Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!jhunix!barrett
From: barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.marketplace
Subject: Re: Buying Games Thru UseNet
Keywords: Is it safe?
Message-ID: <7797@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU>
Date: 18 Mar 91 16:52:12 GMT
References: <1991Mar18.081400.11445@disk.uucp>
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
Lines: 42

In article <1991Mar18.081400.11445@disk.uucp> billy@disk.uucp (billy) writes:
>I've seen several games being sold by users on UseNet in the past, and out
>of fear I didn't buy them. How does a person buy games off UseNet and
>prevent himself from being taken, or for that part...the seller being
>taken. Is there a safe way to buy things through USeNet? Is it safe?

	I have bought several items through USENET:  games, compact
discs, and a $75 Futuresound digitizer.  The people I dealt with were
honest, and I've never been ripped off.

	If somebody posts a $15 game for sale, I assume that he/she is
honest.  Why?  Because there are many other quicker (and safer) ways to earn
$15 than to rip me off -- mow a lawn, shovel some snow, do 15 minutes of
consulting :-), etc.  Anybody who commits this crime for $15 is an idiot,
because the potential punishment can be expensive and (at least)
time-consuming.  I am willing to risk $15 for the sake of trust.
	My philosophy does not cover one case, however:  the lazy person.
A lazy person might be 100% honest but could forget or delay payment.

	When I bought the $75 digitizer, I asked the seller to include a
signed note guaranteeing the unit to be in good shape and warranting it for
1 month.  He did so.  The digitizer worked fine.

	If you want to be as safe as possible, then arrange that the
seller ships the item C.O.D.  If the item never arrives, then the
buyer never pays.  If the item arrives, then the buyer HAS to pay (the
delivery person).  I would do this for expensive items.

	Another safety tip:  buy from names you recognize -- people who have
been posting to the newsgroup for a long time.  If I have been reading
informational postings from person XXX for years, I am more likely to trust
him/her than a 1-time poster saying "HEY -- HOT GAMES FOR SALE!  ONLY $3
EACH!" :-)
	[And no, I don't have anything for sale. :-)]

                                                        Dan

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