Archive for the ‘Tips & Safety’ Category
Recommended places to meet
So, you’ve received lots of responses to an ad you’ve posted on Gumtree. Or you’ve responded to an ad that someone else has posted. All that’s left to do now is to meet up with your buyer or seller.
We’ve gathered a list of convenient places to meet that have been suggested to us by other Gumtree users. The good news is you won’t have to look too far. The best places to meet up are often in your own neighbourhood. These suggestions will also help if you’re going to meet in an area you’re unfamiliar with, if you need to find a halfway meeting point or somewhere around work.
Gumtree users’ top recommended places to meet:
- Shopping centres and coffee shops during opening hours
- Petrol stations
- Busy public car parks
- Wedge Card local shops. Live in London? Choose to meet at any local shop or business that uses Wedge Card. Their network of more than 1,500 shops and cafes provide free and friendly places to meet up. Use their search tool to find one near you.
Have you got any places in your neighbourhood to recommend? If you know of a friendly shop or cafe in your area, we’d love to know. Email us on placestomeet@gumtree.com.
And remember our top tips for safe trading:
- Never send money before seeing the item. It doesn’t matter whether someone asks for an online bank transfer or a direct money transfer like Western Union or MoneyGram. Your answer should always be, “No thanks, I need to see it first.”
- Take a friend with you. You’ll feel safer and more confident to negotiate. If you can’t bring someone with you, at least tell someone where you’re going and whom you’re meeting.
- Don’t bring cash with you. Thinking of buying an expensive item? Make sure you tell the seller that you won’t be bringing any cash with you. You’ll only withdraw cash after you’ve seen the item and are happy to proceed with the deal.
- Don’t feel pressured. There will always be someone else willing to trade on your terms.
Get more online safety tips
5 simple ways to improve your Rentals ad
Rahman is a professional landlord and a member of the Gumtree Good Neighbours group. He also writes about his property experiences on the Property Investment website:
You may have a great property to rent out, but if you don’t represent it well in your ad, you may not get as many replies as you should. With just a little effort, you could boost your response rate, and hopefully have a new tenant in no time. Here are a few simple tips to improve your ad:
1. Picture it
You know the cliché ‘A picture speaks a thousand words’? Well, it’s true. Our research tells us that people are twice as likely to reply to your ad if it’s got pictures. Don’t waste time describing your property – just show it.
You can upload a maximum of 6 pictures to each ad in the Rentals categories, so make full use of that to show clear photos of various areas within your property. Here’s another tip: don’t forget to tidy up the place before taking photos!
2. More is more: give all relevant details in your description
It certainly doesn’t help to have a one-liner description of your property. You don’t have to write a long essay, but remember to include all important details: number and size of rooms, transport links, distance to supermarkets, pubs or schools, whether all bills are included, length of tenancy offered, whether you take a deposit …the list goes on.
The easiest thing to do would be to put yourself in a prospective tenant’s shoes. What kind of information would you need if you’re looking for a place to rent?
3. Make yourself available
Make it easy for people to get in touch with you. Provide both your email address and telephone number, so people can choose whichever method suits them best.
4. Pimp your ad
Ads on Gumtree are shown in chronological order, which means that older ads get pushed further down the page as new ads get added on top. We’ve got a few ways you can promote your ad (err, for a small fee, of course) and keep it in people’s minds. These really work too – your ad is on average 6 times more likely to be seen than a normal ad:
Featured Ad: Always appear at the top of listings
Homepage Spotlight: The best kind of exposure your ad could get – a spot on our homepage
Urgent: If you’re in a hurry to rent, draw attention to your ad with a red label in listings
You can find these options at the bottom of the Post an Ad form in the ‘Make your ad stand out’ section. If you’ve got an existing ad, you can edit it now.
5. Check out the competition
If you’re still stuck for ideas, have a look around the Rentals categories for some inspiration and to see how other people are presenting their properties. At the same time, check out their rates. If you’re asking for considerably more rent than others, you may not get as many replies as you’d hoped.
Want more landlordy advice? We’ve blogged previously about ways to save money and how to interview your prospective tenants.
Guest blogger: Quentin Willson on buying a car on Gumtree
We’re thrilled to have Quentin Willson, one of the UK’s most well known motoring enthusiasts, write a post for our blog and explain why he’s such a big fan of buying cars on Gumtree.
Hands up, I’m a total 22-carat Gumtree fan. When it comes to finding proper cars being sold by proper people, this is the only site I’ll use. Sadly, elastic morals, puffed up descriptions, shadowy photos and sellers who don’t know their ethics from their elbows are a common case in my world. Online car buying is getting more and more fraught, which is why it’s so refreshing to be able to talk to sellers that have standards, honesty and decency. Gumtree car sellers really are a class apart.
And it’s not just me. All the research now says that used car buyers desperately want a safe site with private sellers who are happy to talk directly to buyers and don’t insist on doing a deal via a cold and remote email conversation. The ability to interact with a human being, knowing their name and where they live, is absolutely essential. People buy from people they like and doing it any other way is downright daft. And here’s another of my favourite sayings, “Nice cars and nice people go together.” And that’s what Gumtree is all about – respectable sellers offering decent cars at fair prices with honest descriptions.
My advice for a smooth selling and buying ride?
- Talk directly with the seller, ask searching questions, write everything down, be polite and courteous and if you can, try to form a relationship. You’ll feel much more confident about what you’re buying.
- You can make all the mechanical checks in the world, but if you don’t like the seller, you probably won’t like the car. Use your instincts on this – it never fails.
- Never carry cash with you when you’re meeting the seller. Bring someone with you for a second opinion if possible, and if you like the car, then go to the bank together.
Last year, I bought a 70s Mercedes sports car from a Gumtree private seller in West London. He was charming on the phone, was at great pains to explain all the car’s faults and agreed to hold it for me until the next day. When I pulled up, I couldn’t believe his house. Worth an easy £20 million. The Merc was twice as good as he’d said and I bought it in a heartbeat. It was so honest and fairly described I didn’t even think about making an offer. We had coffee, chatted a bit and when I used his downstairs loo, was struck by a little painting on the wall. I looked closer. The tiny signature in the corner of the canvas was ‘Renoir’. No kidding.
Guest blog: Tony Neate from Get Safe Online
Gumtree recently became a partner of internet security awareness initiative Get Safe Online, which former police detective and hi-tech crime specialist, Tony Neate heads up.
Can you imagine getting through your day without the internet? I know I can’t. As my job involves me talking a lot about the threats and risks involved in going online, it would be easy to think that
I’m not a big fan. That couldn’t be further from the truth! I use it every day and I think it’s fantastic, as do all my family.
That said, we all know that there are some unpleasant people out there and the anonymity of the internet means they can sometimes use the online world to their advantage. However, it’s not about avoiding the web, it’s about knowing how to navigate – and mitigate – the risks.
Knowledge and awareness are the best line of defence for us all. Get Safe Online works with the Government, law enforcement and private sector businesses such as Gumtree to pool our combined expertise and share it with internet users in the UK.
But, to stop criminals in the tracks, everyone using the internet needs to know what the risks are, keep an eye out for the warning signs and take active steps to avoid falling foul of internet scams.
We all have to do our bit (and yes, that includes you!). But do it, and there’s no reason why you can’t surf safely.
There’s lots of advice on Gumtree to help you make your online experience safe and successful. But remember that criminals come up with new scams and ploys all the time, so you’ll need to keep checking the latest advice on a regular basis to make sure you keep up-to-date.
Happy trading!
Tony Neate, managing director, GetSafeOnline.org
Text scam alert
We’d like to warn you about a text message scam currently targeting Gumtree users. If you’ve posted an ad on Gumtree and have been sent an email asking you to send a text to 60999 to confirm a posting, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THESE EMAILS. We never ask you to confirm your posts by mobile. The mobile number 60999 is a premium number, and costs £5 to text.
We’ve informed a number of parties about this issue, including the regulator PhonepayPlus, who helped us back in September with a dating scam.
As always, if you ever experience any problems or want to report something to us:
- Report any problems with ads or emails to us
- Use the ‘Report this ad’ link at the top right-hand corner of every ad
- Read our Stay Safe section for tips and information on the latest online scams
Introducing The Gummies Guide
We know there are a nervous few out there who’d like to dive into the wonderful world of Gumtree, but don’t quite know how to go about it. That’s why we’ve put together a page to lead you Gummies in gently.
First up, we’ve put together some simple how-to videos that teach you the basics of using Gumtree and how to stay safe while trading on the site in a fun way. All starring members from the Gumtree team too!
Of course, we want you to get involved. This page isn’t just about us telling you stuff; you can contribute to this huge pool of knowledge too. You can either join the video fun and post your how-to video or you can contribute tips and advice in our Forum. We’re hoping that in future, this is the place everyone can come to get tips and great advice on how to use our site.
Get it all at The Gummies Guide
Selling Software? Don’t Give Away Your Licence Key
This is something we’ve been coming across lately across the site, and we thought we’d let you know about it. If you’re selling software on Gumtree and you’re including pictures of it in your ad, don’t forget to hide the licence key.
You might laugh, but it’s a lot more common than you think! This picture here is a prime example of what’s included in an ad. Don’t worry, we’ve removed this particular ad and have blurred the serial number to protect the innocent.
If you’d like to have more tips, visit our Stay Safe section.
Find your perfect band mate
The hardest thing about starting a band is finding the other members. What are the chances you’ll bump into a Paul, George and Pete (the one before Ringo) to join a little group called The Quarrymen?
Our Musicians section has lots of people seeking like-minded individuals to join them on their musical journey and covers every type of genre. Aspiring rappers in Glasgow? Call Phil. Tim in North London is looking for “any b***dy strings” to play a mix of folk/electro and rock.
We took a look at what’s listed now in some UK cities:
London
You’d expect the capital to attract a lot of musicians and there’s no shortage of options. This former backing vocalist for Madonna and Razorlight is looking for the lot; guitarist, base player, drummer and keyboardist to form a band. She’s embedded a video into her ad so you can check out her sound before contacting her.
Manchester
With Noel’s shock departure (again) from Oasis, there’s a hole left by one of Manchester’s most famous bands. Ambitious singer/songwriter/multi-intrumentalist [sic] Leigh cites Oasis as well as the Beatles, U2, Foo Fighters as key influencers and is looking for a lead guitarist, bassist and drummer to form a successful band in Manchester.
Dublin
It’s not all fiddles and tin whistles over on the Dublin music scene. A lead guitarist is wanted by an experienced 3-piece group which has been gigging around the city for the last three years. Similarly, an experienced producer Richie is forming a musical collective to “make a Deep-Melodic-Techno-Electro-Soundscape-Rock Band” – we have no idea what that is but what the hey, it sounds fun. Dubliners, you should get in touch.
Wales
We couldn’t resist a look to see if the region which produced the likes of Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Duffy and the Manic Street Preachers has any Musicians Wanted ads at all – they seem to have an abundance of talented musicians round every corner.
This did seem the case when we spotted only one Female Singer Wanted ad (mezzo soprano) in the Cardiff section and an early bid for a singer in preparation for Britain’s Got Talent 2010.
Then we realised that less mainstream musicians might be the ones looking for musicians who share their tastes. Cornet players who geek out on playing “very very lively untraditional jazz” are in luck if based in or around Cardiff. Likewise, if “alt-country esque” is your thing, this band is looking for a drummer.
Our interest was captured by this mysterious lead guitarist/songwriter from The Valleys who says “I have my own gear, transport and the right attitude I just need the right band.” Could this be the next Kelly Jones looking to start a Stereophonics?
Did you use Gumtree to get your band together? Drop us a line; we’d love to feature you.
Oh baby! Best baby buys
Did you see the news about the 19.2 pound baby (yikes!) being born in Indonesia? It’s too bad there’s no Gumtree in Indonesia, because the parents could have found some great second-hand baby clothing on our site (although they won’t be needing newborn clothing). For the rest of you, we say there’s no need to spend thousands on buying brand new baby items. You can find what you need for your baby on our site in fantastic condition for a fraction of the cost. We had a little peek and have found some great deals Gumtree mummies and daddies are advertising at the moment:
Bugaboo Cameleon, £370, London
Bugaboo, the Ferrari of the pram world, can retail for thousands. Here’s a Bugaboo Cameleon in red and charcoal at about 60% off retail price, along with extras like footmuff, travel bag, seat adaptor and maintenance kit.
Mamas & Papas baby car seat, £20, Bristol
Always keep safety first, and get a car seat for your baby. Here’s a Primo Viaggio model in blue and black, along with a Surefix Base.
Winnie the Pooh travel cot, new, £60, Edinburgh
This one, we really like: a brand new Disney Winnie the Pooh travel cot for only £60 (retail price £79.99). It comes with its carry case and is suitable for use from birth to 24 months, or until they learn how to clamber out of it.
Happy shopping, folks!
Catching bike thieves
Just a quick word about stolen bikes. Yep, it’s rubbish when it happens to you and even more annoying to think some shady person is going to make some quick cash off your misery by putting it up for sale. We’re doing all we can to fight against this sort of thing, and it might help you to know that thanks to your assistance and by working closely with the police, we ARE catching people who list stolen bikes on our site.
If you recognise a bike on Gumtree as stolen or see an ad/receive an email which makes you suspicious, this is what you should do:
• Report it to the police
• Report the ad/email to us
Don’t forget to include the ad reference number in your reports. This is a series of about 8 numbers and can be found at the bottom right-hand corner of the ad.
Finally, to help deter more bike thefts, cycle expert Tim Hook from Cycle Social recommends going to services like the Nationwide Cycle Register, Datatag and Bikeregister. Get more tips on buying a second-hand bike safely.
Image from KarlOnSea.
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May 14th
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May 12th
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