You may see "attempted" scammers when using Venmo or Zelle, but with minimal precautions, it is perfectly safe.

Don't give them the item until you receive confirmation that the money is in your account. It only takes a second or two...

They never see your account info, only your e-mail address. If you're that concerned about giving out your e-mail, set up a separate e-mail address just for those instances...

It's safe when you use Zelle or Venmo... Money cannot be withdrawn without your approval...

Selling seems like so much work. Does anyone else just donate to Goodwill or other charities and use as a tax deduction?

I do, but the tax deduction is worthless for me and many retirees because it is not advantageous to itemize their deductions. This is because of the higher standard deduction and Florida has no income tax to deduct.

Many articles on using Zelle.

How to get your money back from a Zelle scam or accidental money transfer - Elliott Report

I am amazed at how many times I see an item listed - and when I call the seller, I find out that it was sold last week. I will check a few days later and it is still listed as available. This happens frequently on TOTV.

The standard deduction for a single person is $12,950 and for a married couple filing jointly, it is $25,900.

Standard Deduction for 2022 vs. 2023 | Kiplinger

If you think Ebay is a place to buy and sell without scams, you are really mistaken. When I was looking for vehicles, I reported more scams than real post for the motorcycle type I was looking for. It was very easy to spot the scams after I had been looking for a couple weeks. Most always had a price lower than what I would have expected a seller to be asking and would only have one or two pictures instead of multiple. They used write-ups that became a pattern if you read them, using statements like health issues, job loss, etc. forcing a quick sale or selling for friend/family member with issues. I have had far less problems buying and selling with FB marketplace as long as you say cash only and don't respond to others picking up item.

Zelle is a risk because you do not know who you are dealing with, even if they claim to id themselves. all a hacker needs to do is get a copy page of your bank statement, ( hacked from a gas pump, etc.), & your money is gone. do not rely on Zelle to get any funds back to you, as the bank claims zelle is a 3rd party. upon looking further, you will find out zelle IS owned by BOA, wells fargo, chase & some other bank i cannot recall. you can TRY to get in touch with the fraud dept., but will wait on hold up to TWO HOURS, in which time your account will be emptied in front of your eyes. you could end up loosing thousands of dollars in an instant! you will then need to begin with a police report, then hire a lawyer to guide you through the legal process.. go ahead & ask me how i know all this, LOL, our lawyer is working hard on the case

i read that closely, but sounds much easier said than done. the police told us they usually win under a class-action lawsuit that could take years

Care to explain this? You need more than a copy of a bank statement to set up/access a Zelle account...

BOA told me it is common to gain access to people accts using a gas pump skimmer. apparently that was how ours was hacked. the person gained the actt number, then called ME claiming to be a BOA rep. they said my zelle acct was hacked & needed to confirm purchases with me. the person could see my legitimate transactions! then read off to me some that i did not make. i was told i needed to shut down this acct asap & the phony rep would help me create a new zelle acct. i stupidly & foolishly believed this person was an employee of the bank, & with 'new' info i provided, they emptied the acct

Cash is king!

Some great info here on avoiding online scams, and maybe I just missed it in an earlier post, but another suggestion is to get a totally separate email account for only buying/selling. The easiest way to spot a scam, is to hover your cursor over the email address of the entity contacting you and when it is some weird name/address, it's almost always guaranteed to be an attempted scammer.

When I see one of those, it instantly gets marked as spam and reported...WITHOUT ever opening the email itself or especially clinking on ANY link in the email.

You can still claim charitable deductions, even if you take the standard deduction. $300 for an individual, $600 married filing jointly.