When you are selling items online using a site like eBay or Craigslist, it's important to look out for scammers. Scammers don't just try to rip off buyers, they try to rip off sellers too. Here's a common scam that many people try to use against buyers.

They offer to buy your item, often at a higher price than what you are asking for if you will agree to "hold" the item for them for a couple days. They will then tell you that they are making arrangements to get the item, usually through some sort of third-party like a moving company. Lastly, "to make it easier for them", they will tell you that they will send you a check for the price of your item (or higher if they are giving you more to "hold" it for them) and the check will *also* include the money for the movers. They'll then ask you to pay the movers for them, usually by wiring the money to the movers.

So the scam is that the check is bad and once you wire the money to the "movers", you have lost that money. Yes, you could attempt to wait for the check to clear before you wire the money. But the check is bad and they know that, so they will apply a lot of pressure to have you wire the money before it clears.

The bottom line is that if you get an offer from someone like this, they are not interested in buying your item; they want to rip you off. Yes, you can play around with them, but in the end you are really only wasting your time. If you get an offer of this nature, be careful; you are in danger of being ripped off.