why marketplace can be frustrating

Jerry_Cornelius

Pollycat said:

I sold an item at the weekend that had been listed for a week 6 times so sometimes it pays to be patient.

It is funny when that happens; 99% of my items are auctions and i've had items on for several weeks that havent sold, lower the price a tad and suddenly two people bid and it ends up higher than the previous original listing price from a few weeks back.

In regards to questions, I try to put all the relevant stuff in my listing; if someone asks me a question and the info is already in the description, I just ignore it.

Spoonie_Turtle

Jerry_Cornelius said:

In regards to questions, I try to put all the relevant stuff in my listing; if someone asks me a question and the info is already in the description, I just ignore it.

Some ways of viewing eBay listings don't seem to actually show all of the information.

[Deleted User]

I agree with that @Spoonie_Turtle

Numerous times i've asked questions, regarding information that's not provided in the listing, and messages back to me, weeks after i've asked, say that they've only just come to their laptop etc and my message hasn't been seen/displayed until they were accessing the site on there.
 
And, possibly why the remainder of questions never get acknowledged or replied to.
E.G ..... if a garment is listed as a S, M or L some of us would like to know some of the garments actual measurements, thus reducing the likelihood of a Return or buying something that's far too small or large and wasting your hard-earned.

Pollycat

[Deleted User] said:

I agree with that @Spoonie_Turtle

Numerous times i've asked questions, regarding information that's not provided in the listing, and messages back to me, weeks after i've asked, say that they've only just come to their laptop etc and my message hasn't been seen/displayed until they were accessing the site on there.
 
And, possibly why the remainder of questions never get acknowledged or replied to.
E.G ..... if a garment is listed as a S, M or L some of us would like to know some of the garments actual measurements, thus reducing the likelihood of a Return or buying something that's far too small or large and wasting your hard-earned.

If I'm selling an item of clothing, I show measurements - pit-to-pit, nape to hem, arm length etc - in my photos even if it has a proper size in it.

earlaramos

The marketplace can be frustrating for sellers but for buyers, It can be a good option, you end up getting a good deal depending on the product.  

FFHillbilly

I've been trying to sell a phone on Facebook marketplace for 3 weeks, I just seem to have attracted timewasters. after 2 weeks All I had was "is this still available" ? followed by a lowball offer, or even worse, no reply at all!
I then edited the listing to say "Stop asking if it's available. if you can see the advert, it's still available"
and that seemed to attract more and more people with nothing better to do, they all started with "Is this still available", then lots of messages back and forth and I think I'm about to sell it then they drop a clanger like "I live in Scotland, can you drop it off?" 
So I've took it off marketplace and have listed it on eBay

tightauldgit

OMG yes. Been selling some furniture recently and facebook is just an absolute waste of time. 

Is it still available? Yes. ......... tumbleweed

Can you send more photos? Yes sure what do you want to see the main things are already shown.... tumbleweed......

I'll Take iT!!!!!!!!! ok.. how do you want to pay/collect? ....... tumbleweed

Can I come take a look at it? Sure, when would you like to see it? ... tumbleweed

Or the array of barked barely coherent messages...

How much? (For what?)

I'll have these two (OK... and how and when do you plan to complete that transaction?)

Will it fit my kitchen? (Well I don't know do I how big is your kitchen?)

Can you hold this? (Yes if you pay. Until then no because nobody actually follows through on anything)

And then the moaners who get upset when you tell them they have to come and actually look at/pay for/collect the item because they're very busy and they can't come until Thursday at 10.45pm because they don't have a car, and their mum normally drives them but she's sick and then she has to take the kids to school and pick them up and take them to ballet and then she has to get their dinner and do I know someone with a van who can deliver it to them. They'll pay a fiver for the 40 mile trip each way but it has to be on Sunday because they're busy this week with the kids and and and.........   

I think internet shopping has ruined the general public. anything more than clicking 'BUY NOW' and it being brought to their door in a couple of days is beyond the ken of the average Joe Schmo these days. 

Exodi

soolin said:

I know we all love using sites that don't carry fees, but sometimes I see the benefit of using ebay and other professional platforms.

I've got an item on FB, lets say it is a glass vase, it says 'glass vase' in title and also in title and description it says 8 inches tall. It shows a makers mark to base (nothing interesting just something ordinary like M and S) . Full description which repeats the word glass and the height, my area including the main bit of the postcode is shown, and I state collection only as vase is only £3 (I am expecting to get an offer around £2 which I would accept)

A person has contacted me asking me if this is resin, I replied that it is glass. They then asked if it was breakable as they were nervous about stuff that broke easily, so I said yes it's glass. They then asked the height, I told them 8 inches and I got is that big enough for a bunch of llowers?. They next want to know is it irish crystal like Waterford or similar but  now my answers are polite but very very brief. They want to know where I am, then they say will I deliver, which  I decline. They then ask if the price included postage, so I said no, postage is not possible on this item. They have just come back and said they will have it posted and pay me an extra £1 for posting it if I can send it today. 

I have deleted the vase and added it to my charity shop  bag, I can't be bothered with it anymore and vases are a very hard sell anyway for very little return.

OMG yes. As much as I love facebook marketplace (I genuinely buy a lot of things on there), I absolutely loath selling items on there. It's like the buyers are from a differentplanet. 

The experience you describe is commonplace. I recently got married and we (well my wife) sold about a grands worth of goods on facebook marketplace recently, and the stupid messages from buyers were endless.

Just a few examples from memory (though I could probably fill a book...):

"Hi, where are you based?"
"We're in [our address] "      (side note, all of our listings had the town in the description and the correct location on the listing)
"Oh, well I'm in [place 100 miles away]"

...

"Hi is this available"
"Certainly is "
[Radio Silence]                  (happened daily, some people even organised a time and date, then followed with radio silence)

...

"Hi, i'm in [place 30 miles away], could you deliver for extra?"
"No problem, if you're happy to pay an extra £10 to cover fuel, i'll force my partner to drop it off"
"£10 lol?? no thanks"           (this happened, despite offering to spend 2 hours driving for free, apparently we're taking the mick by asking them to pay fuel)

...

"How much for cash?"        (am I missing something, unless you planned on paying me in bitcoin, organising a bank transfer on my door step or expected me to have a card terminal, how else do you think people pay)

...

[Haggling on the doorstep] (this one really wound me up, my partner had already agreed a price and del boy showed up trying to negotiate more off in person)

...

"What's your address"
"It's [my address]"
"Where's that?"                (maybe this one is only a personal frustration because I'm young and assume everyone navigates with google maps).


And yes, absolutely countless ones like you had where i was effectively repeating the description back to the item. Or absolutely stupid conversations like

"do you think it will fit in my car"
"I don't know what car you have"
"i have a ford focus"

I DONT KNOW, MEASURE YOUR OWN DAMN CAR, THE SIZES ARE ON THE BLOODY LISTING

I've just brought back all of the trauma, I've going for a lie down for a bit...

Exodi

tightauldgit said:

OMG yes. Been selling some furniture recently and facebook is just an absolute waste of time. 

Is it still available? Yes. ......... tumbleweed

Can you send more photos? Yes sure what do you want to see the main things are already shown.... tumbleweed......

I'll Take iT!!!!!!!!! ok.. how do you want to pay/collect? ....... tumbleweed

Can I come take a look at it? Sure, when would you like to see it? ... tumbleweed

Or the array of barked barely coherent messages...

How much? (For what?)

I'll have these two (OK... and how and when do you plan to complete that transaction?)

Will it fit my kitchen? (Well I don't know do I how big is your kitchen?)

Can you hold this? (Yes if you pay. Until then no because nobody actually follows through on anything)

And then the moaners who get upset when you tell them they have to come and actually look at/pay for/collect the item because they're very busy and they can't come until Thursday at 10.45pm because they don't have a car, and their mum normally drives them but she's sick and then she has to take the kids to school and pick them up and take them to ballet and then she has to get their dinner and do I know someone with a van who can deliver it to them. They'll pay a fiver for the 40 mile trip each way but it has to be on Sunday because they're busy this week with the kids and and and.........   

I think internet shopping has ruined the general public. anything more than clicking 'BUY NOW' and it being brought to their door in a couple of days is beyond the ken of the average Joe Schmo these days. 

Your reply has been 100% the exact same experience as mine, especially the bottom half.

soolin

Oh the car size thing reminds me of a story I think I've told on here several times.

An auction house I used to go to sold a tall boy (tall chest of drawers) plus assorted other things to a new buyer- one of those who had seen it on the telly and fancied doing a bit of a Lovejoy herself. Persuaded the porter to carry the tallboy outside and wanted him to get it in her car- which was an old fashioned Micra. 

Porter told her it wouldn't fit, she insisted it would if he stood it up and was completely blind to the fact that even standing on the pavement beside the car it was taller than the car roof already. Porter refused to even try and woman got very angry saying 'my husband said this car is deceptively large, it just takes careful packing and you are just being lazy'  - cue porter storming off and the watching crowd sniggering...I believe she ended up having to leave it and asking for it to be resold.