Time wasters on FB marketplace

[Bluevelvetcake2]

Why are there so many time waster on Facebook marketplace? Do people not have anything better to do then ask “Is this available?” and then disappear once they are told it is. What a strange pastime!

Oh it's so useless.

I would stick solely to a local small group, sell on eBay or vinted if it's something you can post or just donate it and save yourself the hassle.

Is it really worth all the time you spend photographing, searching, listing, dealing with time wasters etc? If not then cut your losses and drop it off at a charity or second hand shop.

I got fed up of time wasters and freaks, I drop it all at the charity shop now.

Yeah I’m about to give up but would love to know why people do this? Anyone here who spends their time asking if stuff is available when they have no intention of buying it?

Plenty of time wasters on here too.

What annoys me is when they say they are coming to collect and don't turn up, and then don't answer messages. Happened to me several times - most recently last week when I was giving something away. I don't know how people forget these things - if I was picking something up I wanted for free, I wouldn't forget.

I have found the opposite, I am actively trying to buy a secondhand plastic playhouse and no one will answer me on FB marketplace when I send offers of the full asking price. Just ignoring me completely when they listed it for sale!
mam I doing something wrong?

Totally sympathise OP. My favourite experience was being called rude because I ignored a message from a man who wanted me to deliver a free item to a town 10 miles away.

I think there's just very little for them to lose by messaging a stranger and then deciding they don't want it. I also wonder if sometimes people message 'is this still available' by accident as I think it's auto-filled into the message on the ad.

I don't bother listing there very often. Otherwise I use eBay to sell and Olio to give away free stuff.

Oh I've had some epic time wasters on marketplace, the excuses and stories they tell if they do get back to you are something else as well! Ebay isn't much better these days either I've found.
Had more success with marketplace if my DH lists the items for some reason, people don't seem to mess him around as much as when I list stuff.

The "is it available" is a standard phrase that fb suggests. I always answer with "yes, when can you collect?"

Agree with others. The auto messages are responsible for some of it but the people who arrange to come then ghost you or try and arrange hours later for another date and don't turn up again are utter time wasters and I don't understand why they do it. I tend to block anyone who does it or who ignores messages/asks rudely and me and DH only sell from one account to make that easier. Frustratingly most things are on cheap or free and say no delivery yet repeatedly get asked to deliver so I also block those time wasters having been messed around in the past.

Because half the time they have already been sold, and the seller can’t be bothered to take them off marketplace. Quite often I may see half a dozen similar items I want to buy, so my first question is ‘is it still available?’ Then can select one to negotiate/buy.

Once I had agreed to buy something, for over £100, and the seller decided to sell it to someone else whilst I was driving to collect it. Luckily I phoned to check address and he very kindly offered me the first refusal. I turned back.

I'm guilty of this. But it's because I see a few similar items that I want and sometimes I'll offer and I hear nothing back. So I message a few and the first one to reply normally gets my money.

It’s usually because they’re looking for something that is available to buy from a few different people. The buyer will message a few sellers but only respond to the first to reply to them.
Or they’re trying to bookmark the item to consider later / discuss with a partner.

I do find that putting all of the relevant information in the post helps to reduce useless enquiries. There is someone near to me who is constantly trying to sell second hand children’s clothes without specifying the size or price. They must either get lots of messages from people who don’t buy because the item doesn’t turn out to be suitable, or none at all because people can’t be bothered.

It is a bit of a pain but I think it’s just the price you pay for access to a free platform. Despite the ‘is it available’ messages I still find Facebook quicker and easier for some items than eBay etc.

Generally, if I can post it, it goes on Vinted. If I can’t, it goes on Facebook.

I've stopped using it, I even got a few "Can I collect it?" then nothing when I asked when they wanted to come for it.
I now just either use Vinted or donate things.

Yeah, have stopped using it after some time wasting experiences.

My personal favourite is "can you deliver?" "Post it to me" when you're giving it away for free!

The automatic messages, fair enough. I'm sick to the back teeth of people arranging to collect then not showing up. Found it on marketplace as well as selling groups. Most recently a load of items I've listed for free. Free. What's the point of that? Now some are going to a women's shelter and the rest to a charity shop. It's less bloody effort.