E30 Zone

I’ll be buying some items soon can anyone give me some tips on the safest way to buy as I’ve been scammed in the past

Thanks

don't send as paypal family/friends unless you know the seller is trusted , check the feedback section on here for good sellers . ebay is safe as you're covered .
bank transfers are not returnable either .

the best way to buy is via paypal sending as goods or services and cover the fees of around 3.5% so if your item is £200 you would send £207 as for goods/services . this way the seller gets the correct money and your covered .
courier/postage.... make sure all your items over £25 are insured fully in case of loss or damage then you can make a claim , get your seller to send you tracking info .

What Magpie said.

Also, if it seems too good to be true, it generally is. Lots of scammers out there, but they are rare on here.

Ive bought 100's and 100's of parts. Only 2 off of ebay. The rest directly from BMW or reputable sources like ECS Tuning. Might pay a bit more than some chinese part but well worth it.

The only time I have items lost in transit the seller used Hermes, who picked up the items, then said they were too heavy and a different type of van was needed, then the items never arrived. Hermes seem to use local agents with their private cars for final delivery, and perhaps a pair of wheels was too heavy for that to work, but it seems difficult to lose such bulky items, while not obviously attractive to thieves, but there it was, Hermes could not find them. They were very bureaucratic over a claim for lost goods, I even had to send a copy of my bank statement to prove I had paid the seller, which I was very reluctant to do, but had to in the end. So I would ask the seller not to use Hermes for delivery if the items are heavy.