Used surfboard scams: how a board sale goes wrong
How used surfboard scams work for buyers and sellers: the deposit, the borrowed photo, the overpayment and the WhatsApp code, and the one habit that stops them.
· 7 minute read
Nobody here is holding your money
SurfPoint takes no payment, ships nothing and holds no funds between a buyer and a seller. There is no refund button here, because there is nothing to refund from. What protects you is what has always protected a private sale: you stand next to the board, in daylight, before any money moves.
Nearly every way a used board sale goes wrong is a way of getting you to skip that meeting. So you do not have to remember the list below. One habit covers almost all of it: stand next to the board before the money moves.
Used surfboard scams at a glance
| The scam | What it looks like | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A deposit to hold it | Others want it, the seller flies soon, a transfer will hold it | Agree a time to meet. Pay nothing before you see the board |
| Somebody else's photographs | A studio shot, and no new photo when you ask | Ask for a photo taken now, or a short video |
| The seller who cannot meet | A friend has it, a driver will bring it | Wait for a seller who is where the board is |
| A price far under the rest | Far below similar boards, with a reason to hurry | Compare asking prices, then meet before paying |
| A board that was not theirs | No story of where it came from | Ask. If the answers are thin, walk away |
| The buyer who will not look | Pays unseen and sends a friend or a courier | Sell to someone who comes and looks |
| The buyer who pays too much | More than agreed, then a request to send back the difference | Refuse. Take the agreed price, in cash or in your account |
| The payment screenshot | A picture of a transfer, before any money arrives | Hand over the board once the money is in your account |
| The code by text message | A buyer asks for a code that just reached your phone | Never send it. It signs someone in to your WhatsApp |
The deposit, low price, unseen buyer and overpayment rows match Scamwatch's warning signs, and the code row WhatsApp's help centre, both read on 8 October 2026.
When you are buying
- A deposit to hold it
- The seller is flying out, three other people want it, and a small transfer now will keep it for you. A private seller does not need your money to remember a conversation. Agree a time instead. If the board is gone by then it was going to be gone anyway, and you have lost nothing.
- Photographs that are not of this board
- A board shot against a clean wall with an even shadow is usually a shop or brand photo. Ask for a new one taken now, with something dated in the frame, or a short video walking around the board. A seller standing next to what they are selling does this in under a minute.
- The seller who cannot meet you
- They have left the island, a friend has the board, a driver will bring it. Every person between you and the board is a person who cannot answer a question about it. Wait for a seller who is in the same place as the thing they are selling.
- A volume nobody read off the board
- Ask where the number came from. Read off the stringer near the tail is checkable, and you can check it. Worked out from the model online is a range, not a figure. Roughly 30 litres about a shortboard is a guess, and you should treat every other number in the listing the same way.
- A board that was not theirs to sell
- Boards go missing from outside warungs and off racks at accommodation. A seller who cannot say where the board came from, how long they have had it, or produce one photograph of themselves with it, is worth a second thought. When a stolen board is recognised, and here it often is, you lose the board and the money at the same time.
A price far below the rest is the oldest bait there is, and Scamwatch, the Australian government's scam service, puts an unbelievably low price first among its warning signs. What used boards ask today tells you what normal looks like. Its advice for anything expensive is the same as this page's: do not pay before you have inspected it.
When you are selling
On the way out of Bali you are the one with the board, and the tricks run the other way. Each of them gets a board or money out of you before a real payment has arrived.
- The buyer who will not come and look
- They will pay for the board unseen and send a friend or a courier for it. Scamwatch lists a buyer happy to buy something expensive without viewing it among its warning signs. People who surf want to hold a board before they pay for it.
- The buyer who pays too much
- More than you agreed arrives, or is said to, followed by a request to send the difference back. Scamwatch names exactly this. Send nothing back. A real buyer pays the price you agreed.
- The payment screenshot
- A screenshot of a transfer is a picture, and a picture can be made. Hand the board over for cash, or once the money shows in your own account.
- The code by text message
- A buyer says a code has been sent to your phone to prove you are a real seller, and asks you to read it back. That code is someone signing in to your WhatsApp with your number.
WhatsApp's own help centre says to never share your registration code with anyone, friends and family included. A buyer who asks for it is not buying a board.
What a normal sale looks like
Almost every seller on this island is straightforward, and a list of warnings makes everybody look suspicious. A normal sale is a message thread that answers questions with specifics, a meeting somewhere public in daylight, ten minutes with your hands on the board, and cash once you are happy. The seller expects all of that. They have bought boards this way too.
- Meet where there are people. Outside a warung or a surf shop beats a private address for both of you.
- See it dry. A board straight out of the water hides soft patches and old repairs.
- Bring the cash you agreed and no more, so a renegotiation on the spot is a conversation you can walk away from.
- Take a photograph of the board and of the seller's contact details before you hand anything over.
If it has already gone wrong
Be honest with yourself about what is recoverable. Money sent as a friends and family transfer, or as a bank transfer to a personal account, is normally gone, and chasing it costs more than it returns. So the deposit request is the one to refuse outright.
If you read out a code and lost your WhatsApp, log back in with your own number and the new code WhatsApp sends you. Re-registering logs everyone else out, WhatsApp says. Then tell your contacts, because whoever had the account can write to them as you.
If a listing on this site was involved, report it. We cannot recover a payment we never touched, but we can take a seller off the site so the next person does not meet them. Include the listing URL and the message thread.
Common questions
- Is it safe to buy a used surfboard online?
- Buying is safe. Paying before you have seen the board is what is not. Use a listing to find a board and arrange a meeting, then inspect it and pay in person. Any pressure to send money before that meeting is the thing to refuse, whatever reason is given for it.
- Should I pay a deposit to hold a surfboard?
- No. A private seller does not need a deposit to hold a board for a few hours, and a request for one is the most common way a used board sale goes wrong. Agree a time to meet instead.
- Is it safe to buy a surfboard on Facebook Marketplace?
- As safe as the meeting you arrange. Marketplace and the buy and sell groups are where a lot of Bali's used boards are listed, and the same rule holds there: see the board, then pay. A seller who wants money first, or cannot meet, is the one to leave.
- How do I avoid scams when selling a surfboard?
- Sell to someone who comes and looks, and hand the board over for cash or once the money is in your account. Refuse an overpayment with a request for change, ignore payment screenshots, and never read out a code that arrives on your phone.
- Why would a buyer ask for a code sent to my phone?
- To take over your WhatsApp. The code is the one WhatsApp sends when someone registers your number, and WhatsApp says never to share it, not even with friends or family.
- Does SurfPoint protect my payment?
- No. SurfPoint is a search layer: it helps you find a board and contact the seller, and it takes no payment, holds no funds and ships nothing. The protection is the meeting, not the platform. If a seller behaves badly, report the listing and we will remove them.
Boards you can check first
Every board here says where it is, when it was listed, and how to reach the seller.
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