Pay first, youll get land later?

I wanted to buy large land in new sims 'Gogol' and 'Leiter'
and the seller telling me to give the money directly to him first and he will set the land to my name, AFTER?
That's because they want money upfront and not waite for group transactions???
Is this another scam that I should try to avoid, i know its my own risk and honestly i just met the person selling his land.
Please give me your 2cents, i really like to know what to watch for when buying land directly, like this, please, ty!

Personally, I would avoid it like the plague.

Frankly, I'd rather just click the button that says, Buy Land Now. And it's the safest way for both seller and buyer. I'd avoid doing the whole 'pay now and maybe get land later.'

Maybe a precaution against the landbot?

Make them give you the land first and then pay. Why should you be the "trusting" one. Better yet,on second thought, don't buy! Let the buyer beware huh. Well let the seller hold on to their land tier! lol

I would be very nervous about doing that. You might want to push back and say to set the land for sale to you for the price he wants.

Level of risk: 100%
Scam Probability: Very High

My opinion: Don't do it!

Proper way to buy land is to click the "Buy Land" button in the About Land dialog box. It's the only way to do it safely!

Umm, the transaction you're describing is not "direct" at all. And I can't imagine any legitimate reason for not selling you land using the handy, dandy little land tools provided by LL for precisely this purpose.

The only time you would hand over money to a "seller" would be property on an island, with a covenant, and even that kind of transaction is a risk unless you're dealing with a well-established island owner.

Find other land -- there's plenty out there.

My advice. If this guy won't let you buy in the normal fashion and insists on money up front - PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS AND WALK AWAY.

It screams scam. I've just sold group and and it takes just a day for it to filter through. If he can't wait that long, he'll be waiting longer still because he (hopefully) scares people off with this approach.

Don't do it!!

This is crazy.

Dont do it, they are capable of setting the land to sell only to you for the specfied amount. There is no reason to pay them directly.

Id never pay anyone directly for any Object or Land - Id only pay direct for labor.

Hes been trying ot prove to me that its a very normal way to buy land and ALL realties do their sales from time to time, this way....
because the group transactions take a day to come through and he wants the money now.
When i said thats this might be a scam and i wont buy it, he rushed off and saying that I have insulted him ? and then as if the relationship went to hell from there, just because i am cautious ?
it was 1/4 sim, adked him to join land and set to me, not a private island, this was a new mainland sim.

You did the right thing - walk away from this seller and find some other land to buy.

Does he even OWN the land?

I'd love to hear from some SL realtors on this issue. I can't imagine that any reputable dealer would do business in this manner.

As posted relatively recently on this forum, SL is currently a buyer's market. No matter how much you may want this land, there will be other options. Don't let yourself be pressured into buying with such a shady operator. From your description, this is not the action of a seasoned, professional SL realtor.

I agree. You did the right thing and saved yourself a lot of grief. The guy will scam who knows how many victims and, of course, LL will hold his coat and cheer him on while he rapes the unsuspecting. I'm very glad you took the time to post in the Forum and protect yourself and others by posting this information in the form of a question.

Whether or not he was trying to scam you, he's being unreasonable because he should be able to see that it *could* be a scam....he should look at his selling tactics in that case.

You've done the right thing, don't feel bad about it.

I've bought a lot of land in SL in my time, and the thing I will say is that there is *always* more land out there....even if you think the plot you're interested in is the only one with those characteristics and it's the perfect plot, there's usually more you haven't come across yet.

If you're not happy with any aspect of a transaction - especially a large one like this - point it out to the seller and if he/she won't budge, walk away. If he/she scams you, you have paid him a lot of money and there is no obligation (save moral) for him/her to give you the land after that....and I doubt very much you could get LL to help you.

They may even hail the taxicab for his getaway, or at least facilitate his money laundering.

lmaoooo!!! Yes, right on! If he is succesful enough at it, they may even use him as a PR tool to get more people into SL HOT to make money! I'm sorry, I realy love SL, but LL has lost all credibility with me.

*shakes head at the brazenness of some people*

"Give me money now. I'll give you the land in return, promise!"

Yeah, sure ...

Maybe instead of scamming the buyer, the seller is trying to scam the group that owns the land by keeping all the money instead of splitting it. There's all kinds of tricky ways for people to hurt each other. SL really is becoming more like RL.

the most obvoius tell that this is a scam is the sellers reaction to your questions.

Yes, PM Oh, hehe
thats when i realized that a scam has finaly reached my door, so i had to post for all to see.
Thank you all very much for your feedback!

Leiter is still in Governor Linden's hands. Nobody should be trying to sell land there yet.

Is this seller the same person that is posted on the SL auction page as winning bidder for 'Gogol' and 'Leiter'

although I can see the want in getting money instantly rather than waiting a day for the transaction to go through, all he would have to do is remove the alloted land amount from his part in the group tier, add it to his personal tier and then buy the land himself from the group. Then you would be buying the land privately from him rather than him waiting a day for the money to show up.

If he is that stressed about the "day wait"..then this is the way it should be done. There should be NO risk on your part when buying land.

Alice

in any event this matter should be reported to www.slbb.biz we need to start keeping records on these shysters and scam artists