To think Facebook Marketplace is a cesspool.

[WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl]

I listed a toddler carrier last week on Facebook for £5. There's nothing wrong with it and it cost over £100 new. I was happy to just give it away as it was taking up space but the last time I listed something for free I had every wheeler-dealer type in a 50 mile radius message me, clearly seeing the ££ to be made.

Anyway, I listed it and within an hour had about 20-30 messages. Most were straight to the point (is this still available). Some were clearly so short on time they could only afford me one word (available?) and some were from those who hadn't bothered to read, with questions such as "how much" (it was listed as £5), and "would you deliver to X town 20 miles away" (no I fucking won't it would cost me more than £5 in fuel and the advert clearly states buyer to collect).

Thankfully, so I thought, the first person to contact me was someone I vaguely knew. So I arranged with her a time for her to collect it and responded to the other messages to say someone was coming to collect it. Around half a dozen others then responded to ask if I could let them know if it wasn't collected. Fine.

Collection day comes and buyer doesn't turn up. I message her to ask if she still wants it and she apologises and arranges a new time. Fine. Second day arrives and she doesn't turn up again.

So I go through my messages and find the person who was second to contact me and who had asked if I would keep her informed. Message her and wait a day and get no response. A week has now passed since the original advert and rather than going through my old, now buried messages I decide to relist.

Again it's a popular item. Lots of messages. One asks for more photos, which I don't respond to straight away because I'm out shopping. Half an hour later she follows up with just "??". Fuck off, I'm not a catalogue and I have a life outside Facebook Marketplace. Another asks how much. Another "do you deliver". One woman gets shirty with me because she asked about the original advert and I didn't keep her informed when the buyer didn't turn up. Fuck off, I'm selling a £5 item not running a customer service empire. Think I'm just going to charity shop everything from now on.

Completely agree. There is no limit to people's CFery, I really don't know how they can do it! Charity shops all the way.

I've stopped selling stuff because of the hassle.

I think you may be taking it a little bit to heart.

There are loads of timewasters but I've made quite a bit selling old stuff, keep your expectations low

Yanbu. It drives me batty. I get countless "is this available" messages, and hear nothing back when I reply "yes". eBay has its own disadvantages too, I'm lost on how to get rid of some stuff and earn some much needed cash!!

Maybe it's the area you're in? Whenever I've listed things it's always gone well. Not snobbery as the area I live does not have the best reputation!

coconuttelegraph probably, I have PMT and the rudeness has tipped me over the edge I think.

GummyGoddess not sure, it's very mixed here. Rural with lots of yummy mummy types but also lots of deprivation.

All of this.

Sometimes it goes really well. Other times you get all sorts. Someone didn't collect so I messaged them and they said they would when it had stopped raining (at 2.30am!)

Oh it's shit. I listed something a while ago and wrote the price was firm and I wasn't negotiating price, eg it was $100. Every fucking message 'I'll buy it for $20 cash', 'best price?' ' will you take $35?'.
I deleted every one of them and sold it elsewhere.

Everything I see listed locally is either broken and only fit for the tip, or listed for more than the new price - or both, so I have given up looking for stuff on there.

I tried to sell a sling on there before, had someone ask if I could half the price AND deliver it to a town half an hour’s drive away in the middle of nowhere, not somewhere you pass through (or even near) to get anywhere else

I find it best to stick to just local selling groups.
If you put it on marketplace you get every Tom, Dick and Harry getting in touch - mostly asking if you will deliver your collect only item to them because they live 50 miles away or wanting you to post it to them which will cost 10 x the price you are selling for.
If you stay local at least they'll come and get it (or usually at least!)

I advertised a huge sack of toddler clothes for £30. Stated No splitting or bundles. Had people asking if they could look through the bag and pick which items they wanted. I said you can take as much or little as you like, the price is £30. One item or fifty, its £30.
What’s the point otherwise? They’re just going to take all the Next / M&S / M&P stuff and leave the primark and Asda, then want to pay £5 and leave me with clothes I can’t sell.

Yep, I tried to sell an iPad once and it was a nightmare. I just wanted rid of it so bad ljsted it for an attractive price and people were still offering me half the asking price. Looking on the profiles of these CFs it was clear that they made their money reSelling for a higher price. Mate, I’d rather burn it than sell it to a piss taker like you. Fair enough if you’re desperate but this clearly wasn’t the case here.

I had someone who wanted me to take £10 off the price because she would have to drive to my house to pick the object up.
Yes, because that is how shops work...

I've got some really good bargains on FB Marketplace (always toys - all I really good condition and really reduced), but it is a bear pit for some stuff.

I refuse to sell to anyone who messages with things like "would you take a fiver?" (no, not when I listed it as £20, it's in great condition, and was £150 new). If they at least start with "Hello" I might consider it.

My mum was selling a bike that belonged to my niece for an attractive price. Had someone ask if she could have it for free because "my son has aspergers and really wants a new bike". Um... no

I also hate the ones who start a conversation with "what is best price?"

I blame marketplace too tbh for those stock phrases you can send (sometimes people do this unintentionally too). They're so rude! Even a stock 'hello, is this item still available please?' would work!

Or the ones on local selling pages who want specific items but they "must be free and you must deliver". Erm nope.

To be honest I have stopped putting my eggs in one basket. If a few people message within an hour then I tell 2/3 it is available and go from there. I can guarentee it will tailer down to one.

I was selling something last week. £45. Loads of interest as it's a hugely popular product at this time of year, and it was cheap.
First buyer messages on collection day to apologise and say it wouldn't fit with her existing system (vague sorry!)
No worries, I have about 6 people in the wings.

Message the next one down who replies 'yeah, I'll take them off your hands for £20'.

I replied I was doing him a courtesy as I had people after him and no, he wouldn't be having them for £20 Then I blocked and went to person three.

Third person turned up within the hour.
Tosser was seen posting a wanted ad for my item a few hours later.

And these are the reasons I stopped selling on eBay!
I put it on marketplace, say Friday, wait til Monday if not gon....straight to charity shop or skip, whichever is open!
People seem so entitled and want everything for nothing, if you deliver it!

I can't agree more.

I listed an item that was brand new in the box (I'd admittedly purchased at auction and wanted to make a small profit) and listed it on the Facebook market place for £20 which was half of its retail value

The man who bought it kept arranging to collect and not showing up. I chased him the first time but after the second time I just relisted. Then he gave me the "having car issues" spiel and we agreed on a third collection time. He didn't turn up so I relisted again. He randomly turned up the next day and knocked on my door. The only reason I sold it to him was because I wanted rid and no one else had been in touch. He was actually quite pleasant and thankful but it was still annoying.

Same item I had many people just literally sending "£10" or "can you deliver to xxx?" (Miles away).

As a buyer I was truly messed around. I had seen an item I wanted and got in touch with the seller on the Saturday. She wasn't available until the following Tuesday so we agreed I'd collect then. In the meantime my car was in an accident and not drivable and my courtesy car was due to arrive the Wednesday. I got in touch with the seller, apologised profusely and said I'd understand if she couldn't keep the item. She said she would happily keep the item for me. So the courtesy car actually arrives Tuesday and I let her know I can collect as agreed at her convenience. She ignores me. I send a message on the Wednesday and the Friday just in case and I don't get anything back, just a notification from Facebook the item is now sold. To be fair I did send a snippy response of "well thanks for telling me and thanks for keeping it for me as agreed" because I was so pissed off!

Online selling is an eye opener - the amount of idiots and time wasters out there is just unbelievable, you really need to have low expectations and do everything on your terms. I sell on eBay/depop/vinted regularly to declutter and ignore people if they message me with poor grammar and bad spelling and certainly ignore/ block CFs that ask for a 50% discount. You don't need to reply to most people and they can keep sending '???'s as far as I'm concerned.

Totally agree. I sold something on there recently and got all the ‘interested’ crap replies from people who sounded dodge as fuck. Someone actually replied in actual English rather than txt speak and he bought it, but what a faff.
Dh then wanted something else selling and I said he had to do it on eBay - a much higher priced item that I wasn’t going to be responsible for selling on the cesspool.