[Moostang]

Horse Grooming Supplies (HGS) provides its free equine classifieds section as a public forum and is not responsible for the items and/or horses bought or sold online. As a buyer or seller, it is your responsibility to ensure you are not defrauded. We will, of course, do what we can do to help if we are sure fraud was committed, but we can not vouch for the authenticity of any user nor the reliability.


Here are some helpful tips

• Never accept a cashier's check that is over the price of the item or horse on sale.
• Do not assume that because the bank has cashed the check for you, it is a legitimate check. Depending on the issuing bank, Cashier checks can take up to 30 days to determine if they are legitimate.
• Be more suspicious if you are requested to handle a transaction through a wire transfer.
• Ask the seller to provide a phone number and call the seller to see if the number is correct and working.
• Reconsider doing business with individuals who are reluctant to answer your questions.
• Take extra precautions when dealing with individuals/companies from outside your own country.
• Watch out for individuals who only want to communicate via e-mail.
• Try to obtain a physical address rather than merely a post office box and a phone number.
• Make sure you are purchasing merchandise from a reputable source.
• Inquire about returns and warranties.
• Email the seller to see if they have an active email address and be wary of sellers who use free email services, such as yahoo.com and hotmail.com.
• Ask the seller to provide you with a tracking number as soon as it has shipped. Then you can check online (UPS,FEDEX,DHL) to make sure it's really been shipped and when it is expected to arrive. Be wary of delay tactics that will extend you beyond your dispute deadline.

Sellers: Make sure you have received and verified payment before shipping an item. Always ship the item with tracking (UPS,FEDEX,etc) and require a signature upon delivery. Make sure you insure the shipment for the full amount. It is less risky to ship the product to the buyer's billing address. Shipping to a third party address involves some risk. As a seller, you can accept credit card payments if you create a premium verified paypal account, which is fairly easy to do. Make sure you ship to a customer's "confirmed address" in order to qualify for PayPal's Seller Protection Policy. If you sell a lot on the Internet as a business, it may be worth getting your own merchant account with VISA/MC/AMEX.

Buyers: We strongly recommend that you use a credit card for all purchases. This provides you with the highest level of protection. Do not sign for a package received until you have quickly verified the contents (the UPS/FEDEX delivery person will wait). Even if the seller skips town and can't be located, a credit card company will almost always refund your money if you are defrauded. Credit Cards can be used with ordinary sellers who have verified premium paypal accounts, which are not difficult to obtain. According to some sources, the proper procedure if you use a credit card with paypal is to first dispute the transaction with Paypal and await the results. If the results are not satisfactory then you should take the dispute to your credit card company. Please do your own research as this is a somewhat fuzzy area.

If a credit card is not an option for you, your next best choice is to use PAYPAL or some other third party company/escrow service to facilitate the transaction. Paypal makes it easier to get your money back if there is a problem, but it does not protect you as much as a credit card. We recommend dealing only with "verified" paypal members (preferably "premium" or "business" status). Paypal also provides "Money Back Guarantee" insurance for tangible items. This insurance protects you if an item is not what you expected or are unhappy with it. Please note that some of PayPal's policies differ if a transaction is on eBay or person to person.

Additional Paypal Information:
Paypal Money Back Guaranteed Insurance
Paypal Buyer Complaint Information


If you don't use a credit card, paypal, or a good escrow service, your next best option may be to use a US Postal money order. If you send a US Postal money order and the person doesn't send the merchandise, then that's mail fraud, and the postal authorities will investigate and prosecute them.


Time is of the essence in some cases -- Paypal will only accept disputes within 45 days of the transaction. Credit Card companies usually give you 3 or 6 months to report a problem. Be wary of extended delay tactics.


If your item arrives damaged, ((new/update)): make sure you immediately notify the seller and the shipping company. You DEFINITELY SHOULD PAY FOR INSURANCE to have the item shipped. While inexpensive and worthwhile, insurance does not guarantee anything -- keep in mind your deadlines for PayPal and credit card reporting. If you can't resolve it with the seller and/or the shipping company, promptly file a complaint with Paypal or your credit card company, who will likely reimburse you. Make sure you document the damage with photos, email, etc and RETURN IT to the seller with shipment tracking (or even better -- refuse to accept shipment if you can see the damage while the delivery person is there -- they can wait for you to open the box and may take it back if you say it's damaged).


Here are some additional helpful links.
Reporting Internet Fraud http://www.ic3.gov/
US Postal Inspection Service U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Things to Check to Ensure Money Orders are Authentic USPS - Money Order Security Features


If you believe you have been a victim of fraud on Horse Grooming Supplies and need information from HGS, please PM a Moderator or use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the forum pages.


Here are some tools to help you calculate Shipping

USPS:
USPS Postage Rate Calculator

UPS:
UPS Calculate Time and Cost

FEDEX:
FedEx Rates and Transit Times

(edited by admin -- This will be an evolving document regarding the buying and selling of horses and other items within our free equine classifieds section.)

[Dandy_Brush]

Great Post Moostang!!!!!!!!

Would you beable to explain Pay Pal to me, I went to the site to sign up, but I got a little confused about how it works.

If I am using Pay Pal to buy something from say a member on the fourm, what information do I give them, and what information do they give me?

I hope these questions dont make me sound dumb, computer stuff confuses me lol

[Moostang]

They need to give you an email address. For example, I bought some breyer horses from Shell, she gave me her email address, and I was able to go to paypal and send the money to her by typing in her email address as the seller. She already had an account setup (but even if you don't have an account I think it will still work). Then she was sent an email saying I send her money to her paypal account, along with my information for shipping from paypal.

[Dandy_Brush]

Originally Posted by Moostang

They need to give you an email address. For example, I bought some breyer horses from Shell, she gave me her email address, and I was able to go to paypal and send the money to her by typing in her email address as the seller. She already had an account setup (but even if you don't have an account I think it will still work). Then she was sent an email saying I send her money to her paypal account, along with my information for shipping from paypal.

Wonderful Thank You!!

Does she get the money right away or do they hold it for a while?

[*Jamie*]

Good post. That is really helpful! Great tips to keep in mind! Thanks a lot!

[Moostang]

Thank SandraA1 Most of them came from her post

[dockeramb]

Great info. Moostang!!! Thanks!!! Especially for newbies, that aren't aware of scammers!!

[ADMIN]

I've added additional information, so please re-read this sticky before you get involved in a transaction here at HGS.

-Victor/Admin

[Shannon]

Thanks guys! I hope everyone reads this

[Zoomarsgirl]

Great thread!!!