Curious if others posting classified ads for used kayaks on this site have received scam responses. I have posted a beautiful hand built mahogany kayak and the only 2 responses I’ve received seemed to be scams asking me to go outside the paddling.com site and respond with photos thru my personal e-mail. Anyone else had this issue? As soon as I respond that I want to correspond only through the paddling.com the person goes away.
Yes. I’ve had 2 responses and bother were scams.
So frustrating. thanks for the response.
one was from a JENIPHA and another from “daniellehatfield888”
if anyone else sees these - scammers.
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Just checked and I actually had 3 of them. All were the typical scammy language and wanted me to contact them through their email. One of mine was from ‘Rachelseth88’, one from ‘dannyad’ and the other was from ‘daniellehatfield888’. Not sure what can be done to stop it but it’s a shame.
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Received responses to my ad from both daniellehatfield888 and JENIPHA. Both want to buy my Aironaut. daniellehatfield888 wants to send an echeck (whatever that is) and will have her “shipper” collect the boat after the check clears my bank. I responded that I was only interested in a cash sale. No reply. Probably better to use Craig’s List. I’ve sold kayaks on CL without problems,
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You will get the exact same type send check/shipper scams if selling on CL. That scam has been around for longer than a decade.
Edit: I have bought and sold over 20 kayaks in the past 28 years mostly on CL, several on here, and more recently a couple on FB marketplace. The scammers are just a nuisance you must put up with. They are usually very easy to identify…almost always they are the check/shipper scam. Price haggling is not a scam, that’s business - though payment method may be a scam.
It is great fun to “rent” a kayak when you buy it at a fair price, use it for a season or two or three, and then resell for the same price (maybe plus or minus a hundred if improved/repaired).
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I sold a boat thru the pnet classifieds… it took a while but a motivated buyer drove a long way
with a new roof rack and cash… it was a while ago but there was the same schum out there trying
to con a $
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OK, so how does a scam like this work? daniellehatfield888 wants to send me an echeck and I, in turn, will deposit the echeck into my bank account and when this so-called echeck clears, she will have her “shipper” collect the boat. JENIPHA, on the other hand, has an uncle who will buy the boat but wants me to send him some photos. It all might seem comedic if it were not so annoying.
YES…I posted my kayak yesterday and was quickly contacted by daniellehatfield888…now I know is a scammer. THANK YOU everyone who has posted about this. I’m disappointed as thought this would be a better place to sell my kayak. I have had scammers on other sites too.
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Unfortunately scams are the sideshow when selling online., for years now I find them easy to spot since they follow a typical pattern. What pattern? - asking for something stupid. CL has been very good for me as I just ignore the scammers. Met some interesting people over the years. Got my kayak from responding to a CL ad .
The next-to-last time I posted a kayak for sale on this site’s Classifieds, I got several scam responses and zero legitimate ones. One of them involved a known scammy setup involving having the
responder’s brother drive down to get the boat, about a 5-hour drive from his home. I agreed to work with the responder on scheduling. Lo and behold, after a few days she said the brother would only meet me halfway, so would I drive it to some pre-arranged location? I smelled not only scam, but potential violence to self. At the very least, I might drive a few hours only to have the “brother” try to talk down the price.
I said no, of course. Come and pick it up near my home. With ME choosing a mutually safe, publicly visible location.
The wannabe disappeared.
I later relisted the kayak and got a genuine buyer who made bona fide arrangements for a friend to pick it up on his way back from a longer trip. We agreed on a mutually-protective method of payment, and that was it. So I have not completely given up on these Classifieds, but it sounds like they’d best be avoided until the site owner improves screening against scammers.
I am selling my husband’s Tempest 170 Pro and not sure I will list it here. Given its fine condition and the fact that they are no longer made, the price will be very reasonable, lower than others of its kind. But people no longer accept “reasonable,” it seems. They want “a steal.” Maybe I’ll put a sign on my truck with a photo ad of it, and people where I paddle might be interested.
Right. A truly motivated buyer won’t play games.
I have driven distances of up to 1000 miles each way to buy a desired boat that was unavailable anywhere closer. The extra cost of picking it up is on ME, just as a commercial vendor would not haul a kayak somewhere else without a shipping fee.
Even a couple hundred dollars for transport fades in importance, because I tend to keep the boats and use them frequently for at least a few years. I am not someone who buys to “flip.”
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Interesting discussion. I have reached a happy point in life where I need not sell anything before I’m able to buy the next thing (kayak, pack canoe, bicycle). It’s just that I’m in my 80s and I simply don’t want to have a lot of “stuff” cluttering up what’s left of my life. I subscribe to Henry Thoreau’s mantra: “simplify, simplify, simplify”. Anyway, the Aironaut’s a very good inflatable, paddles well and weighs but 20 pounds. If I don’t sell it, I’ll just gift it to my wife’s Dutch son-in-law who can take it back to The Netherlands after their next visit to New Jersey and paddle it, sell it, whatever. He’s an ace at selling things online.
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I agree - scammers tend to be easy to spot. Regardless of where they’re posted, I always specify “local pick-up only” and “cash or PayPal only” in my ads. Without fail, the bottom-feeders will ask for something else, and I’m done with them.
The one kayak I’ve sold on this site was a nearly new Swift. The buyer knew what she wanted and was willing to drive 3+ hrs each way to get it. Having a wider geographic reach (vs the the local CL or FB Marketplace) may be helpful in finding people who are interested in pricier or more specialized boats, especially for those of us that live in the boonies. Finding that buyer can take some time, though.
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I don’t need another boat. I don’t need another boat. I really don’t need another boat. Do not ask Pika for the specifics. I don’t need another boat… 
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I have asked management to review this thread and that the account ‘daniellehatfield888’ be removed.
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Thanks. You do know the scammers will just get new accounts, though. We can help paddlers from getting scammed by posting right here (make it a sticky?) with their names and tactics. Then scammers would have to keep changing accounts constantly to stay ahead of hundreds of watchful eyes.
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LOL.
I hope you get an earlier start to the paddling season than looks likely near me.