Experience of selling and swapping on Facebook Market?.

There is a option to hide your sales from friends at the point you create the ad. It only shows when using the mobile app.
 
Pants said:
There is a option to hide your sales from friends at the point you create the ad. It only shows when using the mobile app.
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Well colour me surprised. Learn something new everyday. As I said above I’d never have expected that to be an option.
 
Load of clueless idiots, rude idiots, and complete timewasting idiots. As far as I can tell, nobody else.

I remember I tried to sell a set of wheels and tyres on there once. ALL of the specs were listed clearly in the ad, in a big BOLD list, because I know people have trouble reading...

I received upwards of 50 enquiries, and almost all of them were either asking me for some detail that was in the ad, asking if id take less than half my asking price, or asking if they would fit their car... Quite often people who could look out of their window and see their car has 4 studs, and look at the ad and see the wheels have 5 holes, if they had half a brain.

Similar experience when trying to sell cars. People offer half the price, ask dumb questions, and generally waste your time. I've even had people arrange to view cars and not turn up, start ignoring me, or block me.

There are people listing cars on there with no information at all, not even mileage, engine or gearbox type, basic things. People listing computers without specs, it goes on.

Its a cesspool. A melting pot of utter mouth breathers.
 
Acme said:
Load of clueless idiots, rude idiots, and complete timewasting idiots. As far as I can tell, nobody else.

I remember I tried to sell a set of wheels and tyres on there once. ALL of the specs were listed clearly in the ad, in a big BOLD list, because I know people have trouble reading...

I received upwards of 50 enquiries, and almost all of them were either asking me for some detail that was in the ad, asking if id take less than half my asking price, or asking if they would fit their car... Quite often people who could look out of their window and see their car has 4 studs, and look at the ad and see the wheels have 5 holes, if they had half a brain.

Similar experience when trying to sell cars. People offer half the price, ask dumb questions, and generally waste your time. I've even had people arrange to view cars and not turn up, start ignoring me, or block me.

There are people listing cars on there with no information at all, not even mileage, engine or gearbox type, basic things. People listing computers without specs, it goes on.

Its a cesspool. A melting pot of utter mouth breathers.
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just to be clear, a good place to sell or no? :p
 
Thekwango said:
just to be clear, a good place to sell or no? :p
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Most of the time it's OK.
About a month ago we gave away a bed settee for free so the first person who responded I gave first choice.
One day later I asked if they were having it and she said if I bought it to her 20 miles away she'd take it off my hands.
I contacted the next on the list who came about 15 minutes later.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Most of the time it's OK.
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Maybe it depends on what you are trying to do on there. Give away something? Better, but you found that even then there are idiots that message you.

Selling something very cheap is probably fine.

But using it for anything substantial, I wouldn't even bother.
 
Thekwango said:
Fair enough but if you want privacy being on Facebook is counter intuitive! I’d also suggest removing work colleagues from your Facebook friends. I’ve never added or accepted work colleagues on there. Don’t see the point.
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I've been blocked by most in the work as i'm only on fb while drinking alone and bored...so trolling
 
There are definitely a lot of time wasters, but it's probably not as bad as Gumtree, because at least they have an identity on Facebook.

I wanted to ask and might as well ask here rather than make a new thread. I have an item on FB Marketplace and someone wants to bank transfer me the money and I post it. I can't imagine I can be scammed that way, can I? I know if they pay with PayPal they can claim it back, but a bank transfer... I'm safe, right? Is there a scam I'm overlooking?
 
**Double post** I fell foul of that issue I've seen others comment on... nothing happens, then I have multiple posts...
 
Acme said:
Similar experience when trying to sell cars. People offer half the price, ask dumb questions, and generally waste your time. I've even had people arrange to view cars and not turn up, start ignoring me, or block me.
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You sound surprised. The number of people who agree to buy something and never turn up and never say anything is mind boggling.
 
I thought that was a little odd too. I've not sold much on FB, but on Gumtree, about two thirds of people say are coming never show. Annoyingly I had one guy give me his address (I was buying) and when I got there (40 minute drive) he wouldn't answer his door or phone...
 
AndyCr15 said:
I thought that was a little odd too. I've not sold much on FB, but on Gumtree, about two thirds of people say are coming never show. Annoyingly I had one guy give me his address (I was buying) and when I got there (40 minute drive) he wouldn't answer his door or phone...
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Gumtree is literally full of peasants and time wasters, it's pretty easy to figure that out. You could put a solid 24 karat gold brick on sale for £5 and the best offer you would get is 20p and then when they turn up they would try and get you down to 10p. It shouldn't take more than 2 adverts for you to realise the majority on there are wasting your time.

I've found the best tactic is to be straight forward with them and I find it gets rid of all the time wasters.

If they ask me a question and the info is already in the advert I tell them to go read the ad in full and then come back to me. Treat everyone like a moron and the time wasters tend to stop messaging you.

If anyone asks if I can hold it for them I say it's first come first served. If they want me to hold it they need to bank transfer a non returnable deposit.

I just sold an ikea wardrobe on there. The first few I basically told them if you can get it cheaper then go do that. It was already below 1/3rd of the brand new price and in mint condition and priced below all others on gumtree.

A woman wanted to see it and she said she would take it when she turned up and she would need to arrange a man with a van, she offered to pay full price in cash so I took the money otherwise I'd have asked for a deposit. I told her I could dismantle it and she was adamant it could be taken whole. I told her if she wanted to take it whole then I wouldn't be happy with helping carry it. So she arranged 2 guys they turned up and said no way are we moving that whole it will fall apart. I told them I did tell the buyer but she wouldn't listen and I was happy to dismantle and for them to come back tomorrow as they didn't want to waste time dismantling and they had other work. She apologised for not listening to me and I dismantled it and the guys took it away no bother.

The only place to avoid peasants and time wasters is ebay. However then you have to deal with scammers and the occasional time waster.

So there isn't a perfect solution out there but it's not hard to work out that gumtree is hassle. You do of course get the odd one that is brilliant and everything goes smooth but then you also have the idiot who thought it was a great idea to drag a washing machine through 4 foot deep snow and turn said washing machine into a snow plough.

I point out that all the electronics, motor are covered in snow and his mate scoops out several bundles with his hands. I get a text the next day asking for a refund as its borked. I explained to him how electricity, electronics and water don't work together and he should have also listened to me when I told him to wait for the snow to clear. It was that bad I had to walk for 2 hours to get to the supermarket as no car could make it with a hiking bag to get supplies. Literally past my knees and I'm taller than the average person.

Yet this moron wanted a refund after he literally pushed it through the snow. The 2 guys must have been weaker than the average woman. It was a light machine. I dare say I could have carried it on my own if there was no snow. The fact these two idiots couldn't carry it between them was hilarious.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
Gumtree is literally full of peasants and time wasters, it's pretty easy to figure that out. You could put a solid 24 karat gold brick on sale for £5 and the best offer you would get is 20p and then when they turn up they would try and get you down to 10p. It shouldn't take more than 2 adverts for you to realise the majority on there are wasting your time.

I've found the best tactic is to be straight forward with them and I find it gets rid of all the time wasters.

If they ask me a question and the info is already in the advert I tell them to go read the ad in full and then come back to me. Treat everyone like a moron and the time wasters tend to stop messaging you.

If anyone asks if I can hold it for them I say it's first come first served. If they want me to hold it they need to bank transfer a non returnable deposit.

I just sold an ikea wardrobe on there. The first few I basically told them if you can get it cheaper then go do that. It was already below 1/3rd of the brand new price and in mint condition and priced below all others on gumtree.

A woman wanted to see it and she said she would take it when she turned up and she would need to arrange a man with a van, she offered to pay full price in cash so I took the money otherwise I'd have asked for a deposit. I told her I could dismantle it and she was adamant it could be taken whole. I told her if she wanted to take it whole then I wouldn't be happy with helping carry it. So she arranged 2 guys they turned up and said no way are we moving that whole it will fall apart. I told them I did tell the buyer but she wouldn't listen and I was happy to dismantle and for them to come back tomorrow as they didn't want to waste time dismantling and they had other work. She apologised for not listening to me and I dismantled it and the guys took it away no bother.

The only place to avoid peasants and time wasters is ebay. However then you have to deal with scammers and the occasional time waster.

So there isn't a perfect solution out there but it's not hard to work out that gumtree is hassle. You do of course get the odd one that is brilliant and everything goes smooth but then you also have the idiot who thought it was a great idea to drag a washing machine through 4 foot deep snow and turn said washing machine into a snow plough.

I point out that all the electronics, motor are covered in snow and his mate scoops out several bundles with his hands. I get a text the next day asking for a refund as its borked. I explained to him how electricity, electronics and water don't work together and he should have also listened to me when I told him to wait for the snow to clear. It was that bad I had to walk for 2 hours to get to the supermarket as no car could make it with a hiking bag to get supplies. Literally past my knees and I'm taller than the average person.

Yet this moron wanted a refund after he literally pushed it through the snow. The 2 guys must have been weaker than the average woman. It was a light machine. I dare say I could have carried it on my own if there was no snow. The fact these two idiots couldn't carry it between them was hilarious.
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This was pretty much my experience.

When we first bought our house, there were some fixed wardrobes that we wanted rid of. I had 3 of them, I reckon I posted 20-30 adverts over 3 months with about 150 replies in total and 99% of them were **** heads.

I had one guy who actually sounded like a nice bloke. Had really good communication with him, he'd arranged to pick up at the weekend, confirmed he'd rented a van for collection. When Saturday morning came, not a sign of him. Couldn't get ahold of him on the phone or on Facebook. Waited around for pretty much most of the day in the event that he'd turn up, but not a sign.

Later on in the week I reposted the advert, and he contacted me again saying he was sorry he couldn't pick them up his phone wasn't working. He was then begging and pleading with me to not sell them and wait for him to arrange for a van again. After telling him that the only way I'd hold them for him is if he bank transferred me the money. Not a peep from him after that.

I swear some people just like to waste others time as if it was some kind of hobby.

I remember another guy said he'd give me a tenner for one and he'll pick it up right now. I said I'd rather set fire to them and watch them burn than give them to you for a tenner.
 
Semple said:
This was pretty much my experience.

When we first bought our house, there were some fixed wardrobes that we wanted rid of. I had 3 of them, I reckon I posted 20-30 adverts over 3 months with about 150 replies in total and 99% of them were **** heads.

I had one guy who actually sounded like a nice bloke. Had really good communication with him, he'd arranged to pick up at the weekend, confirmed he'd rented a van for collection. When Saturday morning came, not a sign of him. Couldn't get ahold of him on the phone or on Facebook. Waited around for pretty much most of the day in the event that he'd turn up, but not a sign.

Later on in the week I reposted the advert, and he contacted me again saying he was sorry he couldn't pick them up his phone wasn't working. He was then begging and pleading with me to not sell them and wait for him to arrange for a van again. After telling him that the only way I'd hold them for him is if he bank transferred me the money. Not a peep from him after that.

I swear some people just like to waste others time as if it was some kind of hobby.

I remember another guy said he'd give me a tenner for one and he'll pick it up right now. I said I'd rather set fire to them and watch them burn than give them to you for a tenner.
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Ha I've used that line myself.

Someone offered me like £20 for a £250 set of speakers. I said I'd rather set fire to them than let them go for £20. These were pretty highly reviewed brand name speakers. I was only asking £50 a steal in my eyes. I'd only used them a handful of times and less than a few years old and in mint condition.

Like I said before you could put a solid gold brick on gumtree for a tenner and people would still offer you 50p for it.

I've been told I'm rude and have a bad attitude but it's what you have to do to get rid of the idiots and people who aren't really interested.

Another great question you get asked is. Is it fully working? No, I like to invite people to my home address and sell them broken goods. I find that's a good way to operate.

If it was broken and I'm trying to scam you do you think I would admit to you that it's broken?

It's such a dumb question it's why I put fully working in the ad description and give dumb answers to anyone who asks.
 
I've found it good for selling things locally... especially giving stuff away for free (old paving stones etc).

I've also learnt that there are a lot of timewasters. I won't hold items for anyone now. Cash on collection. First to arrive gets it. I'll agree multiple sales, on the condition that if someone agrees to collect sooner I will sell the item to them. Sounds harsh, but I've had too many people not turn up for an agreed sale, after turning away other buyers.
 
tsobo said:
No . Sometimes you just need some privacy, . I have a passion for tec and change my phones often, so I often sell or swap em on Facebook. But with everyone watching, I don't want to be in ward round and the topic is "oh did you manage to swap that phone you had on Facebook" ...
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Not sure how selling on a marketplace which relies on everybody being able to see what is for sale can ever be "private". It would be like putting an advert in the paper with your name and phone number and then asking the paper not to allow your friends to buy that paper or could they blank out your name in their copies?
 
Missus sold loads of useless tat we had around the house via FB marketplace since being off on maternity a few years ago. She even sold a pallet some gym equipment came on for a few quid which I was going to take down the tip.

The most disturbing thing that happened was one time she was selling around half a pack of nappies that our son had grown out of. They'd just been sat under the bed for a few weeks so she tried her luck. She had one guy asking why she was selling...fair question, seems odd to sell part pack of nappies. She replied with the fact our son had grown out of them. He then asked if they were new or used, to which she replied new. He then sent a reply asking why she was wasting his time if they hadn't been used.

Now, this could be someone on a wind up or a genuinely disturbed individual, it's hard to know. She reported the message and blocked him and that was the end of it.
 
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