Facebook marketplace & user profile's.

soolin

The thing I do find is the mix of people I meet, I get an awful lot of people who speak virtually no English and am always afraid that something might get lost in translation especially if they are buying a second hand item where I have declared damage. I do my best to try and translate things a bit using google, and so far we've all seemed to manage very well. I do also get a lot of people for whom English should be their first language, and yet can't seem to speak it- the initial contact is usually 'is this available' as they can click on that automatically if interested, it's the follow up bits I get confused by. I had one last week which I have never deciphered , he just said 'woz es' I did apologise and say i didn't understand and he just sent the same back in capitals- my OH thinks he is asking what the item is- but it really was extremely clear from both the photos and description and there was nothing more I could add (a simple necklace which I sell quite a few of).

Then in the summer I had someone try and collect bedside cabinets which they intended to balance on their pushchair (complete with sleeping baby) and someone else who requested about 25-30 KG of books (these were free) and came without a single bag expecting to be able to carry them home on the bus - he actually had the cheek to ask if I could drop him home in my car !

MovingForwards

I block people by clicking on them, going to the circle with three dots in it on the right hand side, then pressing block.

I got fed up with people asking if something was available, me saying yes, then they vanish. OR they ask me to hold it or deliver it (admittedly, with the laptop I did drive over to them as it was someone about to start college and I got full asking price

soolin

MovingForwards wrote: »

I block people by clicking on them, going to the circle with three dots in it on the right hand side, then pressing block.

I got fed up with people asking if something was available, me saying yes, then they vanish. OR they ask me to hold it or deliver it (admittedly, with the laptop I did drive over to them as it was someone about to start college and I got full asking price

Apparently people who hover over the item can sometimes trigger the 'is this available' question without realising.I get at least one or two people a week apologise to me for doing that when they were just browsing my photos. I tend not to block for that as I think it is an accident and not meant to annoy.

I get a lot of sales and huge amounts of 'is this available' questions, i find a simple 'yes it is' sufficient and tend not to worry if I then don't hear further from a buyer. I was told, and it could well be nonsense, that responding to all questions in a timely manner pushed your exposure upon facebook.

MovingForwards

It was only the time wasters I would block, the ones who would ask loads of questions, or say they want it and will collect later.

I must admit it put me off using FB MP, and I would only use it if desperate to shift something big or expensive.

Bobo_Brazil

Dont use social media that much now at all, but it's undisputable that if you sell on FBook you will be judged for your profile.

During a time I did experiment on Fb marketplace, a little while back, I was told (after listings had ended, items were taken down) on more than one occasion by a potential buyer, that they liked the item but didn't inquire about it because they were they were not sure about my profile. My profile is restricted and totally shut down to everyone except close friends.
this is deliberate - a few years ago a friend's profile was attacked, photos of her children were copied (with threats they would be uploaded to some rather disgusting places) after she posted she was voting to leave the EU..

As the OP says - ebay often feels 'better' even though, technically, it can be more of a faceless account. Have used Gumtree to sell & buy locally, no probs there either.

JustAnotherSaver

soolin wrote: »

he just said 'woz es' I did apologise and say i didn't understand and he just sent the same back in capitals- my OH thinks he is asking what the item is- but it really was extremely clear from both the photos and description

At a very wild guess, maybe he was writing in a lazy way "what's these"? Maybe he was considering it for his teenage girlfriend because teenagers have some wild and wonderful ways of spelling things.


I've had that myself too though - asking questions that i could answer by 1 of 2 ways...
1) Look at the photo you...
2) Read the description you...
finishing each sentence off with lazy [insert expletive here].



But i don't. I just repeat the description.

MovingForwards wrote: »

I got fed up with people asking if something was available, me saying yes, then they vanish.

Way way wayy wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too common.



I actually closed my FB down as i couldn't be bothered with the nonsense on there any longer. Not just marketplace but catty people in general.

After plenty of contacts of the type you mentioned i had one guy who got in touch, i said yes (i literally replied within 10 seconds of his contact) and heard nothing from him until a month or so later when he contacted me again. Same question. I'd had enough by this point and just said yes it's still available, like it was the last time i told you it was still available and you didn't reply and it will probably be still available in a months time when you contact me again about it.



Sure i shouldn't have done it and it wasn't going to bag me a sale but i'd had enough by that point and didn't care.