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This FAQ is edited by: Icarus See Profile, state See Profile, wafen See Profile, fourboxers See Profile
It was last modified on 2009-11-24 12:35:33

1.0 General Info

Does BBR/DSLR provide any fraud protection?

No, we simply provide a place where buyers and sellers can find each other. Making sure you get a fair deal is up to you. For the most part, however, transactions occur without a hitch. There will be some problems now and then, so beware.

What do WTT, WTB and FS mean?

WTT, WTB and FS are acronyms a thread poster can use to describe what type of transaction they are posting about.

FS means For Sale, a user would like to sell an item or items for money. For example, I might want to sell a stick of DDR ram for 50 dollars.

WTB means Want to Buy, that user is looking for someone who will sell them that particular product they list. For example, I might be looking for someone selling an iPOD I could purchase.

WTT means Want to Trade, this user is looking to trade one item for another. For example, someone may want to trade a 56k modem for an ethernet card.

What do USPS and UPS mean?

USPS stands for United States Postal Service. (regular mail)

UPS stands for United Parcel Service. This is a courier service and offers many different levels of service with a wide range of delivery times and prices.

Be assured that USPS and UPS are not related in any way, even though the abbreviations are very similar.

What are the pros and cons of Paypal?

This thread links to numerous discussions on this subject.

Before posting a question about PayPal in the forum, please look to see if your question is already answered here.

How do I add more than 4 attachments?

To add more than 4 attachments, once you upload the first 4, just hit the preview/attach button again and add 4 more.
Keep doing that until all attachments are uploaded. :)

3.0 Posting Rules

24 hours means 24 hours...

This image reflects the time that is used to determine how long you must wait between posts. The poster identity and post content have been removed since they are not necessary for the example.


In this example the first post was posted at 2004-10-10 20:49:33. A bump here would not be permissible until after 2004-10-11 20:49:33. Here, the next post was posted at 2004-10-11 20:13:37 or 35 minutes early...

Why can't I start a new topic?

In order to start a new topic in the For Sale forum, you must have earned at least Level 1 status. Keep visiting and posting useful messages at BBR/DSLR and you will meet that requirement in no time!

For information about what "level 1" means, see this FAQ:
»Site FAQ »How Do I get STARS (levels)?

Can I sell software here?

Software sales are permitted and used software sales are also allowed. However, you must provide the original source, whether CDs or other media, and the new owner must be able to register it legally.

Please note: The key word here is legal. The responsibility remains between buyer and seller to make certain the software license can be legally transfered. If we know it is not legal and we see it, your posts will be removed from the forum, but legality is always between those making a transaction.

If we see software offered and we suspect it is not a legal sale, your posts will be removed and it will be the responsibility of the seller to prove the legality of the transaction before it will be allowed back in the forum.

If you have any questions about the Microsoft Software License Terms, consult this thread: »Microsoft Software Licensing

Also please see THIS THREAD in regard to OEM software.

What are the rules for using this forum?

The forum rules are available HERE. Please read them carefully before posting.

What items can I sell here?

Acceptable items are going to be items which are obviously home broadband/computer related, such as DSL modems, satellite gear, cable modems, and all supporting hardware; NICs, hubs, routers, cabling, telco modems, and the computer equipment to run them. That would be any computer component or *required* peripherals such as mice, keyboards, switches, complete computers, monitors, video cards, and such.




Allowed Items List


* A/V Accessories & Cables o Antennas
o Audio Cables & Connectors
o Blank Media
o Headphones, Headsets
o Maintenance & Care
o Mounts & Brackets
o Remote Controls
o Surge Protection, Filtration
o Video Cables & Connectors
o Other A/V Accessories

* Apple iPod, MP3 Players

* MP3 Accessories
o Car Kits
o Car Chargers
o Cases
o Cassette Adapters
o Docks, Cradles
o FM Transmitters
o Headphones, Earbuds
o MP3 Batteries
o Remotes
o Skins
o Speakers
o USB Cables
o Other MP3 Accessories

* Televisions
o HDTV Receivers, Tuners
o LCD Flat-Panel TVs
o Plasma TVs
o Portable TVs
o Rear Projection TVs
o Standard Tube TVs
o TV/DVD/VCR Combos
o TV Accessories

* DVD & Home Theater
o DVD Players
o DVD Recorders
o DVD/VCR Combo Players
o Home Theater Projectors
o Home Theater Systems
o Laserdisc Players
o TiVo, Digital Video Recorders
o VCRs

* Portable Audio/Video
o Boomboxes
o Cassette Players
o CD Players
o MiniDisc Players
o Portable DVD Players
o Portable Media Centers
o Portable Radios
o Speakers
o Voice Recorders
o Portable A/V Accessories
o Other Portable Audio
* GPS Devices o Accessories & Cables
o Automotive GPS Devices
o Marine GPS Devices
o Recreational GPS Devices
o Maps, Software
o Tracking Devices

* Car Electronics
o Car Alarms & Security
o Car Amplifiers
o Car Audio In-Dash Units
o Car CD Changers
o Car Speakers & Speaker Systems
o Car Video & Navigation
o Radar, Laser Detectors
o 12-Volt Portable Appliances
o Other Car Electronics

* Home Audio
o Amplifiers
o CD Players & Recorders
o Digital Music Players/Servers
o Equalizers
o Karaoke
o MiniDisc Players
o Preamplifiers
o Processors
o Radios
o Receivers
o Shelf, Compact Systems
o Speakers & Subwoofers
o Tuners, AM/FM
o Turntables
o Turntable Parts & Accessories
o Other Home Audio

* Batteries & Chargers
o General-Use Batteries
o Battery & Charger Combos
o Battery Chargers
o Battery Testers

* Gadgets & Other Electronics
o Air Purifiers
o Breathalyzers
o Calculators
o Digital Clocks & Clock Radios
o Dictionaries & Translators
o eBooks
o Home Automation
o Laser Pointers
o Metal Detectors
o Radiation Detectors
o RF Locators
o Timers
o Surveillance
o Voltage Converters
o Weather Devices
* Radios: CB, Ham & Shortwave
o 2-Way Radios, Walkie Talkies
o CB Radio
o Ham Radio
o Marine Radio
o Scanners
o Shortwave Radio
o Other CB, Ham & Shortwave

* Satellite Radio
o Sirius
o XM Radio
o Satellite Radio Accessories

* Satellite, Cable TV
o Cable TV Boxes
o Satellite Dishes
o Satellite Receivers, High Def.
o Satellite Receivers, Standard
o Satellite Systems
o Satellite, Cable TV Accs
o Other Satellite, Cable TV

* Telephones & Pagers
o Answering Machines
o Caller ID Boxes
o Calling Cards
o Corded Telephones
o Cordless Telephones
o Telephone Headsets
o Pagers
o Phone Jacks

* Vintage Electronics
o 8-Track Players
o Amplifiers, Tube Amps
o Books, Manuals, Magazines
o Capacitors
o Cassette Decks
o Drivers & Horns
o Preamplifiers, Tube Preamps
o Radios
o Receivers
o Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorders
o Speakers
o Transformers
o Tubes
o Tuners, Tube Tuners
o Turntables
o Accessories & Cables
o Home Audio
o DVD Players
o Laser Disk Players
o Televisions
o Telephones & Pagers

* Radio Control Vehicles, Parts & Access.

* Digital Photography Equipment




This is by no means a complete list of allowed items.
It will be added to as items not on the list are sold.

Why can't I sell my item somewhere else in addition to here?

As the forum rules state: HERE, you cannot sell your item here if you have it for sale elsewhere.

This is done because the BBR For Sale/Wanted forum has a very good reputation for being a positive experience for buyers and sellers, and we would like to keep it that way. This rule avoids the possibility of two people buying the same item. It does include listing the item for sale in other forums as well as places such as EBAY, Amazon or other sites. Please be honest and ethical with fellow BBR members.

5.0 Buying/Selling tips

How can I best avoid potential frauds?

From time to time, our members have been the victims of thieves....shady little trolls who come out of the woodwork and accept our money for things they NEVER deliver.

There are ways of preventing theft. I use these tools all the time and have prevented at least four occurrences where I could have lost money.

1. Check buyer and seller reviews in the For Sale/Wanted forum.
2. Check eBay feedback and Yahoo as well. If you want to verify their ID send an email through ebay or yahoo asking if they are who they say they are.
3. Beware when someone IM's you with offers to sell something you haven't requested to buy.
4. NEVER accept personal checks or PayPal credit cards belonging to someone other than the purchaser.
5. ONLY ship your goods to the owner of the credit card (PayPal payments).
6. Watch for conflicting stories during conversation and "corrected" addresses.
7. Beware of long absences during a deal. An honest seller will devote all his attention to you until the deal is done.
8. Watch closely for pictures that seem to be different, of the "same item".
9. Check other sites for forums that do have a WATCH LIST of bad sellers. Nine out of ten times, your seller will be doing his dirty deeds there as well.
10. NEVER make accusations you can not prove 1000%. You could destroy reputations that are good and could be civilly liable for slander and defamation of character.
11. Realize that the IFCC has limited power. You're basically out in the cold, flapping in the wind. The authorities aren't interested in frauds perpetrated unless the money involved is very substantial....somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 or more.
12. Use PayPal for your payments whenever possible. PayPal has an excellent security staff that has helped me recover funds in the past.
13. ONLY accept a U.S. Postal Service money order. They can't be stolen. Private money order companies' money orders are stolen all the time.
14. Try your best to keep a private "favorite sellers list" from past, trusted deals. Use those names first, even if the offer from an unknown name is better.
--

How do I know a buyer/seller is reliable?

The best bet is to check out the buyer/seller reviews. That will list almost everyone who has already made some sort of transaction here at BBR/DSLR.

If they aren't listed here, you might want to find out if they have a listing at Heatware, which is a private traders' evaluation and reference site used by members of various BBSs (Bulletin Boards' Traders Forums) which allow one to post evaluations of his or her private trades or deals with another. This includes FS/FT/WTB deals (For Sale, For Trade, Want To Buy). There are three evaluations from which to choose: Positive, Negative and Neutral. (heatware is a separate site from BBR/DSLR and thus we can't control the quality of reviews there.)

It may also be useful to see if they have an Ebay account. If they do, you can search Ebay for info on that user HERE. To verify that the Ebay ID you found is correct send an email through Ebay asking just that.

What are some ways to keep sales fraud free?

One of the best ways is to post the final agreed upon deal in the forum. Still do any negotiations via IM, but once everything is finalized make a post with the details, such as-

"Agreed. $22, you cover shipping. I will Paypal you immediately."

This will help if needed at a later date to prove the person you dealt with hasn't followed the agreed deal, and may make that person be more motiovated to follow through since it is open for public view.

How do I buy an item?

Everyone has their own method, but usually the preferred method if you want to buy something is to IM (via the BBR IM system) and let the seller know you would like to buy an item being sold or perhaps make an offer on an item.

As far as actually paying for the item is concerned, each seller will have different acceptable payment methods. The preferred methods are usually online (Paypal, C2iT, ect..) or some type of check issued from your bank (money order or cashier's check.)

What info should I list when I want to sell an item?

When making a FS post, list as much info as you can. The more info you list or link the better!

This way people know exactly what they are looking at, and this makes your potential buyers much happier by having all the info they need ready for them, instead of going out and searching for it themselves. If you make them work too hard, they may move on to another deal.

What's my item worth?

This is useful for buyers as well as sellers.

•Remember, this forum is for posting WTT, WTB and FS transactions. If you don't want to trade, buy or sell then there are other more appropriate places to discuss and gather information such as General Questions or Hardware Reviews.

For example, price checks are *not* permitted here (i.e. "how much can I get for a ...".)

The first thing you should do is to search Ebay, its a good way to find out what used products are worth.

Another thing to look at is what the item is selling for new, a couple good places to check are Pricewatch and Price Grabber.

These places should be able to give you a good idea what the item your buying/selling is really worth.

Do I need to post a picture when I sell an item?

No, but it will often help your sale by giving people a chance to see what they are getting.

What would be the best format for my post?

For best results it should look similar to this:

Linksys BEFN2PS4 Router $35 Shipped

The Linksys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router is the perfect solution for connecting a small group of PCs to a high-speed broadband Internet connection or a 10/100 Ethernet backboneand it features Voice Over IP telephone calls powered by Net2Phone. With the EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router installed, no other special hardware is necessary for telephone calls. An ordinary telephone connects to the RJ-11 port (telephone jack) on the back of the EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router, and calls are routed by Net2Phones superior quality network to anywhere in the worldsignificantly reducing long distance charges.

$35 Shipped
---
And not like this:

Linksys BEFN2PS4 Router The Linksys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router is the perfect solution for connecting a small group of PCs to a high-speed broadband Internet connection or a 10/100 Ethernet backboneand it features Voice Over IP telephone calls powered by Net2Phone. Asking $35 shipped. With the EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router installed, no other special hardware is necessary for telephone calls. An ordinary telephone connects to the RJ-11 port (telephone jack) on the back of the EtherFast® Cable/DSL Voice Router, and calls are routed by Net2Phones superior quality network to anywhere in the worldsignificantly reducing long distance charges.

---

See how the first example makes it easy for potential buyers to find the asking price right away. To make BOLD and Italic text you can use the following HTML tags-






links are autocreated here at BBR by adding the URL to the post.

pictures can be uploaded to BBR via the posting screen.

6.0 Canada/US

About the Canadian Shipping FAQ

The purpose of this FAQ is to facilitate international transactions in the Broadbandreports.com Buy and Sell forum, between the USA and Canada. Since the forum rules dictate that only computer related equipment is allowed to be posted, this FAQ section is specifically geared towards issues of shipping those items.

Why the concern over shipping between the USA and Canada?

The Canadian government imposes duties on certain items imported into Canada. This includes items purchased by individuals. Depending on the shipping method used, the amount of fees charged by the shipping company can vary. These extra fees will be charged to the recipient before they can claim their package.

Likewise, Americans also have to pay duty on some imported items, however the rates are typically lower than those paid by Canadians.

What are brokerage fees?

A brokerage fee is something that a courier charges on ground shipments to cover any duty. The courier acts as a "broker" on your behalf to pay the duty to Canada Customs. The recipient of the package will not see an invoice from Canada Customs. The beef against couriers that use brokerage is that the brokerage fee is much, much more than duty would actually be, so essentially they're overcharging. The recipient must pay these outstanding brokerage fees before they can claim their package.

A sample of brokerage fees from UPS for shipments from USA to Canada


A sample of brokerage fees from UPS for shipments from Canada to the USA

So what is a good way to ship and minimize extra charges?

First and foremost is to be honest. If the item was sold for $20, then declare the value of the item as such. Dont declare the true value of the item if it was actually sold for less. The buyer and seller can keep a record of their transaction communications if disputes with Canada Customs arises. You can get these necessary forms from your courier or post office, depending on what shipping method you are using.

Second is to use a method of shipment that doesnt charge brokerage fees. Priority Mail/Xpresspost or FedEx International Economy are two good choices.

What about the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)

NAFTA only covers items that were manufactured within North America. If your component was manufactured in China for example, then duties are applicable. If your item was manufactured in North America, then it is exempt from duties.

Why arent there any brokerage fees on air shipments?

When sending packages by air, the contents of the package, and their value, is disclosed to the courier on the waybill. Based on this amount, any duty is included in the actual shipping cost.

Why cant I just mark the item as a gift to get the $60 exemption?

Doing this (or anything else misleading) is illegal. If Canada Customs suspects that you are trying to evade duties, your package may be delayed or confiscated.

What are GST and PST?

GST stands for Goods and Services Tax. It is a federal sales tax of 7%.

PST stands for Provincial Sales Tax. It is a provincial (think state) sales tax that varies from province to province. Alberta has no PST, while other province combine the GST and PST into one tax called the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). The recipient of the package is legally responsible for paying the sales tax on any item imported from outside the country.

The Canadian package recipient is responsible for paying GST and PST on their purchases. In most cases, the PST and GST will be charged by the courier based on the declared value.

Other useful links

7.0 Reviews

Reviews?

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

Yes, we have a process for reviews of transactions conducted in the For Sale forum. This process is for buyers and sellers of transactions in which they have been involved. Through the review process BBR members can establish a reputation in our For Sale Forum. We encourage members to check these reviews before entering into a transaction.

There are currently three review threads. We encourage you to look in *all* three threads for member reviews prior to conducting a transaction.

You can read all the reviews right HERE.

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

How do I submit a review?

As noted in this topic: »Seller and Buyer ratings system an automated review system has been implemented for this forum. To submit a review, please follow the direction at that link. Do not submit a review as feedback to this FAQ entry.

Reviews Part III and Part IV have been imported into the new system. This covers member reviews back to the beginning of 2003. If you've been reviewed, check your profile page to make sure that everything looks okay. If you see something erroneous send me a note and I'll look into it.

With the new system in place reviews, are no longer being accepted via PM. If you wish to rate a buyer/seller you should visit the topic and click the 'rate this seller' or 'rate a buyer' link in the original post.

In order for those options to appear, the appropriate radio button [FS], [WTB], [WTT] must be selected when the topic is created. If the review option does not appear in your topic you'll need to edit it, if the topic is too old for an edit you should contact a forum moderator with the 'hey-mods' function to get it corrected.

When a review is lodged using this system, it will show immediately in your user profile page. If you wish to contest a review you should contact a forum moderator immediately using the 'hey-mods' function.

** There is a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of the review system. **

What's the proper format for a review?

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

The proper format for submitting a review is:


=> Note that the date format is MM-DD-YY. That means including leading zeroes and a two digit year in the review date.

=> Please do not include user= tags anywhere in the review.

=> You may include one link to the actual For Sale thread where the transaction took place. If you do include a link, place it after the review text.

Incorrectly formatted reviews are no longer being accepted.

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

Can I submit multiple reviews at once?

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

If you have completed more than one For Sale transaction, then you can certainly submit all your reviews at once. To do this simply batch all your reviews in one IM and send them to State.

The good, the bad, and the ugly?

Please notice, this FAQ relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

This is our way of separating reviews based on how the transaction went.

"The Good" is obviously for good reviews where the deal went as expected or better. Reviews not marked with BAD or UGLY tags are considered GOOD reviews

"The Bad" is for sales which didn't go quite as expected, meaning the purchased item wasn't what you expected, arrived broken, arrived late, payment problems, etc...

"The Ugly" is reserved for users who didn't hold up their end of the bargain and either didn't pay the seller or didn't send a purchased/traded item to the buyer/trader.

Users submitted for either a "Bad" or "Ugly" review are allowed a short response to their review if desired.

Where do I find the reviews?

You can read all the reviews right HERE.

Please notice, the above info relates to reviews made under the old system. To submit a review now, please see this FAQ entry about the new automated review system.

Reviews are now visible in the seller/buyer profile.