Selling online .. what you need to know before posting an ad

Kandy De Haro of La Quinta recently posted an item for sale on Craigslist.

It was a Home Depot gift card.

“You try to get your sales in right away and you’re thinking okay, I’m going to post my ad online, and my phone number to get a quicker response,” said De Haro.

After posting, she was quickly targeted by someone she concluded was a scammer.

“You think you’re going to sell the item like this, and it doesn’t always happen that way,” said De Haro.

The mother of two is not alone selling online and being targeted by someone wanting to rip her off.

A search of media reports online shows a number of stories detailing how sellers are falling victim.

Lynn Dralle of Rancho Mirage has been selling online full-time since the late nineties and has written books on how to do it successfully.

When it comes to scammers, she says she has “seen it all”.

“There are these rings of people doing this all over the world and they found out they can go fishing. They go fishing to see what they can come up with,” said Dralle.

While most of Lynn’s experience is selling with eBay, she has also used other sites including Craigslist. and says her recommendations for selling safely apply to essentially any online platform.

The first is to try to sell without having a stranger come to your home. If that is unavoidable, show what you have to sell outside of your home. That way neighbors can see what is going on.

Also, have someone with you. Or, tell a third party you have someone coming over.

Ask for an I.D. to confirm the buyer is who they say they are, and if possible, get a picture of their license plate.

“Err on the side of being cautious,” said Dralle.

Lynn also says to simply be aware of scams, especially on Craigslist.

Many people who include their phone numbers when posting ads on the site often quickly receive texts from people, from different area codes, posing as buyers.

Then, they’ll offer to buy whats being sold, offering to send a check for more than the asking price.

Its an advance check scam, that in some cases, leaves the seller owing money to the bank for depositing a bad what turns out to be a bad check.

Dralle was recently targeted.

“I just listed a car, so I’m getting people that are saying ‘I’ll send you a cashier’s check for eight thousand dollars, and you send me back the 35 hundred dollars over the price of the car, and then I’ll have my guy come pick it up,’ and those cashier’s checks are no good,” said Dralle.

Dralle says the best way to take payment, when completing the sale in person, is to accept cash while keeping an eye out for counterfeit money.

For taking payment online, she strongly endorses PayPal, which conceals account information for both buyers and sellers and provides a reliable system for resolving disputed payments.

“PayPal is a very very important tool for safety,” said Dralle.

To sell her gift card, De Haro eventually tried the app “Offerup”, which is like a cross between Craigslist and eBay, which promises enhanced security by keeping all communication between seller and buyer within the app.

“I was able to sell the gift card from there with less personal information on my part,” said De Haro.

Be sure to tune in for CBS Local 2 News at 5:30 Wednesday night, when CBS Local 2’s Tom Tucker talks with experts on what it takes to improve your chances of making a sale online.

Lynn Dralle recently moved to Ventura, and opened “Lynn’s Consignments Fun Home Furnishings”, at 1975 E. Main Street in Ventura.