Buyer & seller guidance
Staying safe on Seller.ae
Most people here are genuine. A small number are not. The advice below takes a few minutes to follow and removes almost all of the risk.
In an emergency, call 999. To report online fraud, use the UAE’s official eCrime platform. Seller.ae cannot recover funds or mediate disputes, but we will remove reported listings.
999
The five-second checklist
- Meet in public, in daylight. A mall, a petrol station, outside a police station.
- Inspect before you pay. Switch it on. Check the seams. Sealed boxes can be empty.
- Never pay a deposit for something you have not seen.
- Wait for funds to clear — a screenshot of a pending transfer is not payment.
- Never share an OTP, PIN, or bank login. Nobody who needs to pay you needs your OTP.
Meeting in person
- Meet in a busy public place. A shopping mall car park, a petrol station forecourt, or outside a police station — many UAE police stations have designated safe-exchange areas.
- Bring someone with you, and tell a third person where you are going and who you are meeting.
- Meet in daylight. If the seller only offers to meet late at night, or somewhere remote, walk away.
- Do not go alone into a private residence to view a small item. For furniture or white goods that genuinely have to be seen at home, take someone with you.
- Inspect before you pay. Switch the item on. Check the screen, the seams, the serial number.
Paying and getting paid
- Cash on collection is safest for small items. Count it in front of the other person.
- For larger amounts, use a bank transfer you can both see confirmed before the item changes hands.
- Never pay a deposit for something you have not seen. This is the single most common way people lose money.
- Never send money to release a “shipment”, “customs fee”, or “courier deposit”. No legitimate private sale needs any of these.
- Do not share card numbers, PINs, OTP codes, or bank login details.
Warning signs
Treat any of these as a reason to stop:
- The price is far below market and there is a reason you must hurry.
- The seller is “travelling” or “deployed abroad” and wants to ship the item to you.
- They refuse to speak on the phone or meet, and insist on messaging only.
- They push to move the conversation off the site immediately, then push for payment.
- They send an “overpayment” and ask you to refund the difference — the original payment will later be reversed.
- They ask for your Emirates ID or passport copy before any meeting has taken place.
- The listing photos look like stock or catalogue images. Ask for a fresh photo with today’s date written on paper next to the item.
By category
Buying a used car
Check for outstanding fines before agreeing anything — unpaid fines block an ownership transfer. If the car is financed, the loan must be cleared first. The sale is not finished when money changes hands — it is finished when the registration card is reissued in the buyer’s name.
Renting property
Never pay a deposit or “viewing fee” before seeing the property. Ask to see the title deed or landlord’s Emirates ID. In Dubai, a tenancy contract should be registered through Ejari — an unregistered contract leaves you with very little protection.
Hiring & job listings
A genuine employer never charges you to apply, to be interviewed, or to “process a visa”. Do not send passport or Emirates ID scans to an unverified recruiter. Be wary of vague roles promising high pay for little experience.
Reporting a listing
Every listing has reporting options at the bottom of the page — you can mark an ad as spam, misclassified, duplicated, expired, or offensive. Using them helps us remove bad listings quickly.
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Procedures and fees set by government authorities change — always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority.
