To HATE selling secondhand stuff??!!

[monkeymamma]

ARGHH!!! I have to admit I usually drop stuff off at the charity shop or give to friends instead (only if they want/need it obvs) but for the one or two items we really splashed out I know it's the right thing to do to sell them and try and recoup a bit of money. But OMG I hate it so much.
First you post the stuff online. Nice photos, write a good description. Flag up any scratches or bits missing. All good.
Then a few people are interested. Hurray! Then the questions start. Is it in good condition? Well it's been used. So look at the photos (always very clear and candid) and decide!!! Can I send more photos. Can they come and look at it. No-one ever gives an exact time so you're hovering around at home for hours wondering when they'll show. Will you take less money. Hmmm I wasn't expecting it to have any marks on it (WTF? It's been used by two toddlers!). Can I deliver the item to [insert name of location on the other side of town]. The number of people who message saying "is this available", "can I come and look" then NEVER MESSAGE YOU AGAIN. Why why why?
And endless questions about accessories and manuals and then you're searching your attic for bits of stuff that go with it. Only for them to go quiet/turn up and not want it/try and knock the price down to the point it's really not worth the time you've now put into selling the sodding thing.
Aaaand breathe. Perhaps I'm just not good with people?!

I have to admit that I hate it. Photographing, listing, answering questions, checking payment has gone through, parcelling up and the trek to the post office.
Saying that, I sold £80 worth of dancewear yesterday on facebook i just under half an hour (which was all but one of the items I listed) - and which is some much needed cash at the moment, so I am going to persevere.

I sold a bundle of clothes on Ebay a month ago - baby clothes clearly marked as 'used' but nice clothes (Next, M&S, Mamas and Papas) in okay condition.
The winning bidder paid £1.90 (bargain I thought!) and then left negative feedback saying the clothes were 'very worn'.
I'm not bothering again. The charity shop can have them.

I have been selling on gumtree and the cheeky offers I get

Recently sold a lamp for £1.50 price was £5 a lady who normally buys from me offered £1 haha the cheek I accepted £1.50 (brand new condition next lamp)

Asked if I could deliver she lives round corner so I delivered for her

She still hasn't paid me said "her husband has gone work and she has no money she will drop of later on" been a week now and I'm to shy to ask her for the £1.50

Hate selling on these websites but trying to make back a little of what Iv spent on the item I do take loads off stuff to charity shops but some stuff try and sell

Another time I put a Brand new bottle of Chanel on to sell DH paid £75 i ended up selling for £20 the lady who brought it from me put on sale for £55 after haggling with me saying £20 is all she has!

Sorry to go on but makes me so mad how cheeky people can be

its so much easier here.
while many large volume "used items"vendors use ebay/etsy/many of us take advantage of yard sales/garage sales/
put an ad in newspapers and craiglist type places.
put it out in front of your house
cash and carry.
can be fun wandering from house to house.
once a year there"the biggest yardsale in the america"almost 700
miles long and lasts 4 days,stretching thru many states on a us highway.

I have just got rid of stuff on freecycle which I never thought anyone would be interested in!
However I recently put a couple of linked things on Gumtree and had request to post because I had forgotten to add collect only. Went to the outreach post office to get a quote on both items- she couldn't as they are not allowed to accept big parcels, but priced one item to post.
Stupidly I looked up the cost to send both items on one of the delivery sites- it came to the same price as the items and I would have had a 12 mile round trip to the nearest collection point. Emailed her back saying sorry- not feasible as she had offered £2 above the item price for delivery. She came back offering £4 more than the asking price to include delivery. ( Delivery fees still more than I would get) I refused again and apologied for not putting collection only again. Explained it wouldn't work for me but she could arrange a courrier to come and collect it if she was desparate.
Since them I have had a collection of emails - she wants it for a birthday present for an injured child, please reconsider- she will pay the full cost of the carrier ( its still 6 miles to the collection point and I am not going in the direction any time soon!) Its the child's birhday present etc. Now its just a daily message either please or hello. I am ignoring but I am soooo irritated and don't want to open my emails.
I thought about outlining the above on an AIBU but having read PP above- I know I am not or alone!!!!

I gave away a garden furniture set recently. It needed repainting but was still decent stuff.

About 20 people messaged me to ask for it and some were so aggressive! One guy was adamant that he'd asked first (he hadn't) but he wanted delivery. Then he said he could collect but not for a week. Ffs.

In the end I gave it to a nice family who collected the same day. Aggressive bloke still persisted and was really arsey.

Another person messaged to say she'd take it and would it fit in her car? I DON'T F*ING KNOW HOW BIG YOUR CAR IS! I'd listed the dimensions.

Did I mention that I was giving it away for free??

Who are these people with no brains or manners?

I don't mind it, apart from the negative feedback I received selling a grey purse which was advertised as grey and the buyer complained saying she thought it was pink??

Really interesting. Do people think that "Buy it now" on Ebay is better than Auction?

missbonita that is bloomin' awesome!

Yeah, I hear you. I tried to sell old baby stuff but Dear God, that was hard work.

Although we're not minted, luckily we don't rely on the cash so I decided for my own sanity that clothes will go in the clothes bank associated with DCs school. I like the fact that I'm donating for the benefit of the school and therefore my children.
Haven't decided what to do with bigger items shoved them in the loft for now

I agree with all of you. I've had enough of trying to sell at a reasonable price/give away really good stuff.

I've had enough of Freecycle because people are so cheeky expecting you to go above and beyond so that they can have FREE goods. I've given up on ebaying things as after fees you end up with so little.

The shame of it is is that I have some lovely baby things that are too good to throw away but I don't drive so struggle to get them to a charity shop.

Really interesting. Do people think that "Buy it now" on Ebay is better than Auction?

Yes, absolutely. I very rarely do auctions. I do BIN for most things, often put it on at relatively high prices at first and then reduce slightly each time I have to relist. The chancers and cheapskates only search on auction items. Some people are willing to pay more in return for certainty of a quick purchase if they are desperate for an item quickly or simply can't be arsed with auctions and having to keep increasing their bids or finding other items.

As successful businesses discovered. There are two distinct categories of shoppers. Those who are willing to pay for speed/convenience/quality on one side, and on the other, those who will go to ridiculous lengths to get something for nothing on the other.

"Really interesting. Do people think that "Buy it now" on Ebay is better than Auction?"

Definitely better for higher value things. I generally set the buy it now price slightly higher than it's likely to go for, with the option of a best offer (which you can set to limit the time wasters) .

They always to pay PayPal, but I always insist on cash on collection only.

It really seems to filter out the faffers, and stuff has always sold really well when I've done it this way.

I sold a pushchair that I'd bought for £50. It was in amazing condition, listed it for £60 BIN or best offer, within a few hours someone offered £50 and it was gone the next day.

I do post very clear photos (usually taken in my pretty garden as well :) ) and a detailed listing

Agree that pricing things slightly higher seems to help as well. If its too cheap people assume it's damaged or in crappy condition. Price it higher and take a lower offer, and people are less likely to mess you around if they think they've got a bargain.

Oh yes to all of the above - people expecting the moon on a stick for nothing, people being rude, aggressive, abusive, people trying to knock you down when the item is already a steal.....seen them all.
I currently have a car for sale on eBay. I'm an experienced ebayer, and have sold a car on there before. The ad contains:

• numerous photos of the car, inside and out
• an extremely detailed description, including bad points
• all the info you could possibly need about the MOT, service history, mileage etc etc etc
• details of how to view the car, what forms of payment I accept, and where the car is located for collection

So, confident all bases were covered, I listed the car last weekend. Within 10 minutes of the ad going live, the questions started - OH GOD THE QUESTIONS!!!! Every single question I have been asked is already answered in the ad. I've got nearly another week to go and the inane questions are still coming. I'm dreading it being picked up, as I'm convinced whoever gets it is going to haggle, (despite me staying in the ad I won't accept less than £X). Aarrgghh.

I buy and sell second hand loads and dont have many problems. I block time wasters so they cant do it to me again and people have to collect when I am home anyway. You get some cheeky people but I just say no. It really depends how much you need the money.

Ebay vs Facebook - I wont send large items or electronics by eBay anymore as if it arrives and they dont like it or it mysteriously doesn't work any more then you have to pay to have the item returned to you, so you can end up significantly out of pocket. So those things always go on Facebay.

I've given up now. Sold a few baby bits after dc2 had finished with them it wait painfully awkward but ok. Now I just donate to charity or give it to family. I only consider selling bigger items, although saying that I put a perfectly good toddler bed frame and cot up on fb for £20 each, no offers. Reduced price to £10, and eventually for free, still no offers. Charities wouldn't take them either so now they're sitting dismantled in the back garden waiting to go to the tip. It's such a shame because they really were in good condition and now they've gone to waste.

I end up giving away to charity I used to sell but even the faff of packaging and going to the post office puts me off. As I gift aid I get a letter everytime what I have donated is sold and the charity has made over £200 in the last year from me. I could have made more selling but I'm happy that it's a charity donation.

Some people are dumb. I just ignore those idiots and make it clear its on my terms.

So glad it's not just me ... I've been through selling on FB, ebay and offering stuff to British Heart and it just gets you nowhere

I ended up taking some almost-new items to the tip which was really sad, but I honestly couldn't cope with the tossers any more

I swear that the the higher the price and the worse the photo makes it more likely to sell. .
I'm going to relist a few items and double the price and see what happens.

IMO most of these problems are because you're asking for too much money.

I fell into this trap - selling a £20, perfect condition item for £10. Yeah it's cheaper but no ones going to fall over themselves to get it. Stick it on for a fiver and it's gone in an hour, no stress and no time wasted.

I've sold a massive amount of stuff recently as we're having a huge pre-moving declutter. Sell it cheap to get it gone works. No one messes around when it's cheap enough IME - and all those fivers add up.

I find often that stuff offered for free is much harder to get rid of (in terms of dealing with flakes) than stuff that is sold for a nominal sum. For that reason, I sell stuff online rather than give it away, even though I wasn't looking for the money. (or give it to the charity shop of course)

I don’t understand the comments re Etsy, etsy is for handmade items, supplies or vintage not general clear out clutter

It seems to have got worse in recent years. I used to sell a lot of the kids' stuff on eBay and never had any bother and then suddenly like 3 or 4 sales in a row I was getting people claiming there were undisclosed marks, it didn't arrive etc etc. I'm currently in a dispute with a buyer, he wants to return something that was pristine and he's asking for me to cover return postage, clearly hoping I'll say "fuck it" and give it away to save the postage. I've dug my heels in, he'll need to get a ruling from eBay, and after this I'm done. It's just not worth the stress. There's a lot of baby/kid jumble sale things in the local area, I'm going to give them a try.