I just met up with someone who meet up for her first time and I really believe this "guide" will help the majority of people who intend to buy OR sell their items online, especially those who are new at this.

1. Always get each other's cell phone numbers.
In the past, meet-ups had NEVER worked when the other person does not bring a cell phone. What's so bad about not being able to reach the person you're meeting up with? Well, what if the bus was late, sb got on wrong bus, sb was lost, he/she was at the same location as you are but cannot see you, sb forgot about the meetup, sb was in a traffic jam, and so on...

2. Schedule the meet-up at least one day in advance
If you email/PM the person at 11pm at night about meeting up at 1pm the next day, I assure you it will not work -unless- the other person has nothing else to do besides checking their email day and night...if you really need to meet up the next day, you should contact with phone instead.

3. Call if you're going to be late / not going to make it, before the meet-up
I do not know why some just lack this common sense!! Things do get happen, but one should let the another know if he/she is going to be late, not just letting the other person wait w/o a clue.

4. Pick an exact location to meet-up
Not just "Metrotown" or "Joyce Station". Pick something like "in front of Burger King in the Metrotown food court". Remember some stores have Level 1 & 2 +, so specify. Also skytrain stations have more than 1 exits, so specify.

5. Confirm everything
The last conversation you should have with the buyer/selling should be confirming the date, time, location of the meet-up as well as the item and the cost. You never know if the other person might remember the cost wrong or get the meet-up mixed up with another.

6. Check the item / count the money
Always inspect the item you're buying before leaving (ask questions if necessary) / count the money they give you. This should be practiced every single time.

7. If try-ons are needed&allowed, meet up at somewhere with mirrors/places to change

Just sharing from my experience (I met up with at least 20 people from buy/sell). "Thanks" are welcome. Hope this helps! :)

awesome thread! i totally believe those tips work as well.

i have one to add:

ask person if they will need change. one time i met up with a person and they didn't have the right amount and needed change. it just took longer because I didn't have it so we had to go somewhere that would give change.

also i think that "feedback" especially on mv is important. ahah i try to give it out when i meet up but im sometimes disappointed that i don't get one back. heck even if it was "negative" it'll let other people know...

^thanks for the reply! That is really important as well: Bring exact cash amount to avoid getting change and stuff. That is the buyer's responsibility.

These are great tips. I've never bought off like Mallvibes or any forum, but if I did, I would definitely try to keep these in mind to make it easier! It's kind of funny cause you would think a lot of this would be just common sense, but I guess it's really easy to forget about these things.

Call before you head out.

-what's the point of having the person's cell phone number if it's fake? I had to deal with this before. Person from another forum (or it might be mallvibes...) emailed me. She gave me her cellphone number and specific meet up place. I show up, call her, turns out the number doesn't exist.

^wow...probably gave u the wrong number or something. but did she come at all? it'd be bad if she didn't...

I usually do the confirmation with text messages so it verifies the phone number too..

^ wow that is totally sucky... i havent had that happen to me but i would be so angry.

another thing is be specific about which item you really want if you are a buyer or make sure you know what item the seller wants. i've had 2 occasions where i was suppose to meet up with someone and they didn't write down the correct item. we met up and they didn't want to get it. it was a total waste of time... 1 of them i met up again to sell the correct item and the other one didn't even email me back (which i knew was going to happen).

^ she didnt show up. I knew something was sketchy because she didnt reply my txt back. I didnt call her because she said she had work till 7. And that day, metro closed @ 6. I showed up, called, turns out its wrong number, and I left right away, becuz i knew it was some immature ppl's prank. That's why I stopped selling my stuff on l4a because mallvibes, there are feedbacks, and its a tighter community. Thank god i didnt fall for the second time haha :)

bombshell- that must have sucked so much. My friend once complained to me cuz same thing happened to her too. She was yelling her head off @ the mall because it's honestly not the seller's fault lmao. Glad 1 of them met up again doh :D!

^ yeah at least we met up but it was kind of useless and a waste of time... because it was only $5 and i had to go allt eh way to metrotown again.

oh man sometimes i wish there was a place where we could warn people about others being sketchy and all of that. it would save people alot of time...

Do you guys get buyers who show up and suddenly realize they're "short $20" and ask you to give it to them for the cheaper price?
I've had that happened a couple times... One time when I told the girl I couldn't sell it to her for cheap, she miraculously turned out to have the correct amount. Often, we just end up leaving empty-handed and it's a waste of time for both of us.

I don't know what to do about it. Would it be really b*tchy sounding if I tell girls before meeting up not to do that, price is firm? Since it's not everyone, just a select few...

no not at all. i make sure when i email them that they knwe the price and that they have the exact change (or let me know). seriously if people show up "short money" then dont give it to them.. yeah it might be a waste of time but they are doing it delibrately... UNLESS you are okay with it and they are sort only a few bucks.

^ LOL that reminds me of my experience as a buyer. i was buying something that was 10 dollars, and i am SUPPOSED to give her 5 dollar bill, toonie , toonie , loonie
i was in a hurry that day and the seller was trust me..30mins+ late. i was so frustrated i walked around the whole mall cause we suggested some meeting up place but ended up with mcdonalds. i was waiting there for like 30 mins and i had to go back to my volunteering job ><~
so i ended up walking around and i decided just to stay at mcdonalds and wait for her, she comes gives me the stuff and i hand her the money that was in my hand and left [ quickly ]
until i realized.. i only gave her 8 dollars o.o