Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree & Shpock

Casdawer

Casdawer

Casdawer

Soldato
Joined
14 May 2009
Posts
4,281
Location
Hampshire
My god, the amount of time wasters and scammers on these sites is just insane.

Trying to sell a phone and the amount of people on Facebook Marketplace who just press the 'Ask about availability' button and then never ever respond when you advise them it is.

You then have Shpock where people ask a bazillion questions even when the answer is on the ad and then don't actually put an offer in.

And then there is Gumtree, the most scam infested pile of turd that ever existed. You get people messaging about wanting it delivered and then ask to set-up a PayPal money request which is clearly a scam.

I honestly think it's sometimes worth taking the hit and just recycling it.
 
Already have but I like to put it everywhere to get the most coverage.

(Also this isn't me trying to promote my phone! Please don't hurt me mods)
 
I hear you. I haven't used Gumtree but the other two.

Sphock is the most annoying for me. People asking questions of which the answers are detailed in the actual ad or making ridiculously low-ball offers <50% the asking.
 
Casdawer said:
My god, the amount of time wasters and scammers on these sites is just insane.

Trying to sell a phone and the amount of people on Facebook Marketplace who just press the 'Ask about availability' button and then never ever respond when you advise them it is.

You then have Shpock where people ask a bazillion questions even when the answer is on the ad and then don't actually put an offer in.

And then there is Gumtree, the most scam infested pile of turd that ever existed. You get people messaging about wanting it delivered and then ask to set-up a PayPal money request which is clearly a scam.

I honestly think it's sometimes worth taking the hit and just recycling it.
Click to expand...

When I upgraded to a S9+ i sent my old S7 to Giffgaff as part of their recycling scheme (they aren't my provider i might add) and got £170. S7 edges were selling for about £200 on MM and i may have got £20-30 more than i did selling privately but couldn't be bothered with the hassle and time wasters from selling outside of the MM. Sent the phone off an within 3 days i had received the money so shop around if you are looking to get rid, some trade in's aren't badly priced
 
As above high demand consumer goods will always attract a lot of unwanted interest so I tend to write that sort of stuff off or sell to friends and family. More specialised tech is still fairly easy to sell on Ebay but yeah I need to try MM now I've got access.
 
Resident said:
I hear you. I haven't used Gumtree but the other two.

Sphock is the most annoying for me. People asking questions of which the answers are detailed in the actual ad or making ridiculously low-ball offers <50% the asking.
Click to expand...

Anyone on Schpock making a <50% offer to me results in a 150% counter offer. That gets rid of them. :) Schpock is pretty useless really but Gumtree I've sold a fair few things on to normal people - you just have to be patient and try not to let the lowballers wind you up.

It's quite obvious that a lot of people on these services are trying to buy low from desperate people to re-sell on eBay or elsewhere for a profit.
 
I just take my old phones to CEX, I've actually just upgraded my handset so will be taking one tomorrow.

It's really painless and because I have so many chargers and don't us the headphones I get extra for including both still sealed.
 
Gumtree is alright in general. Bit hit and miss but I have sold and bought plenty of stuff through it.

The thing that really annoys me is how ******* rude and inconsiderate people are. You will go out of your way to accommodate them, answer their questions and then you organise a time for them to come and pay/collect the item and they don't show up. No message, nothing. I don't mind if they change their mind or can't make it but just send a message. Its just people who are selfish *****.
 
I've sold quite a bit through Gumtree and found it's 50% genuine folks and 50% timewasters
eg. a medium quality bookcase for free - get some guy saying what are the dimensions (that are in the listing), and what sort of guarantee was offerred
Another one was free chest of drawers and someone asking me to deliver it 70 miles away for free, and pestering me for a couple of days about when I was delivering it, after I'd told them no
The lesson I've learned is that if you just want rid of it, never put it up for free, always charge
Think I'm developing a nose for timewasters as well now, so don't bother responding to most enquiries

My OH had a classic - wanted rid of 4 nearly new plastic garden chairs (recently purchased for £30 - seemed a a waste to take then down the dump). Really enthusiastic buyer - I'll pick them up tomorrow etc, etc, then oooh it's 2 bus rides to get to you, so maybe it'll be within the next week. We forgot about them for 2 weeks until we get an email - my carer doesn't want to accompany me on 2 bus rides and a mile walk there and back to collect them...they ended up at the dump
 
I advertised my wife's old backup iPhone SE recently on facebook. The amount of timewasters was incredible. The majority of enquiries were from people with foreign sounding names offering us about 20% of the asking price. One person offered a reasonable price so I accepted, they sent me their address expecting me to jump in the car and drop it off. I certainly wouldn't use it again.
 
It's a shame that most local buying selling marketplaces (Gumtree, Facebook) etc is the modern day equivalent of tire kickers/time wasters.

Ebay/members market is the way to go unless very large items. It's a shame about all the "cheeky" offers on members market but hey, easy sales.
 
I imagine that those outlets you mention OP, are the typical hunting grounds for scammers - you'll probably have someone offer to pay you via PayPal for it next!
 
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