Advice for buying sets on Craigslist

[yukonrye]

I found a Craigslist ad selling 4 unopened current Star Wars sets for $70 total. The in-store total price for these would be ~$180 so it's a good discount. I am always leery about buying stuff through CL and wanted some advice on how to verify that the boxes haven't been tampered with.

[lego the hutt]

Open the boxes and verify the contents while the seller is there. That is the only way. If you are planning on reselling them you have to sell them as "boxes have been opened to verify contents "

[semajnollissor]

If you are buying 'long distance' and are worried that the sets being offered for sale are imaginary, you could request photographs of the sets all in one photograph that also include some common but random items like a fork and a spoon.

The idea being that a scammer might be able to find pics of the sets via google, but won't be able to find photos of the sets that include a cooking pot and a set of keys.

Also, you could simply ask why the sets are discounted. A lot of sets, even new ones, go on clearance at Walmart all the time. That's why January and August are my favorite months.

[yukonrye]

I'll be meeting the person to buy these. I'm not sure if I'd want to save and resell them later or give them to my kids for xmas, hence the desire to not open them yet. I'm really just wondering if tampered seals or re-glued box seams are easy to spot.

[dulait]

I'll be meeting the person to buy these. I'm not sure if I'd want to save and resell them later or give them to my kids for xmas, hence the desire to not open them yet. I'm really just wondering if tampered seals or re-glued box seams are easy to spot.

If the scammer is a pro then no, there are reports on sets that might look perfectly sealed yet when openned, bags were missing, or get replaced with other things like bags from another sets, bricks from another brand, and even bricks from cheap chinese knockoffs. Always open and check if everything is intact when buying from places like Craigslist.

[semajnollissor]

Well, based on every police procedural I've ever seen, when two shady characters meet to exchange cash for product, the buyer usually brings their own scale and weighs the product.

All Lego sets have a known weight, so either look up what the weight of the set is supposed to be (Bricklink has that info) or just weigh an identical set in Walmart or someplace (a store employee might stop and ask you what you're doing, but I doubt it). If you don't own a scale, you could probably buy one from that same Walmart.

Then, when you inspect the sets from craigslist, if their weight isn't correct then don't buy them.

If you want to go crazy, you could try meeting at a local courthouse and have the guard there run the sets through the x-ray machine. Of course, this requires a willing guard.