Facebook Marketplace and ghosting

[WhoTellsYourStory]

Why oh why oh why do people enquire about items, negotiate on price, ask loads of questions, arrange to come and collect and then disappear off the face of the planet? One item I'm selling I've been ghosted SEVENTEEN times! I realise there are bigger things to worry about but whhhhyyyy? If you do this, why do you do this?!

It sounds annoying but I think the answer is probably very simple.

They've changed their minds or found it cheaper elsewhere.

Very rude of them not to let you know though.

Yes! It’s fucking rude. I’ve waited in a few times for people that don’t turn up. I couldn’t care less if they’ve changed their minds, all I want is a message to let me know they aren’t coming.

Yes! I feel your annoyance! It causes me serious stress if I’m selling a few things. ‘Hi. Is it available?’ Me: ‘yes, it is’. Then nothing. Why enquire then?! Also had them not turn up. When I message to ask why, I get ‘oh sorry, work ran late’. Great. I just sat around delaying bathtime with my children waiting for you.

I still use it because it’s much easier in a lot of ways than eBay. But quite why so many people waste our time is beyond me.

On the other side is sellers who never reply or even mark sold even if you msg within 5 mins of item being posted.

OMG the people who ask if it's available then never contact you again!

I won't mark items as sold until the money is in my hand after a few people sounding so keen, arranging collection time and place then....nothing, no show, no excuse, no apology
I've started messaging people now if they don't turn up etc, I give them around an hour to respond or I'll sell it to next person interested, that seems to at least get rid of time wasters a bit.

"Can you deliver?" No. Read the advert
"Will you take £10" No. I paid £300, why should I give it away.
"Can you hold it until I get paid?" No, I'm selling it because I want it gone.
Eleventy billion questions and then they decide you live too far away. My posts always say what area I live in.

I'm finding that the next person interested does the same thing and by the time I get to a person who will respond, they've found it elsewhere.

I have found my people. @MrsMoastyToasty are you me?

People try to take the piss regardless of price.
I only list them on Facebook if I’m giving them away for free and I still get hassle

I sold a bookcase (full measurements on listing) and was asked if it'd fit in someone's study.

I find that the only people who collect are the people who are eager to collect the day they contact me or day after and they only ask one or two somewhat pertinent questions. Anyone who asks for a later date or asks questions about things I have already pre-empted and answered will either never actually collect or if they do will seek to haggle at the door after arriving an hour late.

So, in summary, I now only sell when conversations go as follow:-

Buyer: is this available?
Me: yes
B. Can I collect at 7pm tonight?
M. Yes, I live at xxxx

I recently sold some beds, a desk and gave away two sofas.
Good lord it was hard work.
Clear information in the listing that I couldn't deliver, and mattress sizes needed for the beds as they were Ikea ones.

Every other bloody message asked if I could deliver or if a standard double mattress would fit. Hun.

The people who wanted the free sofas wanted to come and collect on a weekend. I made it clear that we didn't live at the house they were in so I needed a rough time. They were vague and said morning. I explained again I didn't want to wait in an empty house for hours so said I'd be there from 9-10 Saturday morning.
I got an annoyed message at 7:30 am saying they were knocking on my door and I wasn't answering.
WTF is wrong with people.

People who don't turn up are just plain rude. And also what is the point of someone offering you £10 for an item up for sale at £30? If I'd wanted £10 for it I'd have put it up for sale at £10!! Another bug bear of mine is people who keep your item on their watch list for weeks and weeks. What are they waiting for??? The item is on for a rock bottom price as it is - if you want it then make an offer or just buy it!!

@DrDentyst I like your tactic! So if they don't respond fairly quickly asking for a time do you just delete the conversation?

@notso Oh god the hun. I've had to train myself out of that as so many people do it and it became contagious.

Drives me insane. I've had three people supposed to pick things up last week and this week and not turned up. Can't understand why they go to all that effort and then just not turn up.

The people who say "is it available" and then never respond probably accidentally clicked the button on the app which automatically send a message saying "is it available". I hate that flipping button. But I would usually say sorry I pushed the button rather than just ignore the seller.

Seventeen times must be some kind of record. Do you have something awful at your house that might be putting people off when they arrive to collect? Like a barmy dog in the front garden or some sort of racist poster up in the window

My most recent one involved the sale of a trampoline.
The advert I posted mentioned that it was 8ft across and due to the fact that the only way to get it out of the garden was to dismantle it and bring it through the house.
Conversation went
CFB (cheeky fucker buyer):"Can it be folded?'
Me: "no, it needs to be dismantled"
CFB: "it needs to be made" (English didn't seem to be her first language)
Me:" you can't get it through the house if it's made up"
CFB: "my friend get trampoline with bus"
Me: sends measurements of trampoline horizontally and vertically. Then I send a picture of our back door.
I haven't heard anything more from her....

@BeanBag7 LOL no. My cat does like collecting sticks and leaving them on the doorstep so maybe that's weirding people out.

@WhoTellsYourStory I fib and are a bit blunt. I say something along the lines of that I have other interested parties who can collect earlier/want it so I'll go with them

Oh yes, the ‘hun’ makes me shudder.

Also, selling something for £15. First message: ‘how much?’ Read it!!!!!

Then super-keen, please let me know if your buyer falls through, I really want it, can pick it up ASAP etc. Then when your buyer does fall through, it’s ‘well i’ll give you half the price’.

@mnahmnah It's somewhat comforting to know it isn't just me! The ones who pester you to accept 1/3 price every 3 days as long as it's still unsold - just because it's been up a week doesn't mean I'll give it away.

@MrsMoastyToasty I need to know who has a house so big a trampoline went straight through it and onto a bus! I had an identical query about a single bed once. I'm sorry you'll have to re-assemble it but it won't go down the stairs in one piece.

We're a quarter of a mile from the nearest bus stop. Even if they had their own bus, they wouldn't get it done our street.