I'd just say "no it's not for sale" it's hardly causing a huge issue is it?
No, as issues go, it isn’t huge; but when you work from home, as well as having
mobility issues, why wouldn’t it be an irritant having one of these every week wanting to buy or sell something or other?
If it were an isolated incident, I wouldn’t care; but everybody seems to think they’re the only one doing it.
It’s not unreasonable for them to ask if it looks like you don’t use it and they could get it at an affordable price and make use of it.
Really? How can you so easily determine that somebody doesn’t make use of a caravan that’s parked on their drive, especially in the winter? We actually do deliberately position it next to our front garden and use it as an extension of our garden, as it happens.
Maybe they do think that, but I consider it seriously boundary-crossing to disturb a stranger at home, just so that you can have a slight chance of getting a bargain from them by buying something that they’ve given no indication that they want to sell.
It’s a more intrusive version of telephone cold-calling, and they don’t tend to be welcomed by anybody, in my experience. Just a subtle way of treating other people that you don’t even know like their time doesn’t matter in the least and that they’re basically only there to possibly make your own life nicer.
I personally think it might make it worse as people have a really bad habit of not reading things properly and will not read not for and only see the word sale. Its like when shops say upto 75% off and they miss the upto part
Yes, this is a concern of ours. As most people never bother to read signs properly anyway, I could well imagine aggressive people trying to pressure us to sell it to them, because it says ‘for sale’ on it, even though there’s a clear NOT in front of it. I can see that kind of person accusing us of wasting their time, purely because they didn’t bother reading a sign that we put up to stop them from wasting ours (although just ignoring both a stranger’s caravan AND the sign would obviously be the preferred option for everybody).
As @Neighneigh said I’d make sure it was locked well as there’s clearly a lot of interest in it.
Yes, I think some people on this thread – and many IRL – don’t seem to see it as anything more than a polite offer and a quick declension – as if I were running a market stall. It’s all the thought of an entitled person eyeing up your possessions, coming on to your property, the intrusion, the not wanting to accept No and then the concern that they may try to steal it anyway, or deliberately damage it as ‘revenge’ for being turned down.
We have some security measures on it, but we are looking to beef them up.
I’m confused, if it annoys you, why haven’t you already put a sign in the caravan window saying ‘Not for sale’?
Or even ‘Not for sale. And we don’t need our hedges cut either. But thanks for your interest.’
As above, partly because the people for whom you have to put up signs usually don’t bother to read (or take notice of) them anyway; and more so, because (ironically) the existence of a sign mentioning an item and ‘for sale’ somewhere on it might be taken by them as an invitation to come and do exactly what you’ve asked them not to do.
I think we probably will have to put up a very clear sign, though. Definitely on/by the door, rather than on the caravan itself.