Where to Meet a Buyer: Safe Places for a Private Sale

You have agreed a price with a stranger on the internet. Now you have to meet them. This is the part of a private sale that people worry about most, and the advice online is usually one line long: "meet somewhere public". Here is the fuller version.

Should you let someone come to your house?

For most sales, no.

It is worth being specific about why, because "it is not safe" is too vague to act on. Meeting at your home does three things at once:

1. It gives a stranger your address, permanently. Not for the ten minutes of the sale, forever. If your item was worth buying, your house contains more of the same.
2. It removes witnesses and cameras, which are the main things that stop a handover going wrong in the first place.
3. It makes leaving hard. In a public place, either party can walk away. At your door, you are the one who has to end the encounter.

There are exceptions. Furniture, appliances and anything needing two people and a van cannot realistically be moved to a car park. If the sale has to happen at home:

• Arrange it for daylight and have someone else in the house.
• Move the item to the garage, driveway or hallway beforehand, so nobody needs to come further in.
• Tell someone the time and who is coming, and have your phone on you.
• Never let a viewing turn into a tour.

Safe exchange zones

A growing number of UK police forces have set up marked, camera-covered spots specifically for online sale handovers, usually in a police station car park. Some forces call them safe exchange zones, others online exchange zones or safe trading zones.

They work because they change the incentive rather than the odds. Someone planning to rob you, pass you a fake note or sell you a stolen bike will not agree to meet at a police station. The invitation is the test. If a buyer or seller refuses a police car park for no good reason, you have learned something useful before any money moved.

To find one: search your force's name plus "safe exchange zone", or ask on the force's non-emergency contact channels. Coverage is patchy and growing, so if your force does not run one, the next best options are below.

If there is no exchange zone near you

Ranked roughly best to worst:

1. A bank foyer during opening hours. Cameras, staff, and you can pay in cash immediately, which also means you can have it checked.
2. A supermarket cafe or large retail car park. Busy, well lit, covered by CCTV, and nobody minds two people standing by a car.
3. A shopping centre. Same benefits, with security staff.
4. A petrol station forecourt. Cameras and staff, though usually cramped.
5. A pub or coffee shop. Fine for small items. Awkward for anything you need to test.
6. A residential street you do not live on. Better than your own address, and not much else to recommend it.
7. A quiet car park at night. Avoid.

The practical checklist

• Go in daylight where you can, and bring someone for anything valuable.
• Tell someone where you are going and when, and share your location with them.
• Take the exact amount in cash if you are buying, so no change is needed and nothing has to be improvised.
• Test the item fully before money moves. Once it is in your hands and theirs is in their pocket, the sale is over.
• Check the money properly if you are selling. Counterfeit notes are handed over in private sales more often than people think, and it is worth knowing how to check cash at a handover.
• Trust your instincts and leave if it feels wrong. A genuine buyer or seller will not punish you for being careful. Anyone who does is telling you something.

The bit a meeting place cannot fix

A safe location protects your body. It does nothing about who the person is.

If the phone turns out to be stolen, if the notes turn out to be fake, if the item is not what was described, a supermarket car park leaves you exactly where you started: with a first name and a profile picture. That is not enough for your bank, your insurer or the police.

Chainr closes that gap. Both people verify their real identity with a government ID and face check before the meeting, and both have a card and address on record. At the handover you enter a six digit code together, which only works in person, and you both keep a timestamped certificate showing the item, the price and both verified names.

So you still meet in a good place. You just do it knowing exactly who is standing in front of you.

Related: your safe handover checklist, is Facebook Marketplace safe, and the eight most common private sale scams.