I have posted an omega watch (value is quite a bit) on Craig's list and was contacted almost immediately upon posting. The buyer would like for me to use pay pal to receive payment and has added an additional amount to cover the shipping. He asks that it be shipped via the Postal Service and that I not include the value of the item inside of the box due to the fact that if I did that the person he is sending it to would have to pay additional charges when they received it. He has not given me information as to where he wants it shipped but from the information that I have received, I believe he is not from the US but elsewhere. The poor English in the email leads me to believe that this is a second language for him. I have contacted paypal asking how I am to protect myself. The man (with broken English) told me that I should follow the "buyers agreement" and that I would be fine. He says I have to "verify" the shipping address but has no idea how to do this other than on ebay. Does anyone know how to do this on Craig's List? I have sold things previously on Craig's List but I have always met the seller and was paid cash. I have used Paypal but never to receive a payment, only to purchase something. I am seeing info that they will hold your payments, etc. Do you ship prior to a release of this payment? The buyer isn't going to want to wait on his product if it has been paid. I am just a little leery of this whole deal. How do you determine if it is a scam? I am seeing horror stories about paypal and want to make sure that this is the best and only option that I have in order to receive money from this man. Anyone know if there is some sort of data base to cross reference info in order to check for scams? Please help as I am at a loss on how to proceed! Thanks Ann
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