Buying advice
 

how should I buy an item off the forum without risking losing my money?

You can use paypal and they will have you covered. Send the money as 'goods and services' rather than as 'gift'

Is venmo a good way to do it

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I wouldn't use venmo for purchasing goods, they won't have the same protection as paypal. Maybe if you completely trust the recipient

Using Paypal is a great idea.

You can usually get a reasonable idea of how trust-worthy a seller is by looking at their posting history. If they have sold items before and the buyers were happy, that's a good sign. Being an active member of the site is a good sign. If the seller's first/only thread is a "For Sale" thread, beware.

If you don't trust the seller enough to send cash, you probably don't need to be dealing with them. Hyperbole Warning: I'm not suggesting that you actually send cash, but if you don't have a high level of trust in the seller, don't do business with them.

buy from a member with a good and long standing reputation. Someone a mod can vouch for.

As far as purchasing goods from a stranger on the internet, this is the equivalent of someone requesting payment by money order. NO PROTECTION FOR THE SENDER OF FUNDS.

As others have stated, set up a PayPal account (if you have Venmo, you can do PP) and protect yourself with the Goods & Services option. Note that an additional 3% will need to be applied to purchase price by buyer or seller (typically the buyer).

Paypal

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Just send cash - nonsequential $20s will do. They're probably good for it.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

How do I review a seller

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Add a post to the For Sale thread saying how well or bad it went.