Police encourage use of designated sales exchange sites for safe on-line sales

There are several websites and apps that allow you to buy and sell used items.

But there are risks that come with doing business with someone you don't know.

"You don't know who you're talking to or communicating with on the other end of that text message or on the other end of that app," said Lt. Aaron Clem with the Kennewick Police Department. "So, you don't know what they're actually trying to do-- are they actually trying to buy it, or not?"

The warning comes after a man was robbed while trying to sell a phone in Kennewick.

The victim had agreed to meet a potential buyer at the Walgreen's on Highway 395 at Clearwater, and the teens who showed up robbed him at gunpoint then fled.

The two juveniles were later arrested on robbery charges.

The Kennewick Police Department, along with other local law enforcement agencies, have established designated property exchange areas near their facilities, to provide a safe spot to make those exchanges in an area that is under video surveillance.

"If you can get yourself in a place that's safe, well-lit, in the public, has video cameras-- then that makes everybody safer," Clem said.

The KPD spots are under video surveillance, and there's an emergency phone nearby that gives you a direct line to dispatchers in the event of an emergency.

Clem says it's important to take stock of clues that someone has ulterior motives for meeting.

"If they're not comfortable meeting you in a safe place like a police station, it's probably a good indication that you want to look for another buyer."