Giving away a bed - almost wished I'd just ditched it

[listsandbudgets]

Popped it on facebook for free and got a few requests.

Person one - cancelled at last moment as they didn't think it would look nice where they wanted to put it...

Person two to be fair said that she'd thought about it sorry to trouble me and she'd decided to get a double

Person 3 meant to be collecting in half an hour has just messaged to ask if it will go in his car - I responded that I don't know it's standard single bed size and now he's said it's a red vauxhall what do you think....

I know f*ck all about cars - don't even drive but have a vague idea there's more than one sort of vauxhall and I'm dan if I ow what being red has to do wth it....

I've banned DH from selling on there. It's like a breeding ground for time wasters.

Honestly, never give anything away for free. Even a £5 charge will deter the bottom feeders.

We’re attempting to sell one or two things. The number of people who ask ridiculous questions, fail to turn up when they’ve made an appointment or are just flaky is just mad. Someone asked question after question about a table, had the photo from several angles, the measurements - height, width etc. Back and forth for a week. Someone else wanted to know the colour of a small table. It’s the colour shown very clearly on the photos.

I’m tempted to just give them to a local charity.

Agree with flakiness. Infuriating!!

I listed 400 Victorian bricks on there Saturday that we needed gone otherwise we'd have spent hours taking them to the tip. I had nearly 50 people contact me and they were collected the same day so it's not always the case.

@Blouson

Many thanks for sharing that ! TMI, but . . . . my gulp of tea just came down my nose !!!

We have progress. He's measured his car, concluded it won't go in so he's sending his friend round with a van in about an hour - he's quite apologetic amazingly... but still plenty of time for it to go wrong

I've told him I'm going to bed at 10 so won't be answering door after that

@OhshutupDerek I once gave away a huge pile of bricks on one of the old email groups... freegle I think it was called. The relief as 3 strong men carried them out of the garden, put them in their van and drove them away was immense. It would have taken me all day I think with regular tea breaks but it only took them half an hour. They seemed remarkably pleased with them too.

I would have been tempted to message back "oh a red vauxhall, it'll definitely fit in that!"

I’m selling a dress… getting asked if I can include used knickers was a particular delight 🤮

I find marketplace or buy nothing groups are a massive pain. I have better luck selling things dirt cheap than giving them away for free.

We're moving/decluttering and I'm putting a lot of stuff up for free to whoever will collect it. I'd say at least 30% of the time someone claims it and either plans a time and never shows up, or just says "I'll let you know tomorrow what time I'll be around" and never does.

I now treat Marketplace as sport for when I’m in a particularly bad PMDD frame of mind. People on there are AWFUL.

Any time I sell any baby thing I get the same old manipulative claptrap about their ‘friend’ who is fleeing something and has no money and could they have it for free? (So they can resell). I enjoy fucking with them for ages, seeing how much they think they can get away with and then telling them to basically fuck off. It’s much fun. I can be astonishingly petty if the mood takes me.

I give away on Freecycle regularly, and in every listing ask for any contact to include the time and day they can collect and to confirm they have a suitable vehicle. Anyone who doesn't include that (and especially the ones that ask me to deliver the free item) don't even get a response

"no it won't fit in a red vauxhall but it might squeeze into a blue one"

Red Vauxhall 😂😂😂

Useless fucker.

Oh the absolute joy.

Will you accept 50p and can you deliver it please?

I wanted this for my nan but she's dead so can I have it for my friend?

Do you have this in green?

Where do you live? (Supply address) - Where's that?

🙄🔫

I listed a book full stop a woman contacted me and said is this in hardback? I replied no it never came out in hardback, it was only ever in paperback. Oh okay then she said I'll leave it. I can't understand why she only wants a book if it's a hardback. Either you want to read the book or you don't, or did you need it for propping up a table?

😂

Ain’t nowt as queer as folk. And ain’t no folk as queer as those on Marketplace.

Your potential buyer might be the same one who asked if a massive desk would fit in a Ford Focus (unspecified colour).
I doubted it but he thought it it was worth a try. Then turned up with 2 empty child seats in the back of the car, meaning he couldn't fold the seats down.
Maybe he thought it was an inflatable desk and I could just let the air out

A few months ago I was giving away a 2 seater sofa bed and the guy rocked up in a small Vauxhall car. Not a chance in hell was it going in it! He took all the cushions then came back the next day with some rope and tied the sofa to his car and drove off! Luckily he lived very locally but I couldn’t believe the insanity of it all!

Have you tried just leaving it out the front of your house? Round our way, if it’s in good condition, it would be taken really quickly. Especially if there’s a sign on it. Our old mattress went in 30 mins once! Alternatively, if it’s got all the safety tags and in really good condition, you could donate to the British Heart Foundation. They even collect. We did that once as well when we bought a mattress that we weren’t keen on.

Twice w Ed he ad B probes with car sizes.

once we hired a ‘man with van’ to pick up some furniture we brought on eBay. He turned up with a small van and the furniture ended up being stuck out the back.

Another time we tried to get rid of a sofa and the couple turned up in an ordernary car.

My DH and I have to buy only hardbacks these days as our eyesight is deteriorating and the hardback version usually has larger print. Maybe this woman had similar problems.

he's said it's a red vauxhall what do you think....

"Red one, you should be fine, but I doubt you'd get it into a blue one ..." 😃