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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU or is this woman a bit cheeky?

61 replies

babybearsmummy · 19/07/2013 16:40

Loads of shops in my local area have run out of paddling pools and lots of people with young children are all over the selling sites making pleas for pools.

We bought one a few months ago for dd (1y.o) to use as a ball pit but when we got it out of the box it was too big for our living room and I'm not using it as a paddling pool for dd in the garden as we haven't got a parasol or anything to shade her from the sun yet. So I decided to sell it.

As it's unused, I put it on a selling site for a few pounds less than what it cost us. Had a lady snap it up, collected it today etc and one hour later she's put it up for sale on the same selling site for, not only more than I sold it, but more than the RRP.

Is it me or is that a bit cheeky?!

OP posts:
HotCrossPun · 19/07/2013 19:24

But if you did that nobody would buy from you, they would just walk into Tesco surely Confused

She isn't taking advantage, she didn't steal it from the OP. OP sold it to her at a price she is happy with.

She isn't not holding any future buyers to ransom, if the price she has put it up as isn't a good deal - people won't buy it.

Khaleasy · 19/07/2013 19:30

Don't think it is cheeky at all. Good on her if she makes a profit. She paid the price the OP was asking for so OP shouldn't feel shortchanged.

Khaleasy · 19/07/2013 19:31

And it means that the people who are really wanting the item are now unable to have it without paying a lot more Why? You aren't creating a monopoly with your beans; Tesco are still selling them.

RoooneyMara · 19/07/2013 19:47

If I'd bought them all, I would be. That's what the OP's buyer has done.

JADS · 19/07/2013 19:58

She has every right to do it, but frankly I think it's scummy behaviour.

Are we talking about super posh paddling pools btw? Poundland loads of little £5 jobs.

HotCrossPun · 19/07/2013 20:01

C'mon Rooney, you're grasping at straws a bit with this analogy.

The OP's paddling pool buyer has not bought all the paddling pools.

Are you imagining that she is some kind of Dr Evil character? Do you think that she is trawling through second hand sites, buying paddling pools before selling them on to poor parents who simply must have a pool for there darling children to dip in?

Is there a sinister looking white cat in your scenario as well?

Khaleasy · 19/07/2013 20:42

If I'd bought them all, I would be only if you bought every single can of beans plus the factories that made them and became the only source of beans.

This lady has bought 1 single paddling pool and sold it on for a profit. Perhaps if she had gone around and bought every single paddling pool in the area then she could be monopolising but frankly I think she just saw an opportunity and took it.

Basic rule of selling; buy for cheap, sell for profit.

Khaleasy · 19/07/2013 20:47

Just a thought - but she may well have got it home and thought "feck, this won't fit in my garden" and relisted it with extra for her travel expenses etc.

maternitart · 19/07/2013 21:40

Exactly Khaleasy - there might be a reason why she's selling it.

She's taking the risk of selling it, so why shouldn't she?

I buy clothes from charity shops to sell on eBay when I get them home and realise they don't fit

maternitart · 19/07/2013 21:41

Also there are loads of pools on eBay etc if people bother to look. More fool them for paying over the odds.

Viviennemary · 19/07/2013 21:48

I think it's cheeky. That's why I wouldn't ever put things on Freecycle. Too many greedy people. I'd rather give stuff to charity and then at least the charity benefits.

HotCrossPun · 19/07/2013 22:06

Viviennemary She didn't put it on freecycle - she sold it.

HarrietSchulenberg · 19/07/2013 22:20

"She saw people were desperate for stuff, and bought it on the sheer intent of making money out of that."
FFS it's a paddling pool. Hardly an essential and people make a choice about whether they're going to buy one and how much they're prepared to pay. In the same way as the OP made a choice about how much she wanted for it.
If you'd have Freegled it, or if the buyer had haggled you down with a sob story that would have been different, but she didn't. Sorry you feel aggrieved but next time research your market before you sell something.

MagicHouse · 19/07/2013 22:24

I think it is a bit cheeky on one hand, but enterprising on the other. It's not uncommon. In car boot sales it's pretty normal for some people to buy up your good stuff to sell it on for more profit. I think if you use selling sites or freecycle you just need to be prepared that it might happen.

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:03

'I buy clothes from charity shops to sell on eBay '

Really? That's another thing I think is pretty sad. If I see something in a charity shop that I think is worth a bit, I tell them, or offer them a decent price for it if I want it myself.

Selling stuff for a profit that the charity has no idea is valuable is a bit low imo.

maternitart · 20/07/2013 08:26

Rooney I go to a clearance shop, i.e. stuff that didn't sell at a higher price and would otherwise be recycled. And I only sell on stuff that when I get home doesn't fit etc - we're talking a few items a year here.

But thanks for making such patronising assumptions about charity shop staff and their inability to price stuff. Hmm

Round here most of the shops are overpriced - £4 for a primark vest and £30 for high end high street top!

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:29

I'm glad to hear it, but there are people who trawl the charity shops here, looking for items they can sell on for profit. It makes me cross.

I'm not being patronising (having worked in a charity shop)

I once bought a fairly valuable watch, which they didn't think was working, but it was so I went back and gave them some more money.

It happens. Not everyone who works in a charity shop is going to have knowledge about antiques and so on so if I have that knowledge I try to share it. What's wrong with that?

picnicbasketcase · 20/07/2013 08:29

She's a cheeky bitch but within her rights.

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:30

I agree a lot of them are overpriced too.

SirChenjin · 20/07/2013 08:31

I sometimes sell on stuff that I've bought in charity shops too if it doesn't fit or I no longer need it. Why not? I donate enough stuff to charity, so don't feel at all guilty.

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:32

But that's not the ame as deliberately going to look for something valuable, paying them 50p for it and going home to put it on ebay for £200.

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:32

(chicken man in Toy story 2, anyone?!)

SirChenjin · 20/07/2013 08:39

Do you really think that a charity shop would misprice something to the tune of £199.50? I don't think so! I couldn't/wouldn't trawl charity shops for that reason, but it's supply and demand - people do it all the time with car boot sales, charity shops, antique fairs etc.

RoooneyMara · 20/07/2013 08:40

Yes, I've seen it happen.

500internalerror · 20/07/2013 08:43

You set your price for the pool.
She paid your price.
She set her resale price.
Someone will pay her price.
No one has been forced into anything.

Plus it's a pool - it's not an essential foodstuff or anything....

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