Buying and selling safely
Almost everything that goes wrong in a marketplace goes wrong at the moment of handover. These are the habits that prevent it. None of them are complicated.
If you are buying
- Meet in a public, busy place in daylight. A mall, a bank car park, a busy market. Never a private compound you do not know.
- Inspect the item fully before any money moves. Power it on, check the IMEI, drive the car, walk the property.
- Pay only when the item is in your hands. There is no reason to send anything in advance.
- Bring someone with you for anything expensive, and tell a third person where you are going.
If you are selling
- Photograph the item honestly, including the damage. It filters out the time-wasters before they reach you.
- Keep the conversation on Tara until you have agreed terms. It is the only record either of you will have.
- Confirm the payment has landed in your account yourself. Do not act on a screenshot or an SMS alert.
- Meet buyers in public too. You are taking the same risk they are.
Four things to walk away from
“Send transport fare and I will bring it”
Nobody legitimate asks for money to travel to a meeting. Tara staff will never ask you for transport fare, airtime or a delivery deposit.
A payment screenshot instead of a payment
Screenshots and SMS alerts are trivially faked. Open your own banking app and confirm the balance before you hand anything over.
A price far below the range
When a listing sits well under what similar items go for, Tara flags it on the listing itself. Treat that flag as a reason to slow down.
Pressure to move to another app
“Let us continue on WhatsApp” early in a conversation usually means someone wants to leave the record behind. Agree terms here first.
Reporting something
Every listing has a Report listing control, and every seller profile can be reported from the same place. Reports are read by a person, not only a filter. If you have lost money, report it here and to the police. A Tara report alone is not a criminal complaint.