Local pickup, done safely: a checklist for buyers and sellers

Millions of local deals complete without a hitch, and the ones that go wrong mostly break the same few rules. Here is the short list that covers nearly everything.

Before you drive

• Verify the seller has history. A profile with ratings and years of activity is a different risk than one created last week.
• Get specifics in writing: model numbers, defects, dimensions. “Does it have any issues I should know about?” in chat creates a record.
• Know the distance before committing. A vague “north side” can mean an hour round trip. Check the real travel time — if it's over ~25 minutes, ask for more photos first so the trip can't be wasted.

Choosing where to meet

• Small items: daylight, public, busy. Coffee shops, grocery store lots, or a police-station “safe exchange zone” — many stations offer marked, camera-covered spots exactly for this.
• Furniture and appliances: pickup at the address is normal. Bring a second person, keep the transaction at the door or garage, and share the address and time with someone.

Payment

• Cash or an in-person tap payment at handoff. Nothing in advance — “deposit to hold it” is the single most common local-marketplace scam.
• No gift cards, no shipping “agents”, no overpayment refunds. Each of those phrases ends the conversation.
• Sellers of electronics: power it on together before money changes hands. Buyers: test every function you can.

Trust the messaging platform

Keep the conversation on the marketplace's own messenger until the deal is done — moving to text or another app early removes the record and the recourse. This is one reason Openmarket hands you to the Facebook app to message sellers instead of building its own chat: the conversation, the profile history, and any buyer protections stay where they already exist.