My (probably politically incorrect) observations from selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace

I recently sold my Honda 200 type II.  One fella started with a low offer, I responded with "not at this time, maybe in a week or two if not sold, I have had a lot of interest already.  He proceeded to hound me every day with lower offers and comments about all of my "interest".  In the end I sold it for less than he offered to a kid who made came to check it out, test rode it, told me what was wrong with it and made an offer.

Mysteriously my CR add for the same Quad was flagged for removal.  No doubt from the fella who was hounding me.  I had to hold back from telling him that his negotiating style loses him more sales than a simple " hey can I come and look at what you are selling".

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I have joined those of you who simply throw stuff away. Im not wealthy by any stretch and every dollar counts but I do know my limit in dealing with people. 

Last week I listed these on FB for 50 bucks. Four mint condition wheels with beauty rings and center caps. 50 bucks.

If anyone had even showed up in person I'd have given them the wheels as a gift or taken whatever they offered.

Instead I got "10 dollars CASH today" offers. I guess there's a lot of folks out there selling E36 M3 to get a wad of meth or something so "10 dollars cash" carries weight in some circles.

So I threw them in the dumpster behind my fire station. 

I'd argue that people selling wheels are actually the worst.  Somehow, selling aftermarket wheels w/a description "4 lug universal" wheel is way too common. Ads w/out Dimensions, lug pattern, offset or at the veryk, very least the vehicle they came off of should be auto-deleted.

akylekoz said:

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

The amount people who want you to take payments or try to offer up any kind of useless crap they have instead of money has driven people to think shouting that they actually have cash will get them more attention.

akylekoz said:

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

One of the things that often works when buying something is to use the visual presentation of actual bills to try to activate the lizard brain in the seller.  So if the seller is asking $500 for a widget and you hold out 7 fifty dollar bills while offering $350, they might be more inclined to take the offer than if you just verbally offered $350.  I suspect that little nugget worked its way into people's minds and the finer points got forgotten but they're sure that there's something about offering cash that works.

At least, that's my theory.

RevRico said:

akylekoz said:

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

The amount people who want you to take payments or try to offer up any kind of useless crap they have instead of money has driven people to think shouting that they actually have cash will get them more attention.

"Of course you have cash.  I'm not interested in taking your chickens in trade."

I can handle dealing with this crap, it's the people who ignore me when I'm trying to buy the item they have listed for the price it's listed at that bother me about Facebook 

"If you think my price is too high, come see it in person. Bring your wife along and we can dicker."
 

I seem to get all the mouth-breathing potential (not really) buyers whose first communication is "Best price?"

RevRico said:

akylekoz said:

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

The amount people who want you to take payments or try to offer up any kind of useless crap they have instead of money has driven people to think shouting that they actually have cash will get them more attention.

Try selling something and see how many people ask to trade you their useless junk, send you a questionable e-transfer or give you a bad cheque.

Or, wait until you get the guy who says "uhh, I don't actually have the money, will you hold it for me until payday?"

Cash in hand is still king.

Karacticus said:

I seem to get all the mouth-breathing potential (not really) buyers whose first communication is "Best price?"

That one is easy, I always respond with 2x my asking price but note that Im open to offers.

The best depiction of any fbmp sale I've ever seen

Why does every car I sell get me at least one response of "Would you trade for my Harley?"

Posted by a FB friend of mine, an actual conversation he had:

"Wood you take less?"

"Wood knot."

Link to said speakers being sold? Serious audiophile here.

wae said:

akylekoz said:

What's up with "Cash" being a bargaining tactic.  Duh, I'm not accepting Crypto or a check from a stranger.  One exception was the time a Physician who's office was near my house showed me his bank statement before handing me a check for a camper.

One of the things that often works when buying something is to use the visual presentation of actual bills to try to activate the lizard brain in the seller.  So if the seller is asking $500 for a widget and you hold out 7 fifty dollar bills while offering $350, they might be more inclined to take the offer than if you just verbally offered $350.  I suspect that little nugget worked its way into people's minds and the finer points got forgotten but they're sure that there's something about offering cash that works.

At least, that's my theory.

Good working theory, yeah.

Where it doesn't work on me is, I'd be asking why they are asking me to give them $150.  The wheels are $500, you are giving me only $350, so you are asking me to give you $150.  What kind of sense does that make?  Would you walk up to a random guy on the street and give them $150?  Probably not... so why should I be expected to do that?

dropstep said:

I can handle dealing with this crap, it's the people who ignore me when I'm trying to buy the item they have listed for the price it's listed at that bother me about Facebook 

Trying to buy the item at asking price?  They probably think you're a scammer.  Maybe you should try offering a broken washing machine and $10 next week after you get paid, so they know you're serious

In reply to Rodulrich :

I can't post the FB link here. 
 

but I'm selling Magnepan 3.3s and Magnepan MMGs. Both in excellent shape. The MMG can be easily shipped in the original boxes, the 3.3s would take a bit of doing to ship, but I'd ship them. 
$1200 for the 3.3s

$450 for the MMGs

Anybody know if Facebook marketplace ad can be set up like a "best offer" or auction? 

Lately I've sold some stuff that garnered dozens of people interested, and when I dare mention that I'd take higher than my posted price, people get upset thinking I'm trying to rip them off. No, I just have dozens of people interested and if someone wants to give me a few bucks for something, I'll spend my time communicating with them vs the hoards of others. 

Who says politically correct anymore?

Karacticus said:

I seem to get all the mouth-breathing potential (not really) buyers whose first communication is "Best price?"

You and me both, brother. 

I've posted a few things on Facebook marketplace lately and my experience mirrors everyone else's. After far more thought than is likely warranted, a few things seem apparent. 

The first is that Facebook exists to profit. Facebook profits when people use their products. Facebook doesn't care if you find what you're looking for, so they damn sure aren't in business to make it easy to find things. They're also not in business to help you sell anything. They don't care if ten thousand virtual tire kickers drive you to tears with stupid questions. They just want eyeballs. Ultimately, the product reflects the company's priorities perfectly.

The other thing I was thinking about was the whole phenomenon of catcalling. Catcallers don't expect their victims to respond positively. The object of the game is not to find someone who will throw themselves at you in bliss. As I understand it, it's just to make someone uncomfortable and prove that you can get a reaction out of them.

I wonder how much crossover there is with the virtual tire kickers, or even the physical tire kickers. They want to imagine that their judgement on your thing or your price matters. The validation they seek has nothing to do with knowing anything about or even being able to afford the damn thing. 

I feel unqualified to really analyse it on a basic level, but I'm curious what other people think is the core motivation of the "is it available" crowd.

I just sold a crappy old Ranger on Marketplace. In two days I had probably 15 inquiries. I ignored all of the "Is this available?" messages. I had back and forth with maybe five people. Of those, two scheduled to come look at it. The first one ghosted. The second one showed at dusk, looked at it with a flashlight, and agreed to pay full asking price. It left yesterday.

I've learned to set my expectations low. Ignoring all the "Available?" and "Lowest price?" messages saves a lot of frustration. Those go nowhere. I never change my schedule to accommodate would-be buyers, which cuts down on being pissed off by ghosters. I put 'firm' in my price description even if I'm willing to take less which cuts down on the low-ballers. And--the hardest thing--I've learned to be patient. Eventually, someone will pay what I want for it (provided my price is actually fair).

In reply to white_fly :

I feel unqualified to really analyse it on a basic level, but I'm curious what other people think is the core motivation of the "is it available" crowd.

They're the average American. Too stupid and too poor to even know what they're dealing with, they just want stuff because whoever has the most stuff wins, and you can take it all with you when you die, but only if you get it for as little as possible. 

Too much time watching "reality" tv, thinking the world is like American pickers or auction wars or whatever the hell, where nobody but them know what you have and they'll be damned if they aren't the ones that make a profit on it. 

They're the guests on the Jerry Springer show, Dr Phil and Dr Oz have saved their lives, and the whole world owes them a favor because why wouldn't it.

Rant time from an old f@rt

Remember the pre internet days when one had to resort to newpaper classifieds and auto trader type rags? How much did it cost to place an ad then?  How much response did you get then?  I have gone as far as 600 miles to buy a motorhome via the internet.  Sold/bought more cars than I can remember and never had a deal go completely bad.  Actually last one of those was 1977 with a dealer who "sold" cars to his salepeople then the bank wouldn't release the title.  

So I will happily deal with the simpletons who require no more than a few taps on my phone to dismiss.  I will be frustrated by the no shows, and continue to withhold my address until the last minute to combat them.  I will only take cash and will not ship stuff until the check clears.  And I will be grateful for all these "new" selling options and continue to benefit from them.

Rant over

Oh yes.  Pre-craigslist, I thought I would be clever and part out the remains of a Mustang GT that had given its life to my FFR.  I used the local newspaper with a perfectly clear ad (PARTING OUT '92 Mustang GT) and the prices of a few example items.  After 48hrs, I was on the phone with the paper begging them to cancel the ad.  Call after call at all hours from idiots who thought I was selling an entire car for $200, the price for the wheels.  I sold maybe 3 things.  

Had a similar experience with a roommate who listed a Toyota mini truck for a very good price (would not pass smog) in the Recycler paper (well know want add paper).  We got phone calls starting at 4 am!! (someone obviously had some inside info)  It was insane.  She eventually re-listed it for a higher price.

So yes, a-holes and idiots have been around for a while.