Garage Sale Scams
Scams When Buying or Selling
You may not know it, but there are actually some dishonest people out there that will try to rip you off when you go to their garage sales. Here are some of the more famous and known scams to be going around a few different garage sales:
- Shoplifting is very common in garage sales. Keep a lookout for this.
- The weapon of these thieves is distraction. They will either have a partner distract you, or sometimes, even their own children. While you are talking to their child, they will be helping themselves with your items. Remember, some of these people have been it the scamming business for a while, and they are pretty good at it.
- When someone buys a large item, make sure that you check what is inside of it.
- Guard your money!
- When buying electronics, make sure to test it out, as some people will sell you their broken electronics.
- Check under labels and stickers. Sometimes, they will put this on cracks and chips in the merchandise.
- When buying board games and other items that require more than a few pieces, make sure to count everything and ask them if anything is missing.
- Always watch out for a big group of people. This sometimes is their strategy to overwhelm you with a lot of people, only to find out later that you have been ripped off by these customers.