Most people who answer a furniture listing want the furniture. A few want your money, your phone number or your account. The scams aimed at sellers are few and well documented, and each has a tell you can spot in the first few messages.
This guide covers the ones the Federal Trade Commission, the marketplaces and the payment apps warn sellers about, and what each of them says to do.
One rule that stops most of them
Craigslist puts it in one line on its page about avoiding scams: deal locally, face to face, and you avoid the vast majority of scam attempts. The FTC notes that many sites recommend selling to a local buyer you can meet in person and accepting only cash (FTC).
Furniture makes that rule easy to keep, because the buyer has to come and get it anyway. The buyer sees the piece, pays for it in person, and then carries it out. OfferUp's page on getting paid says the safest payment method is cash, and that whatever method you choose, you should receive the money before you hand over the item for good.
The scams aimed at sellers
A payment notification that isn't a payment
The FTC describes a buyer who insists on paying through a mobile payment app, sends a fake payment notification, and hopes you hand over the item before you notice. Venmo's page on common scams says a scammer may send screenshots of fake emails that make it seem they've paid. Meta's advice for Marketplace is never to trust screenshots of payments as confirmation (Facebook Help Center).
In one variation, the payment is said to be waiting on you. Venmo describes buyers who claim the money will only reach your account once you ship the item and upload the shipping information, and says this is fake and not a feature Venmo provides. Venmo also says it will only email you from an address ending in venmo.com.
What to do: ignore their screen and their email. Open the app yourself and look at your balance. If the money isn't there, you haven't been paid.
Paying too much and asking for the difference
The buyer offers a check for more than the price and asks you to send back the difference. The FTC explains why this works: banks must make the money available quickly, usually within two days, but it can take weeks for the bank to figure out the check was fake. By then the scammer has the item and the money you sent back, and the bank takes the amount of the fake check out of your account.
The FTC's rule is short: never deposit a check for more than the selling price. Its guide to fake check scams adds that fake checks generally look just like real checks, even to bank employees. The same trick runs through payment apps. Cash App's page on common scams describes a buyer who sends more than the agreed price and asks for a refund of the difference. The first payment is later reversed, and you are out whatever you sent back. If you do need to return money, Cash App says to use the refund option on the original transaction and not to send a new payment. The FTC also describes buyers who say they accidentally paid you twice.
Asking for a code
A buyer says they've heard about fake listings and want to verify that you're a real person. They send you a text message with a verification code and ask you for it. The FTC explains that it is a Google Voice verification code. With it, the scammer can create a Google Voice number linked to your phone number and use it to rip off other people (FTC).
The FTC's advice is not to share a verification code with someone if you didn't contact them first. Craigslist says requests for a code or verification are always a scam.
Sending a mover, a shipper or a cashier's check
The buyer can't come in person. They'll send a mover or a courier, and pay by cashier's check. Craigslist's list of things to beware of includes offers involving shipping or movers, and it says requests to deposit a cashier's check are scams. Meta warns that cashier and certified checks can be counterfeit (Facebook Help Center). OfferUp says never to accept checks, gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency.
Someone else collecting a sofa for the buyer is normal. Someone else collecting it before real money has reached you is not.
Paying with someone else's money
Venmo warns that a scammer may pay you using stolen credit cards or bank information, and that if the real owner reports it, the money could be removed from your Venmo account. You can't see this in the notification. It is one reason the FTC's advice for sellers is not to accept a mobile payment from someone you don't know.
| What the buyer says | What to suspect | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "I paid. Here's the screenshot." | A fake payment notification | Check your own app. No balance, no sale. |
| "I sent too much. Refund the difference." | An overpayment scam | Send nothing. Decline the check, or refund the original payment in the app. |
| "Read me the code I just texted you." | A verification code scam | Don't share it, and stop replying. |
| "My mover will bring a cashier's check." | A fake check | Cash in person, or no sale. |
| "The payment is pending until you ship it." | A fake pending payment | Check your own app, and don't ship. |
How to get paid safely
- Take cash, in person. It is what the FTC says many sites recommend and what OfferUp calls the safest method. Count it before the furniture moves.
- Agree on the method before they drive over. OfferUp suggests discussing payment before you meet, so you both know what to expect. Put "cash at pickup" in the listing.
- If you take an app payment anyway, know it is a risk. OfferUp says app-based payments are convenient but carry some risk, and Venmo tells users not to sell to strangers except in situations that fit its user agreement. Look at your own balance, not the buyer's phone, before anything leaves.
- Never send money to a buyer. No refund of an overpayment, no fee, no deposit for their mover. In a sale, money only moves toward you.
On PieceOut, buyers sign in with Google to claim an item, pick a pickup time and pay you in person at pickup. PieceOut never holds the money. The same rule applies there as anywhere: see the money before the item leaves.
Meet safely when the item can't leave the house
Craigslist's advice for meeting in person is to insist on a public meeting place like a bank or police department, not to invite strangers into your home, and to tell a friend or family member where you're going. It notes that some police departments set aside areas for buying and selling. Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, has exchange zones in the lobbies and parking lots of its police district stations.
A sofa can't go to a parking lot. For an item too big to transport, OfferUp's meetup tips suggest meeting the buyer at a public meetup spot first, then sharing the item's exact location if you feel comfortable. A few more ways to keep strangers out of your living room:
- Move the piece to the garage, porch or building lobby before the buyer arrives.
- Have another adult with you, and book pickups in daylight.
- Keep your address out of the listing, and share it only once a pickup time is agreed. How to write a listing that sells covers what else to leave out.
If it happens to you
- Tell the company that moved the money, right away. The FTC's guide on what to do if you were scammed says that if you paid a scammer with Zelle or a bank transfer, you should report it to your bank or credit union immediately and ask them to reverse the payment. For a payment app like Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, report it to the app and ask the same.
- Deposited a bad check? Tell your bank. The FTC says to report a fake check scam to the FTC, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and your state attorney general.
- Gave out a code? The FTC's alert on the Google Voice scam links to Google's steps for reclaiming your number.
- Report it. The FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Report the buyer's profile to the marketplace too.
None of this should put you off selling. Meet in person, see the money, then hand over the furniture. For where to list, see where to sell used furniture, and for the whole plan, how to have a moving sale.