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Questions for anyone who's bought stuff on Facebook groups or at least made enquiries

11 replies

tectonicplates · 07/03/2020 12:03

We often have threads here with people trying to sell or give away stuff on Facebook groups, who constantly complain about time wasters, people not turning up, people asking "Is this still available?" etc. I'm not on any local groups, but I am on a couple of groups for selling specific brands of clothes, and I find that while lots of things get advertised, there is very little actual buying and selling going on.

Can we please have some comments from people who actually buy stuff, or who've tried to buy stuff, or who've made enquiries but then not bought anything?

Why do you ask "Is this still available?" when it clearly is, and then say nothing further?

Have you ever agreed to buy something online and then just disappeared? If so, is there a reason for this?

Have you ever said you were going to collect something in person, but then not turned up? If so, is there a reason for this, apart from that a genuine emergency situation came up?

Let's try to understand each other. But give the buyers a chance to speak please. I'd really like to understand what's going on, so we can hopefully reduce stress in the long run.

OP posts:
IllustriousToad · 07/03/2020 12:08

Yes, I've bought and sold stuff on Facebook. Mainly furniture when we had just moved to an unfurnished rental. The 'is it still available?' Question is something I ask, mainly because I've seen something that has been posted for a couple of days and they may have already agreed a sale - just not taken it down yet. Several times people have said no to me when I have asked this.

I haven't had any problems with buying or selling on facebook, but sometimes it's clear people are trying to scam others. I would only ever do cash on collection.

mistermagpie · 07/03/2020 12:16

I buy stuff a fair bit. The 'is this still available' is an automatic response available, so maybe people are clicking it by mistake? And a lot of stuff is actually sold, but people leave the ads up so it's a reasonable question to ask generally.

I'm always confused if I ask 'is this still available?' and the seller says 'yes', to which I reply 'great, I'd like to buy it, where are you located?' or something similar and then they never reply again. Why do people do this?!

slipperywhensparticus · 07/03/2020 12:18

Is this still available is automatic where are you located is also

TheGreatWave · 07/03/2020 12:20

I think people change their minds, which is far enough, but don't want to say. I once enquired about an item, decided against it, but felt a lot of pressure to buy.

I have bought though (and sold) latest being a lamp.

slipperywhensparticus · 07/03/2020 12:21

There is one where i ask where where you located? They come back with (for example) london 🙄

There was another woman I asked can I collect monday? She said sure mindsy comes she calls me a time waster for not collecting it I said you forgot to give me your address 🤷‍♀️

slipperywhensparticus · 07/03/2020 12:21

I should add I did ask for it

KisforKoala · 07/03/2020 12:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Khione · 07/03/2020 12:50

I've bought and sold - both relatively painlessly. And given away and picked up freebies - again with no real problems.

I think for some people pressing the button to ask if it's still available is the equivalent of picking it up. If it is they look more closely to decide and/or ask a partner/friend what they think.

I don't save for anyone unless they've agreed a price and pick up time and then only a couple of days.

pinkrocker · 07/03/2020 12:56

We run a FB buy and sell group for Hush & MV, I am always amazed at how fast things sell!
We decided to make all selling posts inclusive of postage and PayPal fees, so that both the buyer and seller are covered. However the amount of scammers is unbelievable. People can be incredibly rude to us too!
We've had people create new profiles just to rejoin and start arguments (if they've been blocked) I do wonder if they've just got too much time on their hands.

ShirleyPhallus · 07/03/2020 12:59

I’ve done this before. Asked if it’s still available because for some reason a lot of sellers never update their listings

Also the location on FB can be wildly inaccurate so I’ve agreed to pick something up and then they’ve given me the full address and it’s miles away from the location FB has listed it

I’ve never not turned up but the honest answer is that people value their time more than the (usually quite small) saving they make on buying the item.

Mooserp · 07/03/2020 13:02

I've bought quite a lot of stuff and sold some. I used to think the 'is it still available' question was pointless, but more often than not I get a negative reply, or no reply.

Good stuff that is reasonably priced sells very quickly.

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