Ebay, Craigslist, your local buy and sell papers, etc., etc.   Sooner or later you may have to use one of these websites or papers to buy or sell something.  Before you purchase that item or list your item for sale there are things you may want to know…

Try to deal in cash only

When selling items ask for cash only and check it over.  Unfortunately, there have been incidents of counterfeit money being passed, along with fake bank drafts, bad cheques, etc. If you are purchasing items it is best to assume the seller wants cash.  If it is a large amount of money then make arrangements for the seller to meet you directly at your bank so they can see the bank draft being made up first hand.

Avoid long distance transactions when selling merchandise locally

Some people will claim they live out of state/province, have small children and will wire you cash before they arrive in your home town.  This is just a new twist on the getting your personal banking information scheme for fraud or identity theft purposes.

Truth in advertising

When listing an item for sale be honest on the item’s condition and age of the item.  Although, some buyers may not be fussy about the cat scratch on the sofa or the light scratches on the dining room table other buyers might be.  On the other end when looking to purchase merchandise always ask if there are scratches, niches, etc. before you drive out to see it, as different people have different ideas as to what is immaculate or what excellent condition means.  Even an item described as in good condition maybe in better condition than the item described as in excellent condition.

Protect yourself with Insurance and/or a signature upon delivery

When selling or purchasing items through an auction site it is best for the buyer and/or the seller to have the item shipped with insurance or at least a signature upon delivery. This avoids any conflict whether the item was actually delivered or lost by the post office themselves. Insurance is recommended for items that are valuable, collectable and for items that are fragile or have small parts. Sometimes the buyer may not want to pay extra for the insurance, in that case make sure the buyer understands that the seller is not responsible if the item arrives damaged or the package gets lost in the mail.

Too good to be true

If someone is selling a 6 month old fridge, a 9 month old sofa, etc., ask if they have the receipt and warranty.  The merchandise could be stolen.

Warranties

Be aware of the manufacturers warranty period for the item you are buying.  Is the warranty transferrable? Does the owner have the original receipt/warranty?  Sellers should dig up the original receipt/warranty or get a copy from the store/manufacturer if need be.

Beware of fakes/knock offs and antique replicas

Although most sites try to catch this due to counterfeit laws, items can and will slip through the cracks. Knowledge/research is power or your best defense. 

Barterers

Just like a garage sale some people will expect you sell something for next to nothing.  If you have a firm price then say $200.00 (firm) in your ad.  If you are purchasing an item and wish to barter, try not to be annoying in the process.  If a seller turns down your price don’t contact them every few days or every week to see if they changed their mind, just tell the seller to contact you if they change their mind about the price. 

Traders

Some people will offer to trade their merchandise for yours.  This is fine if you need the merchandise they are offering to trade, but other times it is a sign they may be strapped for cash.

Strapped for cash

A person selling their used merchandise is not your personal bank or credit card company.  If you don’t have the funds to purchase an item then arrange to borrow money from your family or friends instead. Sellers should not offer layaway plans and/or personalized payment plans.  One just has to watch court tv to see how many nice/understanding sellers get taken advantage of. 

No shows

Sometimes people forget or change their minds about coming to see the items you have for sale.  Make sure you have their name and telephone number on hand.  Plus, when arranging a time for a seller to see an item make sure you set a certain time or time period, so you are not waiting around all afternoon or evening for someone to show up.

Tire kickers

You may have a lot of lookers before you have any takers for a number of reasons.  Maybe the item is not in as good as condition as you advertised it or maybe you are expecting too high of a price compared to what buyers are willing to pay.  Be patient, how many times do you look at items in retail stores and not buy them either? 

Serious buyers only

Perhaps you are very busy, short on time, patience, etc.  Consider other alternatives like consignment stores, auctions, having a relative sell the merchandise on your behalf, etc.

Remember…

The majority of transactions go off without a hitch on these sites, but it never hurts to be prepared for potential problems or pitfalls before hand.

Although, the white plastic flexible dryer venting hose has been removed from the market years ago, it is amazing how many people still have this type of hose connected to their dryers in their homes.

Things you may want to know…

The PVC white flexible dryer hose is a fire hazard and if you have one connected to your dryer it needs to be replaced immediately with a metallic one.  When dryer lint builds up in a white flexible hose it can catch fire very quickly.  

You can watch how flammable this type of dryer hose is here.  

Remember…

A new metallic dryer hose will run you about $2.00 to $4.00 depending on the length you need. A small price to pay for piece of mind compared to living with a potential fire hazard. 

 

Seems like the latest, greatest and most popular front loading washing machines may not be so great after all. A lot of people are complaining that the front loading washing machines leave detergent and fabric softener stains on clothing, that the machines spin the clothes so hard that they are extremely wrinkled when they come out or have small holes in items and others say the front loaders have issues with mold and mildew.

If you are thinking of buying a front loading washing machine, perhaps you should do a internet search on the particular model and brand you are thinking of buying to see if a lot of people are complaining about issues mentioned above.

If you own a front loading washing machine and it has problem free, please let us know the make, model, year and how long you have owned it.  

On the opposite end, if you own a front loading washing machine and you have nothing but problems, please let us know the make, model, year and how long you have owned it and what kind of troubles you are having.

Are these machines living up to all their promises?

A couple weeks ago one of our local TV stations did a news story on mail theft and offered this test to see if you are at risk of identity theft.

No matter where you live identity theft is the fastest growing crime worldwide. It is estimated by 2003 that 11.8 million Americans were victims of identity theft, shockingly that is 1 in 20 people.  

Since a two or three minute news blip doesn’t do this important subject justice or cover other areas on how to protect yourself in general; I thought I would expand on the subject further because there are things you may want to know… 

How to protect yourself from identity theft:

Safeguard your wallet and purse.

Try not to flash your cash no matter where you are, whether on vacation or at home. You never know who maybe watching you.  Even professional thieves and pickpockets have been known to wear business attire to fit into a crowd. I’m always amazed when I see men counting a wad of money in a public place or pulling out a big wad of cash out of their wallets.  Perhaps, they think they are safe in their environment? I know someone who was mugged in a swanky hotel washroom near a banquet hall where a wedding reception was taking place.    

Store your personal information in a secure location.  

Are you a clutter bug?  Do you carry do too much personal information in your wallet or purse?  Do you leave important papers, pin numbers, etc. laying around at home, just thrown on top of a table or in a dresser drawer?  Do you know during a home break in that thieves head to the bedroom first? Try to store personal information in a secure place in your home, a place that would not be obvious to a thief if you ever had a break in.

Safeguard your post mail.

Is your mailbox locked?  If not, invest in a new mailbox with a lock on it.  Mail theft is rampant and it is just one of many ways thieves can steal your identity. Even if you have a locked mailbox already make sure you pick up your mail on a daily basis.  I lived in a condo building where some people didn’t pick up their mail for days or weeks at a time, until our mailbox got broken into, then everyone became more vigilant after their mail was stolen. 

Mailing personal letters.

Unfortunately, thieves also steal mail out of regular postal mailboxes too.  If you are mailing personal information by post, sending greeting cards with gift certificates in them, etc. make sure you are not dumping the letters in the mailbox overnight, on the weekend or after the mail pick up times.  Sometimes you are better off mailing important letters directly at your local post office instead.

Safeguard yourself on the internet.

Do make purchases on the internet with a separate credit card or do you use your main credit card that offers thousands of dollars of available credit on it?  If you purchase items on the internet you should use a separate credit card with a lower credit limit on it for security reasons. Many websites have gotten hacked into and personal credit card information for identity theft purposes has been stolen in this manner. 

Online banking, online stock trading, etc.  Although convenient and many companies claim their systems are secure, hackers and fraud still occurs.  Online accounts with large cash positions can be at risk. 

Are you a website/blog owner?  Do you have a listed telephone number?  Be careful what kind of information you reveal about yourself on your blog or website. Telling your bloggers you are going on vacation, away for a few days, etc., can expose you mail theft, a home break in, etc.

If you use facebook or my space be careful what personal information you reveal on these sites too. The same holds true if you are a blogger using your real name, revealing personal information and you have a listed telephone number too.

Select intricate passwords to protect yourself on the internet in general.  Try not to use simple personal passwords like your telephone number, your mothers maiden name, etc. 

Interac, ATM’s, debit cards. 

Never tell anyone your pin code or write it down on the back of your card. Cover your hand over your other hand or block another person’s view when entering your pin code as you never know who can be watching you entering your pin number.  

Shred all personal information.

Credit card applications, envelopes with your name and address on them, etc., etc.  It pays to invest in a good shredder.  The shredders that shred paper into dust like particles are best.  Cross cut is okay, depending on how big the shredding strips are.  Remember the smaller the shred the harder the information would be to put back together again. Strip shredders are no longer recommended because information can be put back together quite quickly.  Sifting through dumpsters, paper recycling bins and garbage cans are ways identity thieves can gather information on you.

Protect your Social Insurance number/Social Security number and birth certificate.  

Are you caring these items around in your purse or wallet?  This is not recommended because if you ever lost your purse/wallet or had your purse/wallet stolen an identity thief would have all the information they need to become you really fast.

Pre-approved credit card applications.

Rather than just shredding these pre-approved credit card applications when they arrive by mail, call the company and request to be removed off their mailing list completely.  Pre-approved credit card applications are what identity thieves look for.

Check your credit report.

Usually for a small fee or for free you can you check your credit report.  It is recommended you check your credit report annually.  This will allow you to see anyone who is accessing your credit information and get on top of anything unusual like a family member taking out a credit card under your name without you knowing, etc., etc.

Make sure your bills show up when they are suppose to.

Pay attention that your credit card bills are showing up on a regular basis.  If a credit card bill doesn’t show up one month, get on top of it right away, as the first thing identity thieves do is have your bills redirected to another address.

Envelopes that arrive open, damaged or look like they have been resealed.

Not all identity thieves steal mail, some open mail and write down information on you instead.  If your mail is arriving opened, damaged or the envelopes look like they have been resealed this can be a sign of an identity thief at work.

Remember…

If you have an odd charge on paypal, a credit card, debit card, etc. get on top of it right away. Sometimes identity thieves will test an account out by charging seventy five cents or a dollar or two before proceeding with more charges.

Sooner or later we all have to rent a vehicle whether we are on vacation, traveling for business, moving to a new residence or when our car is in the shop, etc. The task of finding the vehicle you need on the dates you want, at the price you want can be time consuming at the best of times. Whether booking the same day, a few days in advance, weeks or months in advance, your booking choices are as varied as the number of rental car companies to choose from.  But, before you sign on the dotted line…

Things you may want to know...

It is the goal of every rental car company to rent out vehicles for the highest rate possible and to get you to reserve the vehicle right away before you have a chance to call the competition to compare prices. When you pick up your rental vehicle the company will ask you if you wish to purchase additional insurance, upgrade your vehicle to the next level, etc.  The rental car companies will offer you all these options starting with the cheapest one first.  Depending on how many of these options you agree to sometimes you can end up paying more for a smaller economy vehicle than if you would have originally reserved a higher end mid size or larger vehicle. 

Some people automatically say, “give me the cheapest rate you have on a small vehicle”, but the smallest vehicle may not necessarily be the cheapest rate depending on the rental demand at the time. Maybe a better phase would be: “what is the best rental rate you can give me?” 

You should also check the mileage policy rental car companies offer. This can vary from unlimited mileage to a set amount of miles/kilometers per day and others will charge you for every single mile/kilometer you put on the vehicle.  Once again, depending on the rental car companies mileage policy, a more expensive vehicle with unlimited mileage may be cheaper to rent, than a company who has a cheaper rental rate and charges for you for mileage.  

Other things to be aware of:

Not all rental car companies are created equal.  It is not unusual for extra charges to appear on your bill, check your bill over carefully.  If the rental car company is closed when you return the car, make sure you get a copy of the bill faxed to you or call the credit card company to verify the charges.  You can get charged for a gas fill up even though you filled the vehicle up with gas before you returned it, etc.  

Before you drive the rental vehicle off the lot.  Take your time and make sure all the damage on the vehicle is properly noted.  If you fail to notice some damage, you could get charged with repairing it even though you did not cause it.  

If the rental car company has a weird gasoline fill up level like 3/8 of a tank instead of full tank when returning the vehicle, this odd gasoline level can be open to interpretation.  Some rental car companies use this to their advantage to charge you extra for topping off fuel, even though you returned the vehicle with the proper amount of gasoline in it.  

Also, if a rental vehicle has been in a previous accident and has noticeable damage it is best to ask for another rental vehicle instead. Why you ask?  On vacation we rented a vehicle that had a smashed up front end that was not repaired by the rental car company.  We had arrived in the evening, so we drove the rental car directly from the airport to the hotel.  The next day we noticed that the tire kept leaking air where the front end was smashed and there was obviously additional problems that the rental car company did not fix from the previous accident.  So, we immediately drove the rental car back to the company, told them what was happening with the car and they gave us another car instead.  When we were finished our vacation and returned the rental car, the rental car company persisted that we caused the tire to leak air on the first rental car and tried to charge us $200.00 for a new tire on our bill.  We refused to pay it, stated the first rental car was already damaged from a previous accident, the tire problem was not our fault, etc.  What a hassle!  

Which brings me to another point.  Allow yourself plenty of time to return your rental vehicle before your flight.  That way you have the proper amount of time to look over your bill and dispute any additional charges if need be. 

You can also look up various rental car companies and the problems people have had with them on this site.  Just type in the rental car company name on the right hand side to view all the complaints. 

Remember…

To avoid any surprise charges it pays to go over that rental car bill with a fine tooth comb. We have been charged for an extra days rental, for fuel top offs and double state tax to name a few.  We rented a lot of vehicles for years and never ran into any extra billing problems, but we quickly learned in the rental car industry you can never say never when it comes to extra charges, its more like sooner or later it will happen to you. 

 

When chatting on various websites/blogs we assume the owner of that website/blog is somewhat tech savvy and their website/blog is safe. We take for granted that the owner can catch problems or handle problems when they occur, but are we lulling ourselves into a false sense of security?

Things you may want to know…

The safety of the blog/website you are chatting on is heavily dependent on how tech savvy the owner is. Will the owner even notice whether their website/blog is being hacked into, whether there is a virus on their site, etc.  

Some people assume Ewwww! that website/blog has had problems so they decide not to bother with that website/blog again, but is this the wrong reaction?   Summing the answer up in one word, Yes!  When a website/blog owner notices a problem and is honest enough to tell you about it, realize the owner has taken steps to protect their website/blog from any future problems like that again.  Other owners may have problems on their website/blog, but may choose to keep it a secret from you.  Still other owners whose tech knowledge is limited, may not even notice when someone is attacking their website or blog.  

Whether the website/blog owner is 12 years old or 90 years old, basically your security depends on how tech savvy the website/blog owner is, how tech savvy you are and what kind of security measures you have installed on your own computer.  

Remember…

Just because you don’t hear about a website/blog owners problems doesn’t mean they don’t have any.

Shopping for new furniture, the glamorous show rooms, all the driving around and the miles of walking in those large warehouses to find the perfect piece of furniture that suits your decor. Clearance furniture stores, high end furniture stores, furniture stores that can custom make your furniture, etc., etc.  But, with so many choices out there, what should you be looking for exactly?

To know what type of furniture store you just walked into carefully examine the floor models.  Are the majority of them in near perfect condition or is there scrapes, gouges, etc. in all the pieces?  There are furniture stores that specialize in selling seconds/damaged furniture. Usually the damage is close to the floor, a nick of out the wood trim, a small rip in the leather/fabric, the recline lever of a sofa not working, etc.  You may see the words liquidation, liquidators or clearance in the store name or then again maybe not. 

You may also see tent sales.  Tent sales usually consist of furniture that is damaged or a furniture line that has been discontinued that the store will no longer be stocking/selling.  Tent sales are common on long weekends.

Other furniture stores may have items you want to purchase stocked in their warehouse or they may have to order the furniture directly from the manufacturer for you.

Things you may want to know…

Before you purchase furniture examine the floor model carefully, look at the labels, how it is made, where it is made, etc.  Unfortunately, there are companies that have a higher end floor models on display, but are actually selling you a model that looks the same, but is not the same build quality.  Basically, a knock off. Although, this is considered false advertising, a bait and switch scheme, this can happen.  Usually the store will claim that the floor model is old and they had to switch manufacturers, etc. 

It pays to ask what the furniture stores policies are on the following:  

Furniture arrives damaged - what are the policies?  Can you get a refund, replacement, discount for the damage or do you just get a credit note to buy another piece of furniture at the same store?

Delivery and set up - Does the furniture company have its own delivery drivers or is it an independent firm doing their deliveries for them?  What is the delivery and set up policy?  Are they just going to drop off the furniture at your front door, only for you to have to haul it up two flights of stairs?  A major discount furniture chain who constantly runs late with their deliveries is known for this practice. They claim they will come back to haul it up your stairs and set it up for you.  Of course, many phone calls later, it is like pulling teeth to get them to come back to do so.

Warranties/guarantees - What happens if the piece of furniture breaks after a week, a month, etc.?  Does the store offer free repairs for a certain time period or are you on your own with the manufacturer directly? Also ask if there is a manufacturers warranty and what that consists of.  Some manufacturers warranties are better than others.

Extra charges - Sometimes you may think the furniture company is throwing in free leather cleaner for your new sofa, until your credit card bill arrives with an additional charge on it for the leather cleaner. If you receive extra items with your delivery, call the store to verify it or you maybe in for a surprise.

Remember…

When buying furniture it is better to ask too many questions, than to make any assumptions.

 

Before you decide to write up that offer, take a second or even a third look at the home. Sometimes you can get too excited or too distracted the first time you see a home and miss noticing a lot of its flaws, leaks, costly repairs, etc.  It pays to carefully look things over and not let your emotions get the best of you.  Did you know the average person only spends 20 minutes in a home before they decide to buy it?  People actually spend more time researching and test driving cars in comparison to buying homes. Personally, I find this concept baffling because the car only costs a few thousand dollars and only lasts for about eight to ten years, yet the home costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and lasts a lot longer than any car does. A poorly built home can cost you a lot more in repairs than any lemony car ever could.

You also may want to take your own photos of both the interior and exterior of the home before proceeding with an offer.  Although, real estate agents have already have taken photos of the home, a lot of these photos do not show you the entire home in detail both inside and out.

Taking your own photos has its advantages too, this not only helps you remember various aspects of the home for decorating, etc., it also protects you in case you run into any problems with the seller damaging the home when they move out.  When you take photos you actually have proof of the condition of the home as you viewed it before you put your offer in.  

Things you may want to know…

Occasionally sellers do strange things.  Like using bleach to clean carpet stains. Which of course, bleaches out the color of the carpet and leaves you with a nice polka dotted look. Sometimes they remove built in shelving or lighting when they are not supposed to and leave you with gaping holes in the walls or ceilings. Other times they can leave you with a extremely messy yard and grass that is so tall that you can’t even cut it with an ordinary lawnmower.

When you sign your offer you will see “as viewed on such and such date” in it.  When you take possession of your home it should be in the same condition as you the date you viewed it.  If not, the sellers become liable for damages and the associated repair costs.  

For instance, you view a home with a beautifully maintained yard, but when you take possession the grass is over a foot long and you have wasps nests in it, etc.  It is obvious you are going to have to call in professional who has a specialized lawnmower to deal with the long grass because your ordinary mower can’t cut it and you will have to call an exterminator to deal with the insects.  At this point, the seller becomes liable for the yard, because it is no longer in the “as viewed” condition. Even some real estate agents may not be aware of that the “as viewed” condition includes exterior yard maintenance, but a lawyer will tell you, as viewed is as viewed and if you need any specialized equipment to cut the lawn the owner then becomes liable for the charges.

Remember…

The vast majority of sellers are aware they are liable for any damages they cause to a home, but nothing is foolproof 100% of the time. At least if you take your own photos you have actual proof of the home’s condition when you viewed it.  If you don’t have any photos and run into problems it may make things a lot tougher to prove as you can run into the he said, she said, denial fiasco, that damage was originally there, but no one noticed, etc.

FYI - As viewed condition does not apply to foreclosed properties, it is a roll of the dice on those ones.

 

Junk mail by email, junk mail by post mail, annoying telephone calls from people trying to sell you something at dinner hour, etc., etc. Help!  I’m being bombarded from every direction by people wanting to sell me some product or service.  What should I do?

Things you may want to know…

To get rid of junk post mail, don’t open the envelope, cross out or put a wavy line through your name and address on the front of the envelope (make sure the marks are not so thick/heavy that you can’t still see your name & address through the pen marks). Beside your name and address on the envelope write “Return to sender.  Moved. Remove from all mailing lists.”  then draw a nice big arrow up to the companies return address.  At this point, pop the envelope back into the mailbox, basically your sending the junk mail back to the sender. The company is not going to waste postage sending you mail that is going to be unopened and returned back to them.  You can also call the company and ask to be removed from their mailing list.  I find the return the junk mail by mail process works more quickly and effectively in comparison though.

To get rid of telephone marketers calling you, interrupt them as fast as you can, tell them your not interested and say “please remove me from your calling list”  it is very important you say these words to them. Once you tell them remove me from your calling list, the company is not allowed by law to contact you for 3 years.  If they call you again remind them once again that you requested to be removed from their calling list several months ago and there is government laws and fines associated with calling someone who has requested to be removed from the calling list.  

In the U.S. you can register on national do not call list - link here

For the UK - link here

In Canada the national do not call list will not be available until September 2008. So in the mean time you will have to tell every telephone marketer that calls you to “please remove me from your calling list” instead. If any telephone marketer continues to call you after you already requested to be removed from their calling lists, you can remind them you asked them months ago to remove you from their calling list and tell them you will contact the CRTC and they will have to pay a 15k fine because they are in violation of telemarketing laws if they call you again. If they are still calling you past this point, keep track of the dates and times they are calling you and contact the CRTC directly to lodge a formal complaint against the company. To register a complaint with the CRTC link here. 

To get rid of junk email.  Well, handling this one can be a little tricky as a lot of junk emails come from fake addresses. Sometimes, once you open a junk email it triggers a ping back to the sender that you opened it and then they keep send you more and more junk. Sometimes you recognize the sender of the junk mail and you can successfully unsubscribe to receiving any more mail from these particular companies.

You can also track junk email senders by looking up their IP address and complaining directly to their email server, but this is very time consuming.  You can also complain to your own email server too, but what they do with your complaint, depends on how seriously your email provider takes spam complaints.

Some large email providers, like Yahoo and Hotmail have very dismal spam control.  Plus, the hackers try to obtain email addresses from these sites on a regular basis because they offer such a large email address base.   Some smaller email providers offer great spam control in comparison to the larger email ones, but you will have to search for which one you should use and see if they are suitable for your emailing needs. 

 

Practically every day someone is asking for our email address in one way or another.  From entering a contest online, to getting a quotes from businesses, to sending an e-card, blogging, to your work, to warranty/product registrations, to charitable organizations, to buying a house, to dealing with your bank, etc., etc…..

We don’t even think twice about hearing the words, “What’s your email address?”, but should we think twice about who we are giving out our email address to?

Things you may want to know….

Although most people you give your email address out to will not sell your email address or ever send you spam, unfortunately, there is a lot of companies and people that do.  Usually, a lot of these sites are identifiable because the site is usually promoting a service or product. The site may have a lot of advertising/pop ads, but if your pop-up blocker on your computer is turned on then you may not notice this. On some other sites after you have given them your email address, a list of subjects will pop up and they will ask you to click on the subjects you are interested in.  

Several months go by and you notice that your getting a bunch of emails from places and companies you have never dealt with before and your baffled where all this email is coming from.  Actually, a lot of times it is originating from sites you gave your email address willingly to in the first place.  The company in turn takes your information and sells it to 3rd parties, so other parties can send you their product information, etc. But…how do you know who does this sort of thing and who doesn’t?  

You will usually find this in the fine print/legal jargon and it is referred to as a privacy policy.  On some sites you can easily see this information and on other sites you may have to look for it harder. Within the pages of all that legal jargon is the sites policies on privacy. If you take the time to read it all you may see the words the company has the right to send you information from other parties or the company has the right to send you information from 3rd parties, etc. This is your red flag/warning light that this company is going to pass on your information onto other parties.

Remember…

The practice of passing on your information onto other parties and/or selling your information to other parties is very common now a days. Unfortunately, this practice is not only limited to the internet.  Even major banks also have it on their mortgage/loan applications, etc., you will have to tell them you wish to opt out of them passing your name onto third parties and/or receiving other product information from them. 

Although, it may take time to read all the legal fine print, it maybe worth it if you don’t want to end up on every junk mailing list in town.