To be amazed at the entitlement?

[80Dodgeballs]

I advertised a toy on FB. In pristine condition for £1 (would normally sell new for £8).

Someone living in a very wealthy area has asked me to deliver the toy to them when they know it's a 15 mile round trip. They don't want to know now that I've suggested a few pounds delivery charge for petrol and my time. It would still make the toy half of what it would cost in the shops.

AIBU to be flabbergasted at how some people expect the world to owe them something when they're already getting an amazing deal?

They seem really miffed at my suggestion of a delivery charge. Why on earth would I deliver something for £1 when it would cost me more than that in petrol let alone my time? CF!!! I can't believe the gall of some people.

I was selling v. expensive pushchair and someone offered me £300 less than I was asking. I laughed and said no, and she told me I was a CF and said ‘by the way I saw how excited you were to even get a message about it’ you mean my very polite ‘hi xxx, thanks for your message. Yes it is’?

Anyway I sold it two days later for full asking. People are complete twats. I give most of my stuff to charity now is it’s not worth the hassle, but I do understand not everybody can afford to.

I’ve a dyson airwrap with two sets of attachments so listed the excess attachments for £10 and my god the amount of people who don’t read the advert and think I’m selling a full airwrap set for £10 is mind blowing! I sold a couple to lovely people but have now removed the advert and will keep the rest as spares because I can’t deal with the morons!

Also need to do a pre Xmas toy exodus but think I’m going to contact local playgroups to see if they’d like them after some of the stories on here

And they say the English can't haggle...

I hate "I'll give you £X for it," when it should be, "Will you accept £X for it?"

I'm not sure it's worth anyone's while, buyer or seller, having something for £1 once you factor in delivery or collection costs. It's going to end up being too expensive for what it is for one or the other party.
I'd try selling them as a bundle.

Wow, people are so out of touch with real life! How can you not see the value of £1 varies from family to family. Great to hear you don't worry about money, please don't be rude to the OP!

Get off Mumsnet and volunteer in a food bank to gain some perspective.

I put a microwave on Freecyle. All good, chap came to collect at the door. Then said could he come in and have a look round my kitchen as he was stocking an entire kitchen over the next few weeks so would like some more of my kitchen stuff. Fair enough to ask (politely) but no, some random stranger will not be given a full house tour to pick out the possessions he'd like to take for free.

I'm also amused by people's CFery on Freecycle. The "wanted" posts along the lines of "Wanted: 3 metre square massive tv. Must be smart tv, ultra high definition and silver. No car so must be delivered to (place miles away)." Followed by another five similar requests. Possibly pushes the spirit of Freecycle a little far.

Not limited to the buyers though. After contacting someone who was selling a marble fireplace surround, checking dimensions and then agreeing a time where I could collect (45 minutes drive away), I rocked up with my mates van and the seller upped the price £80 on the front door.

I thought I'd made a mistake and felt really embarrassed to have messed them around so was prepared to return to the cashpoint for the extra but DH checked the ad again.

We left empty handed.

@whoisit12

I live in a very 'wealthy' area in Cheshire, used to sell bundles of my daughters baby clothes, £200/£300 worth all immaculate for like £15 or something, people would ask if I'd take £13 so would agree then they'd turn up in the latest Range Rover dripping in jewellery and obviously loaded (I'm definitely NOT loaded) used to really make me laugh

I used to live in Cheshire and selling baby stuff on eBay was a nightmare. I once sold one of those fisher price jumperoos clearly marked as cash on collection. The winning bidder turned up at my home in their Range Rover, got annoyed that i was unable to accept credit cards & thought that I should just let them have the £50 item for free.

@50ShadesOfCatholic

Glitterandunicorns

I seem to recall reading a study whereby people were more likely to show up to buy your item if you sold it for £1 as opposed to giving it away for free because this gave the buyer the perception of getting a bargain rather than taking an item that someone didn't value enough to charge for it.

I endorse this. Whenever I have offered items free, I've been messed about. Put a price on it and people show up. Recently I listed a few children's books at v low prices. Had a lot of enquiries/time wasters with none following through. Decided to hike the prices and they were snapped up. My takeaway is that people ascribe a dollar value to items and show interest accordingly.

There's that (probably apocryphal) story about the people leaving their fridge outside with a label on saying "free" and it hanging around for days until they changed the label to "£25 enquire at house" - when it was apparently gone in hours.

Yes get this too, even had people asking for delivery when the item is free!! I put in the listing ‘collection only from …’ and lots want stuff posting or delivered. Just say no.

I’ve got so many CF stories to tell but that’s because I’ve moved a couple of times in the last couple of years and needed stuff gone ASAP.

I was selling kitchen utensils/plates/pans with toaster/kettle. A few people tagged a lady into the post as ‘she had lost everything’. She messaged me with a sob story and I agreed that she could have it all for a free. She spent a week pissing about when it came to collecting it. Finally she promised she’d be ‘tomorrow’ and I explained that it was my final day in my flat and I’d loose my deposit if she didn’t collect it - it was the only stuff really left.

Of course she didn’t pick up but didn’t even apologise just ‘I’m a single mum and the kids didn’t want to get the bus with me’.

I had to leave it all with a neighbour then to another 90 mile journey to go back to drop it off at a charity shop.

A few things...

(1) Some people need every penny they can get
(2) I will often check adverts for places I am going anyway.... day trip to a town 15 miles away, quick check on gumtree first just in case there's something that I want but wouldn't travel 15 miles for.
(3) Sometimes things come up dead close. I once bought a lead for a kettle on ebay for £1. 5 mins walk away, so much cheaper and easier than buying new.
(4) It is good for the environment to re-use (caveat - driving miles for trivial items could offset that)
(5) A form of self discipline. I have a couple of hobbies that involve buying equipment... part of the way I justify the expense to myself is by buying second hand where possible (even though I could afford new) and if I have stuff that I don't want any more I make a point of selling it however trivial amount it is worth in part as a way of controlling my buying. It;s so easy to buy things you don;t really need, but if you've promised yourself that you will re-sell what you buy that gives you big incentive to buy well.

I've just arranged to collect a lovely piano from a really nice lady - she said she was pleasantly surprised that i said i would message on leaving to come and view it (which i did)

I gave up on Freecycle because it was full of jokers like this. If you've got books or DVDs it might be worth trying Music Magpie - each item will only get pence but if you have a lot and it adds up to more than a fiver I think you can book them to collect that batch.

The part that really does annoy me is when I say I will only give my address once they confirm on the day that they will definitely be collecting when they say they will.

Then they just disappear or cancel ... tossers!

Never done FB selling but it was similar when I used to do car boot sales. People would grab stuff, hand you what they wanted to pay, then get annoyed or teary sad face when you asserted the price.

Just because I'm selling my stuff, doesn't mean I want to give it away. I give loads to the charity shop, if I'm selling I'm selling. I'd rather take it home again and donate it than get up at sparrowfart to give it away to chancing bastards.

@halloweenqwueeeen

Is it really worth selling stuff on Facebook for One English pound?!

If you're struggling and need that 'one English pound' to buy a loaf of bread then yes.

Don't judge other people, it's fucking rude.

Freecycle was a nightmare. I had the same experience giving away baby clothes ("what labels are they?"), an adult's bike ("does it have a lock") and so on. Most are grabbing stuff to sell at car boot sales.

On the other hand, I went to a council flat in an area I'd never been to to pick up a big box of dinosaurs that my kids played with for up to a decade and were then handed on for free.

@ppp4321

I put a microwave on Freecyle. All good, chap came to collect at the door. Then said could he come in and have a look round my kitchen as he was stocking an entire kitchen over the next few weeks so would like some more of my kitchen stuff. Fair enough to ask (politely) but no, some random stranger will not be given a full house tour to pick out the possessions he'd like to take for free.

I'm also amused by people's CFery on Freecycle. The "wanted" posts along the lines of "Wanted: 3 metre square massive tv. Must be smart tv, ultra high definition and silver. No car so must be delivered to (place miles away)." Followed by another five similar requests. Possibly pushes the spirit of Freecycle a little far.

Have seen similar on recycling pages on Facebook. 'Need tv for my lil man's bedroom, so he can watch Peppa Pig. Must be state of the art, latest technology and capable of interfacing with XYZ..,and must be delivered as I don't drive'

Okay I'm exaggerating but not hugely.

Jeepers he had some neck wanting to look around to see if he wanted more of your stuff!

@MichelleScarn

It's worse when you offer something for free.. You get a 'drop 2 me 2mro at 2, wat els u got. Needz be perfect'

Oh goodness, yes! This!

For balance, I have many nice stories too. We used FBMP to give away loads of old toys and household stuff when lockdown eased but charity shops were still closed. We said we’d usually donate to the local cat charity, so if people wanted to make a donation they could. There were a minority of CFs, but most people were lovely. It was all no-contact collections, but people left cash in envelopes with notes saying to pass on to the charity, some sent screenshots of donations and the children received loads of sweets and chocolates as thanks.

Another nice story. I sold a very nice toddler 3-piece suit with shirt etc on FBMP some years ago. One lady sent me a very polite message saying she really wanted the suit for her son to wear for her wedding but couldn’t get someone to collect it for her until the end of next week, could she transfer me £5 now and the rest on collection? Sorry to be cheeky and she’d understand if I couldn’t, etc. I agreed, but said I was driving through her town that day so I’d drop it off for her. Turned out she didn’t have the remaining £10 or whatever it was, but was expecting it next week. I decided to chance it and dropped it off anyway. She paid the rest on the day she said she would and, a few months later, sent me a photo of her little boy wearing the suit at the wedding

@LindaEllen

Pot, kettle, black?

Would you kiss your mother with that mouth

I've got one atm.
I'm selling my conservatory as we're extending the back of the house, cf messages me 'Why are you selling it?'
I explain the above, cf then messages me again 'Oh good move, Is it cost effective? I assume you couldn't modify it? I'm looking at the same and undecided based on cost'
What? I straight up asked are you interested in buying mine?
cf comes back hours later with 'No I've already got a conservatory I just want to know if I should knock it down and rebuild or put a warm roof on it'

Why the hell are they asking me this, I've not bothered answering

We used to have a buy/sell site on our old estate, and there was one chap who was always trying to get stuff for free. The most memorable ones are when he posted asking for someone to service and fix his wife's car for free, and when he asked if someone would supply him with enough plants and trees to fill his garden, and plant them for him as he couldn't do it himself. People offered plants that he could go and collect etc, but no he wanted someone to supply him with a whole garden's worth, deliver them and plant them all for him.

My absolute favourite though was when he posted asking if anyone had a conservatory he could have for free, gave some very specific measurements, and then also said that the person would have to deliver / erect / build it for him too for nothing. And then kept bumping his post hopefully. Funnily enough he didn't get any replies.....

I advertised a popular brand of baby buggy in very good condition with lots of accessories and quickly got lots of responses wanting it for the price advertised. Took responses in order and confirmed with first lady. When she turned up she told me she had had a problem with her bank card and could she pay me later? I said OK can you come back with the money by x time and I will hand over the buggy? I then got a long pleading story about how she needed it for a plane flight (it was a compact foldable hand-baggage approved buggy) so couldnt wait but would definitely pay me. She would transfer the money as soon as she got home, she said. I stood firm through all her sobs. She was back with the money in less than half an hour as she knew I had a queue of other people that wanted it. I think people do really try it on and its all about supply and demand and who is desperate or not desperate to buy or sell. I always arrange collection only though and have learnt from experience not to put myself out for people when advertising in those groups!

I put a mirror up for sale on MP - loads of pictures and clear measurements. A woman asked if it was 50cm , yes it is 50cm as stated in the ad . She asked if I could deliver- no collection only as stated in the ad.
She turned up an hour late , looked at the mirror and said it was too small ! I said that we had discussed the measurements and she said she didn’t know how big 50cm was