PRIVATE SALES BETWEEN STRANGERS
The seller wants the money first. The buyer wants the camera first.
A used camera, four million rupiah, two people who met in a forum. Neither position is unreasonable and there is no version of this where taking turns satisfies both of them.
So they meet in a mall food court, or one of them swallows the risk, or the sale does not happen.
Between strangers with no shared history the third outcome is the most common, and a working secondhand market gets strangled by a problem that has nothing to do with anyone's honesty.
Four million rupiah, and no move that is safe
- 01
Seller ships first
The camera leaves. If the transfer never arrives, the seller has a tracking number and a stranger who has stopped replying.
- 02
Buyer pays first
The money leaves. If the parcel never ships, the buyer has a receipt and the same stranger.
- 03
Meet in person
Both travel, sometimes across a city, to a food court. It works, and it caps the market at people within driving distance.
- 04
Split the difference
Half up front, half on delivery. Both parties are now half exposed, which satisfies nobody and doubles the number of transfers.
Every option asks one person to trust a stranger with four million rupiah, or asks both of them to spend a Saturday.