailer, as well. We're thanking God He gave us instincts for a reason.


P.S. Let us know if you've got one -- a trailer, not a cabbage -- for sale. We might be interested.