Local Pickup... tell me where you are then!

tonyivb

Why can't many (admittedly mostly non-business) sellers comprehend that if they are listing an item as 'Local Pickup Only' then it is really important to say where the item will/can be picked up from.

This is even more relevant if they are in a large city.

I live in Wembley so to travel 5-10 miles to Hounslow or Finchley is not much of an issue, but doing the same distance to South-East London is a totally different journey that takes considerably longer.

Now I will only ask 'where the **** are you?' if it looks like an exceptional item, but most of the time I will just move keep searching.

Moglex

I wonder how many sellers realise that they are often only going to get a fraction of the price they otherwise would simply because they are too lazy to organise a box, some packing and a courier.

I don't doubt that there are people who would drive half way accross the country to pick up a £50 item on which they have saved £10 from buying it locally.

There must be a hell of a lot more who just pass by any listing with a "buyer collects" tag unless they happen to be less than 10 miles away.

Another infuriating thing about people who do this is when their P&P entry reads "free".

No, it actually costs money to come and pick something up.

alanalea

Many sellers do miss out on sales because they aren't prepared to post, but on the upside i've had some of the best bargains ever because of it.

I've just won a superking size bed for £10 and a log burner for my bus for £4, both within 15 miles- Even with the cost of petrol they're top bargains :j

rose_sparky

When I sell an item that is pick up only I always list our county in the heading, I also mention the name of our village in the listing. It saves time for all concerned.

tonyivb

Moglex wrote:

Another infuriating thing about people who do this is when their P&P entry reads "free".

No, it actually costs money to come and pick something up.

Absolutely agree, especially when this is done on a small item that would be normally posted.

dougk_2

I just use the advance search option and stick in my post code that way I can select how far I wish to travel.

If there is something I am really interest in I ask them a question..
..where excatly is the item I am in xxxx and I could pickup up on xxxxx if i win the auction....... not very hard to do!

If they don't reply to an email and there was sufficient time left on the auction then its probably a good indication of what the seller is like and who is best avoided!

tonyivb

dougk wrote:

I just use the advance search option and stick in my post code that way I can select how far I wish to travel.

This was my point about being in a large city... distance does not equate to journey time (or cost if you include the congestion charge).

An extreme example... Sheerness is less than 10 miles from Southend but over 60 miles to drive.

It doesn't help that many people don't bother to put their postal town in their address therefore the 'item location' shows as 'London, United Kingdom'. I'm sure that people in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester etc have the same problem.

Welwyn GC, Maidenhead, Leatherhead and Bromley are all under 20 miles from me (as the crow flies) but it is a totally different proposition to drive to Bromley than all the others.

Dazzieboo

I am being frustrated with this at the moment, I am looking for a cart for my pony and almost all which I have viewed have been pick up only, but as you have all said, pick up from where?. Some sellers obviously don't check their mail very often as I have sent a question at the start of the bidding and I get a reply on the last day, which doesn't always give me time to bid and one which this happened to last week went at a price I could have afforded and it was just 10 miles away. The cheeky seller even said to me, she would rather it had gone locally and didn't realise I was serious, I suggested she answered all her e-mails promptly next time.

Moglex

tonyivb wrote:

It doesn't help that many people don't bother to put their postal town in their address therefore the 'item location' shows as 'London, United Kingdom'.

Somewhat OT, but back in around 1989 I was trying out one of the earliest incarnations of Autoroute. The route involved driving through London.

It started off well enough: Drive 5 miles, at the roundabout bear left ...

It got a bit surreal, though, as it approached the capital and came up with:

"At London, bear right".

dougk_2

tonyivb wrote:

This was my point about being in a large city... distance does not equate to journey time (or cost if you include the congestion charge).

I get your point.

But thats where the ask questions bit comes in. Even if something is only 5 mile away I ask the question where is the item exactly. Ok this sounds a bit snobby but there are other things to consider based on the exact location eg. is the item in the middle of a rough estate (so do i risk going at night on my own or at all) or can i only collect it during the day (which i can't do if I am working). Times available to coljlect the item are often (to me) more important than where it is. Some items I may travel some distance if I can plan to pick it up en-route to somewhere else on a particular day.

I have also seen many an auction that the person lives in one place but the item needs collecting from another. Its better to be sure by asking the questions.