Being careful with your money 411 (in General)

I've learned a quite a bit holding a bank here at CB. Some good some (very) bad, but it all comes with the experience. I'd like to share some of the things I learned with all of you. Trust me, these are HELPFUL tips.

1. Check the log of the person you're making a transaction with. If you're buying CB for USD, did they just get a loan from someone else and transfer the money with you? Hakai just recently bought CB from a user who simply took out a loan from Sir Leon (1mil). Seems a bit suspicious to me. My worst experience, as you all know, comes from A Bathing Ape loaning 15mil from me, then using it to buy a Runescape account. He ran off afterwards. I can tell that A Bathing Ape is one clever guy, but its a sad fact that clever person doesn't imply a good person. In the case the person did just take out a loan from another person (especially without a PR posted), CM the original loaner to see what's up, and try to "cleverly" obtain the loaned money and return it to its owner if it happens to be a scam. Not easy business, but it helps the community if done right.

2. If you loan money to someone, find out EXACTLY what they're going to do with it. If they're buying armor, find out exactly what armor and from whom they are buying it from. This way, it lessens the chance they'll just take the money and buy something else, say, a runescape account (happened twice to me, Dudley and ABA). Also, this allows you to transfer the money straight to the person they're buying the goods from, meaning less transfer fees.

3. Do NOT loan to people who say they need money for an NCB (for armor/weapons, maybe). It doesn't make sense to loan money for them to buy BA when by the end they won't even make enough to pay you back (because they'll have to buy even more BA). One of my old clanmates is asking me for a loan of 1mil for NCB BA, and I'm contemplating on that. Sorry ex-clanmate, but I'm leaning towards "no."

4. Post a PR for ALL deals! What if they're forum banned? Then don't even bother making deals with them, because... they may run away with a runescape account!

5. Only loan or make deals with people you know well, or who you know are trustworthy and active in the forums. People who are active in the forums are the people who are more "into the game." This means they have less of a chance to quit the game and decide not to pay you back (which I think is happening with me right now with one of my clients).

6. Do not ever loan out large sums of money, especially without a collateral. Even if its people you trust, they may (yet again) lose interest in the game and just leave. The only person I'd trust again with loaning out tons of money is YNM. He has the best credit out of anyone who's ever loaned from me. I loaned him around 15mil, and he's still paying me back.

7. If you're into the banking business big time, be nice to your clients. I generally do this by applying interest AFTER the written day of interest. This gives them a chance to pay it off faster. Lower interest for your best clients. I did so for YNM to help him out. Being kind to your customers brings them back for more. Don't be greedy ;)

8. Take note of those who scammed you, and occasionally check up on recent transfers with their IP. You may have a chance at catching a multi of your scammer.

9. If you made a deal or a loan and lost say, 15mil, don't go yelling and screaming or demand your money back. You obviously won't get it back, and you've learned a valuable lesson.

10. If you get a loan with someone else, be SURE you can pay it back and you have the will to do so. Please, don't piss off the CB community. Use your head. The world doesn't revolve around you. You revolve around it.

Any comments or suggestions or whatever (non-offensive of course) is welcome. Hope this helps!

VERY well put. I'll send you money tomorrow. i was going to sell all my stuff to "rent" these two hookers .. but, now I see how it is! No nookie for me.

Anyways, jk, will get to ya tomorrow as I said I would :)

I love how you post this after you see that i might have been scammed. :P


But thanks for the general tips. This should be in the wiki, Somewhere under the Loaning money at your own risk section.


p.s. I'd like to also point out, You played off losing 15 mil so well. I respect that. I know not many people would go down without a huge outrage.

Some random, related, thoughts:

- If you loan a large amount of cash to someone, why not have him also put a statement in the Public Record post stating how much cash he already owes to others, and that he doesn't plan on getting other loans while still paying back the existing ones. This should slow down those that fill holes in their budget with new holes (Monty).

- There is this 'flag as a credit risk' full admins can set on users. Up to date that flag isn't used that much ('reset' and 'ban' are our way to deal with credit risks). Maybe this flag could be used more often? If someone misses a payment (and the Public Record post made it very clear when payments have to be made), could the banker ask us to set this flag (and clear, when payments are back on schedule)?

- Water proof your Public Record posts. Don't be an optimist when writing it, but consider every possible way the deal could go wrong, even if you fully trust the person you are dealing with (things can change).
Put deadlines in the Public Record post. Without those, it's very hard to break a deal, because there's always "somewhere next year"...

- If something goes wrong, do your best to make the other person aware of this (don't forget email), and give him an opportunity to fix his fault. People can be without CB or the Internet for several reasons (broken computer, parents, vacation), so don't be too trigger happy.

Thanks bart! You triggered a thought I forgot to post.

11. Do not loan to others who are already in debt, unless there is a good reason for it.

Oh, and this flagging thing... never knew about it. I'll think it out. =D

haven't checked the other points but perhaps also:


12. Make the player who borrows money from you, and it being a lot, have some collateral to encourage the paying back. In other words, if someone loans 2 mil, have something worth 2 mil be sent to you also.

It looks like Bathing Ape was one hell'va cash sink.

Well yeah you just don't give 15 million to someone who's been playing for 2 weeks or has a PR under 200k. There's no reason for it... and I know even I'd be highly tempted to sell it for 150 USD, and then my whole acc for another 50 USD. And if I planned on doing that I could probably go to another 2 banks and loan out at least 8 mill more for an additional 80 USD... what's that, around $300 pretty easily?

Greetings!

Not too sure if u remember me pixelsage, but on one occasion that i wanted to loan 1mill from you to buy a MH, you were very reluctant to give the loan and tagged a high interest on it... now i see where u are coming from =) Wishing you all the best in your loaning business.

Just another tip for the new players. Try not to loan unless a good deal comes your way. Plan your buys if you don't have USD like the big boys do to spend... Keep your eyes open for good deals...

Take care ppl...

Just a side note, Burnin_stevebat bought supportership with the mil he borrowed from Sir Leon. I thought that was a normal occurance so was not worried when I found out from Leon. I sent him a CM in regard to the matter. One would hope that stevebat is a man of his word.

Shade - I did vaguely mention it. UncleKracker - Not sure if you're implying it, but ABA was I believe a long-time player who claimed to want to start an NCB. Plus, the way you showed how to get $300 will get you caught easily. Vahilor - Of course I remember you =D. You still active and everything? Don't see you around in the forums often. Hakai - I see. Good luck with that!

woot ... haha ... yup i'm still active, not in the forums, but in fighting and forging ...

15mil = 150dollars...Why would someone need that much when they're so unbelievably smallllllllll..?

Very nice post Pixel....

I think the main point to take home here is always, always, always get collateral. I have been on the receiving end of a multitude of loans from Atomicboy. On the first half dozen or so loans, Atomic maintained ownership of the items I wished to purcahse, and loaned them to me weekly until payment was made in full. What is lost in transfer fees pays for itself the first time someone defaults on payments, and should be more than offset by interest charges collected if you are doing smart business.

I have gotten to a point where if I want to purchase something, and know I will need credit, I will contact my loan shark :) and secure the funds with him. Then start shopping. If the item is in auctions I will ask atomicboy to bid on it for me, and tell him my maxium price. If it is in FS/WtB I will post to the forums, and arrange payment and transfers directly from the seller to the loaner... Obviously this leaves a chance that the loaner will not be on when the auction is ending, or won't watch it as vigorously as you would yourself, but that is the price you pay for being broke I guess. But in all seriousness, if the person giving you the loan wants your business bad enough they will ensure they are around to do some bidding.

If a char is asking for a loan for NCB, Supportership, any other intangible, they should have something of equivalent value to give you as collaeral (if not why the HECK would you think of loaning them money).

i agree with Sir Leon, Pixel's post should be in the wiki somewhere talking specifically about loaning or banking. It's a pretty smart idea.

And i like those tips, it will make me think a little more about when i loan out little bits of money. I learned from experience. but i agree 100%, and will read this again when i have any questions. :) If it's not answered here, Pixel should have an answer. lol

Wise words - wish I had read them before I got scammed.

Also check on their character - if they have a fair amount of Armour and Weaponry then they are not likely to go running off.

I think I am a very safe bet for a loan if I ever needed to take one out ;-)