Advice on purchasing a lap steel on line

[Joe Burke]

I’ve found a lap steel through Facebook that I’m interested. I’ve been chatting with the seller through messenger, and he seems cool. But there are so many scam stories. Any advice on finding out if someone is trustworthy?

I searched their name on the forum and nothing came up. And hardly anything on Facebook either.

Thanks!

[Nick Fryer]

There are some red flags when it comes to how they want to receive payment. If they ask to pay through Venmo as a friend, that is unprotected and a big red flag for me. Also the pictures can reveal scams if you search for the same item on reverb or eBay and all of a sudden you see the same images but a different seller you know that the person is scamming you.

[Dave Mudgett]

IMO, meet them in person, exchange cash and the steel after you've had a reasonable chance to check out the steel. Period. Same goes for Craigslist. I would not send any money, any way, any how, to someone you can't get a very solid read on, especially on a venue that doesn't have built-in protection like reverb.com.

[Matt Berg]

IMO, meet them in person, exchange cash and the steel after you've had a reasonable chance to check out the steel. Period. Same goes for Craigslist. I would not send any money, any way, any how, to someone you can't get a very solid read on, especially on a venue that doesn't have built-in protection like reverb.com.

From what I'm seeing online, Reverb protection is only when you use their payment processing, otherwise you're in PayPal's world, also limitations on foreign seller deals...it's all quite complex.

Buying on the SGF seems to be a relatively safer way to go by comparison....

[Dave Mudgett]

Yeah, I think this forum is the best place to deal in steel guitars. BTW, I'm moving this thread to Steel Without Pedals. The For Sale sections are restricted to selling stuff on the forum. One should not conclude anything anybody says here is in any way a recommendation for any outside selling venues.

IMO, there's no absolute guarantee on any at-a-distance transaction. But anything I've gotten off reverb was paid via their paypal and the stated policy on every one of those was that they would cover anything 'not as described', regardless of whether the seller said 'no returns', or not. And I've had no problems, everything so far was as-described. But even there, caveat emptor is good advice.

I think facebook is OK if you're dealing with someone local and can do a face-to-face cash transaction. Same with Craigslist. But too often, when I reply about something and it's not someone I know, it's very clearly either a scammer or someone that I conclude is very sketchy.

IMO, caveat emptor is always good advice.

[Joe Burke]

Thanks for all advice. I decided that since we’re communicating through Facebook, I requested a Messenger video call so I could hear and see the lap steel. He said there’s a few others interested. I said I am still very interested. I’m waiting for a reply.

[David DeLoach]

If it is an old/vintage steel, be sure to somehow listen to the steel being played - even if it is just a FaceTime or Zoom call where the seller slowly picks each string so that you can hear if the pickup works good across all the strings.

[Matt Berg]

If it is an old/vintage steel, be sure to somehow listen to the steel being played - even if it is just a FaceTime or Zoom call where the seller slowly picks each string so that you can hear if the pickup works good across all the strings.

Yes, as a seller I've made videos with out being asked and linked to them.

Another recommendation that I saw was to have at least one picture with your name or something on a piece of paper on top of the instrument. Of course there's photoshop, but it helps establish that you took the photo of the instrument/amp that's in your possession, not some picture you ripped off the internet. As a buyer, you could use google lens to verify pictures to some extent as well.