Controversial I Know-Can't We Get Rid Of The "For Sale" Board.

I've tried to sell a few surplus boys clothes on here - most are new & have never been worn (thanks to me 'putting them somewhere safe' & then forgetting about them !) I try & sell stuff for what I would pay & cover P&P but with little success. I don't want to go to the hassle of EBaying stuff. So I give it a go on here first & then chariry bag it.
I think Bying & Selling though is useful - you can always look at the convos without buying & selling anyway.

have left message on that one fimbo

I agree I dont like those threads, but regular normal mners selling old baby stuff/clothes etc i think is fine.

fine line though

SMM its contact another talker, you basically type in the Mumsnetter you wish to get in contact with and MN forwards your message to them, to set up CAT you need to pay a one off fee of £5 i beleive

thank goodness for that Skyler, you had me worried there, i have checked archives and the mn no longer posts so i presume she recieved the clothes as i had a return address on them and they never came back for a second time, i did put a note in with the second parcel too!

Kidstrack - Don't panic, it wasn't you. It wasn't clothes. What a mess up with the post you had. I am giving the benefit of the doubt because I know that the Royal Mail can be less than reliable. It was just a shame my emails were ignored too.
There are some good suggestions on here, though I don't know what the answer is.....

I dont know whether I am doing right or not???? somebody help me out here???? I am new to mumsnet, need to get rid of dd's clothes and stuff as I am moving, was gonna put them on ebay but I think these clothes are so lovely I would rather see them go to nice people like the ones on mumsnet that have helped me out. If I am offending fellow mumsnetters I will stop listing, if there is some king of fee involved, I would rather put it to charity or something well deserved rather than into ebays pockets. Also what is CAT? GIVE ME GUIDANCE REGULARS!!

I've posted a few things on the For Sale board- sometimes because I wanted a MNer to have the chance to get them first, sometimes because it's easier than faffing about on Ebay. If I wanted to make a fast buck though, i'd use Ebay-couldn't stand the shame of you lot knowing I'd fleeced someone!

I'll occasionally offer things here rather than on Ebay because in a way I feel I know (at least some of) the posters here and am therfore happy to pass things on at a lower price than I would via Ebay to total strangers. Also it's quicker to put things up here - both how long it takes to type out a desciption, and you know the outcome far quicker.

I think of the last three things I've offered here two have been for postage (at cost) only, and the other we went out of our way to deliver free. So used properly it can be a great resource.

I agree that it's easily abused though - perhaps we need a limit on how much any individual can post on the for sale boards, or as DumbledoresGirl says a pre-requisite of having made x number of posts on other threads and/or having been registered for a minimum period first?

i tend to put things on here first before ebay as its a fixed price instead of bidding so mums like me tight on cash can afford it.hadnt even thought about danger of buying from someone banned from ebay!i agree on the clicking if you WANT to include buying/selling.

Oh please dont do away with the for sale thread. I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this has been said already but....

I hope you will all agree I am a very regular Mumsnetter with a lot to contribute (though I am not into handing out tips of the day, I admit) and I would seriously miss the for sale board. I rely on it to make a few pennies for my children's endless need for new clothes, and also occasionally buy things from other Mumsnetters. However, they are only a few pennies and having to pay to advertise would mean I would not use the for sale board anymore. I also use charity shops and nearly new sales so I would not be entirely bereft without it, but it would be sorely missed.

I do think it is a good service and intrinsic to the support we mothers can give each other if we can buy and sell our second hand goods here. Not everyone here is well off and making ends meet as a parent does seem to be a common theme across all the subjects discussed here, not just in buying and selling.

I do agree, however, that the system is open to abuse from outsiders and so I would propose that MN Towers should introduce a way of keeping out those who are only using MN for the free selling board. Perhaps you should have to rack up a number of posts first, or you should be a regular member for 6 months or so? Is that possible?

I also would not object to the for sale thread being shown somewhere other than on talk. I know people can click on "without buying/selling" but maybe that is not enough. I admit I sometimes find all the sales threads cluttering up the chat irritating, but I am not in the habit of clicking "without buying/selling" because I like to look out for a bargain.

Skyler it wasn't me was it! I sold a bundle of dd's clothes on here and they were returned to me saying sender refused the parcel, but then i spoke to the mumsnetter on here who didn't know anything about the parcel being returned to me until i emailed, then i sent them again costing me another £10 in p&p but i never heard if the mumsnetter received them! God i hope it wasn't me and the clothes never turned up here again! This was last year!

What annoys me are those who do more than sell their personal used/unwanted items ie. blatantly have access to bulk amounts and who happily exchange email addresses because they can't be bothered to subscribe to CAT (not that MNHQ should want to spend its time forwarding those sort of enquiries).

The Wanted board has got beyond its remit too. Fair enough to look for 2nd hand and recycle or if you are on a tight budget but some people seem to expect to be given everything on a plate "I want a Bugaboo/P and T et al but can't afford to pay for new or even the going rate for 2nd hand - must be pristeen condition, with all extras ...." Sorry but in this life you sometimes have to compromise according to your pocket be it a lesser kudos pushchair or only one pair of shoes per child. Either that or they are looking for opportunities to profit by reselling on ebay.

You often have to pay to put a card in a shop window so why not a nominal fee to register to initiate threads on for For Sale/Swap for a certain period (I'm sure sellers would then happily "shop" anyone who hijacked their threads to advertise their own wares !).

Ok, I've been having a think about this.
Not sure how people would feel about it but it could work.
What if when people sign up to MN, they are asked which boards they wish to use?
For example if they want to use the for sale board, they have to pay a fee so possibly provide card details. This way it will probably get rid of those people who just use MN for the for sale board and those that will use it, will probably be the regular posters. Does that make sense?

If you really wnated to, you could ask everyone to provide card detials when they registered. You'd be sure not to get as many trolls that way too!

i think the boards should staybut agree with most of the suggestions here like only selling parenting related things etc.
i do click on quite a few of the for sale threads because dh and i dont have much money to play with now i SAH. i think it is a valuable part of mn. i feel i wont get ripped off when i buy things from here, especially when i recognise the sellers name from the talk boards, but am a bit wary at the same time because of the sort of thing that happened to skyler.
i do get annoyed tho when nearly every for sale i open is by the same person and i hardly ever see them on the boards.

I wouldn't name and shame as it was a while ago now. Part of me still hopes there was an explaination as it did seem very out of character.
Lol WriggleJiggle aren't you buying from me?? What did you find out about me I wonder .

Oke doke thanks for explaining about PAYPAL and EBAY

But if you pay for something it still doesn't mean that the person will send it does it?

Cos there was a problem a few months ago with a picture and a neckalce wasn't there?

I feel that I must apologise as a new Mumsnetter. I have listed a load of dd's clothes and stuff recently on MN rather than putting them on ebay, lets face it, its mums like us that are buying off ebay anyway, why should we pay ebay costs when it can be done this way? I rarely 'chat' on threads simply because I dont get alot of time. I have bought a couple of things off MN too and I would always offer paypal because its an instant payment so you dont have to worry about taking cheques to the bank etc.

Ahh I think you need to register your card details with ebay IIRC.

Not entirely sure tbh Kanga.
Surely MN could use the same system for the For Sale boards as Media and Business?

I dont see why that would hurt tbh, a small fee for using it and I'm sure the extra funds would help MN.

I've seen other sites use MN competitions before. They advertise them and basically stipulate that all you need to do is register to enter.

Thanks

So what if you don't have paypal?

I have never sold anything on ebay and I gave away stuff for free on here

I have bought stuff and paid with PO

DS still talks about buying PIFFLE's DS lego