How a used board sale goes wrong
Deposits before a meeting, photographs that belong to somebody else, a volume nobody read off the board, and boards that were not the seller's to sell. The patterns, and the one habit that defeats all of them.
· 4 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.
The patterns worth recognising
- 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.
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 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.
- 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.