Buyer Guide

Buyer Safety: Shop Online With Confidence

Most online scams follow a small set of patterns. A few consistent habits close off almost all of them.

Before You Buy

• Check the seller's trust score before messaging back with your details.
• Look for a verified badge — see identity verification for what that confirms.
• Search the seller's username or contact details in scam reports.
• Be wary of prices that are noticeably below market value — it's the most common scam bait.

Safe Payment Practices

• Use payment methods with buyer protection rather than direct bank transfers or gift cards.
• Never pay a deposit to "hold" an item before you've verified the seller.
• Keep all communication and payment on the platform where the listing was posted — off-platform requests are a major red flag.
• Save screenshots of the listing and conversation until the transaction is fully complete.

Red Flags to Watch For

Red flag	Why it matters
Urgency or pressure to act fast	Scammers rely on rushed decisions to skip your normal checks.
Requests to move off-platform	Removes you from buyer protection and dispute options.
Refusal to video call or verify	Common when there's no real product or identity behind the listing.
No trust score history	Not proof of a scam, but worth extra caution — see what a trust score is.

If something does go wrong, our scam prevention page covers what to do next, and you can report a scam to help protect the next buyer.