Couldn't the scammer then just rescind his money as well after you do yours?
A buyer can't "rescind" a payment for an item, it has to be refunded by the seller.
With Paypal? I just filed a claim a few weeks ago. The seller has very little power when it comes to paypal.
And if I understand what you're saying, you have two people trading. Both trade items and pay each other $200 (let's say) in paypal. One scams the other, so the scammed takes his money back from the scammer. What prevents the scammer from doing the same, and walking away with the scammed's headphones?

With Paypal? I just filed a claim a few weeks ago. The seller has very little power when it comes to paypal.
And if I understand what you're saying, you have two people trading. Both trade items and pay each other $200 (let's say) in paypal. One scams the other, so the scammed takes his money back from the scammer. What prevents the scammer from doing the same, and walking away with the scammed's headphones?
I don't understand the system. Why does the seller have so little power? This is why it seems like other monetary systems like Escrow would be better (although I have relatively no experience with it). Like you stated, what prevents a scammer from obtaining headphones in a trade then claiming he received nothing.
Yes you can file a claim if the item doesn't arrive or is not as described, if communicating with the seller does not resolve the situation. You have 45 days. That is very different from simply "rescinding" or "taking back" a payment.
Essentially it's fairly similar. I just had to do it not too long ago. The buyer files a complaint, the seller needs to prove that he held up his end of the bargain. Paypal is very biased against the seller.
It is just as easy for the scammer to get his money back from you as it is for you to get your money back from him, so I don't see how it's safer. In fact, if he's able to game the system, he could make out both with your headphones *and* the backup money.

I don't understand the system. Why does the seller have so little power? This is why it seems like other monetary systems like Escrow would be better (although I have relatively no experience with it). Like you stated, what prevents a scammer from obtaining headphones in a trade then claiming he received nothing.
Because with escarow, it's very easy to be the seller and scam, and is a common scamming method.

I have cleaned up the yard of sharp things and learned my lesson.
I will also continue to, on a regular basis, run a police call through the yard. Thereby finding the sharp things and retiring them to the bin before harm can be done.
This trading/selling of used equipment section is a mess. It needs to be policed to prevent these things from happening.
My opinion, Jim
What are you suggesting? That moderators police the the trade forums for potential scammers? This isn't ebay. Head-fi isn't directly earning money off of these transactions. This is a hobbyist forum that happens to have a trading section. Nothing here needs to be "policed"
I have a sneaking suspicion that you don't have any real opinions at all. It seems to me that all your doing is responding arbitrarily to any random post that you come across. You've only been a member for a short while and you're already at 100+ comments. I bet if you limited your comments to only serious queries, helpful opinions, or insightful observations, you'd have less than 10 comments total.
Woah, woah. Can we all please take a step back and cool down? Please don't post anything you'll potentially regret.

If you guys had followed the stated guidelines in the first place this wouldn't have happened, certainly not of this magnitude. And if you have decided not to participate in the FS forums that is your choice, but there is a middle ground; it's called exercising caution and following the guidelines. They are there to prevent this kind of thing from happening. If you want the buy/sell policed, go to fleaBay. If you want to trade, do it with someone you know and trust.
BEWARE OF SCAMMERS! (Click)
DO NOT USE PAYPAL GIFT.
DO NOT SEND INTERNATIONAL ITEMS WITHOUT TRACKING!
Almost all complaints or missing items come about from doing one or both of these things.
Problem is I did send my HTC Surround with tracking number, and he even received it, but he didn't do the same.......
I reckon this thread has run its course now, so I'm closing it.