I hate selling stuff on Facebook and need to vent somewhere before crime happens.

[LucSulla]

Craigslist is pretty much dead around here, so I end up using Facebook for local sales. 

Is there anyone left on that sight who posts regularly who isn't an idiot. 

I state clearly I'm not interested in trades, which slows down I guess absolutely no one from offering anything from their shitty old Crate to a lawnmower.  Hell yeah man, I changed my mind. Your set of lawn darts and the Jim Beam vintage General Lee decanter (car or person? could be either because Mississippi) has 100% made me rethink that. "Never hurst to ask!"

No, my guy, it fucking hurts. Trust me. 

Today I get, "Hey man, you still got this? What does this amp sound like? Why do you have power tubes for it, is it blowing fuses a lot of something?" 

I don't know dude, it's the fucking internet. If only there was some place you could go to read about the amp or, even better yet, listen to literal hours of high quality demos before hitting me up with no idea what this even is while also figuring out if my throwing in some NOS tubes, that I clearly state I have no use for after selling this hence including them, is really just trying to trick you.  

[LucSulla]

This is an actual, for real, not trolling, conversation:

 

 

Edited March 30 by LucSulla

[tbonesullivan]

Every time I try to sell something on Facebook it seems like only 5% are actually serious, and the rest are possibly bots or something else. Then there are the people who assume that there is only one Springfield or Chatham in the United States, and didn't realize they were looking at something a days drive away.

[Jim85IROC]

Been doing it for years, and yes, you need to be able to deal with a lot of clowns.  As bad as it can be with guitars, nothing prepared me for trying to sell my snowmobile on FB.  After 75 trade offers for clapped out dirtbikes, I specifically stated in the listing that I wasn't interested in dirt bikes.  I still got a million dirt bike offers, but apparently identifying dirt bikes as something that I DIDN'T want was apparently interpreted as that was the ONLY thing I didn't want.  Suddenly trade offers flooded in for shotguns, AR-15s, utility trailers, electric bike, and a ton of old clapped out sleds.

[diablo175]

Sold about 21 guitars since 2020 on Marketplace and yes, for every one of those guitars sold, easily had 10 -20 complete idiots and jaggoffs wasting my time. Also have had a few scams perpetrated (or attempted to be perpetrated) on Marketplace.

 

 

[HSB0531]

There should only be 2 buttons on any place like Craigslist or similar.

Buy it now

Live Tech Support $5.00/Minute

[Biz Prof]

4 hours ago, LucSulla said:

This is an actual, for real, not trolling, conversation:

 

 

That's some Mississippi shit right there.

[Biz Prof]

3 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

Every time I try to sell something on Facebook it seems like only 5% are actually serious, and the rest are possibly bots or something else. Then there are the people who assume that there is only one Springfield or Chatham in the United States, and didn't realize they were looking at something a days drive away.

This. 

I've had really great experiences as a buyer. Not so much as a seller. Idiocracy is upon us.

[LucSulla]

1 hour ago, Biz Prof said:

That's some Mississippi shit right there.

Peak. 

[stonge]

"nimrods abound"

[bruce919]

Facebook market place you get the endless "is this still available" messages . that say nothing else. Sold some odds stuff on there but am hesitant to post any guitar gear.  

[Steve Haynie]

27 minutes ago, bruce919 said:

Facebook market place you get the endless "is this still available" messages . that say nothing else. Sold some odds stuff on there but am hesitant to post any guitar gear.  

I do not participate on Facebook, but I have two craigslist listings.  One of them gets a biweekly fake "Is this still available?" message.  There have only been a couple of real people that inquired.

[santellavision]

Has anyone actually figured out how a troller saying "Is it still available" gets them anything? What's the purpose of them sending that message?

[Disturber]

Just sold a Les Paul. Clearly wrote "no trades", guy called me three times tried to get the price down and offered me trades for music gear he clearly had not been able get rid off himself. I asked him if he had some older, like 1980's, FENDER strat. Guy emails 7 pictures of two Tokai strats, both in very poor condition. 💀 He also offered to come by with cash in an envelope (not the amount I was asking).

I felt so good when I emailed him back that the guitar just sold, at asking price, money on my bank account.

[Dana_V]

A while back I listed a Hercules seven-space guitar rack on Facebook Marketplace. It ended up selling for $65.00, but before that – along the usual "is this still available" questions – I got this:

 

[Steve Haynie]

1 hour ago, santellavision said:

Has anyone actually figured out how a troller saying "Is it still available" gets them anything? What's the purpose of them sending that message?

I think that Facebook and craigslist want you to feel confident someone is looking at your ad.  After a while you learn that no one is looking at your ad because all you get are robot inquiries that never respond to your response. 

[django49]

My favorite thus far......An offer of a "yellow school bus" for a higher end (one off Nik Huber) guitar.

[Jimbilly]

I've also given up on Craigslist, and switched to FB, I flip guitars pretty regularly, and the occasional bicycle. Craig's is almost dead, but there are people who don't use FB so it is worth cross posting if you have time. 

 I had another bad trade offer last night (a LOW end Ibanez geo and 200 for a nice but hfc priced bass I have), I just respond "not looking for any trades right now, sorry"  I think I will start including "no trades" in my text. But I did actually get a decent trade offer that I took a month or two ago, although I'm still trying to sell that guitar I took in trade. Trade offers that aren't laughable are very rare.  I have started included "local (my city) meetup only please" which has actually been very helpful. 

  It's helpful to have a friend to vent to, and to talk to about how to respond to the knuckleheads.

  Nearly everyone I have dealt with is very cool, - my luck is probably due to run out.  Here's a snip of a trade offer that made me laugh that I got a few months ago, I declined the offer. 

 

 

[kizanski]

I am suspicious that "he" bothered to spell out "Cannabis," as opposed to just "weed" or "pot."
Makes me think it's a sting operation or something - lol.

Who the fuck says cannabis?

[BruceM]

1 minute ago, kizanski said:

I am suspicious that "he" bothered to spell out "Cannabis," as opposed to just "weed" or "pot."
Makes me think it's a sting operation or something - lol.

Who the fuck says cannabis?

Well jeez, I was going to name my new gay band the Minor Cannabinoids.  You've queered that deal for me

[geoff_hartwell]

48 minutes ago, kizanski said:

I am suspicious that "he" bothered to spell out "Cannabis," as opposed to just "weed" or "pot."
Makes me think it's a sting operation or something - lol.

Who the fuck says cannabis?

Same ones who call it “flower” lol

Im in the northern subs of NY and there are dispensaries every ten feet. My better half gets deliveries to the house regularly and they’re more reliable, and faster, than Uber eats or anything. And nobody works there over about 29yo so they’d probably consider all our lingo outdated. Meh.

My drug days are long behind me but I still get a smile when I see an ad in the musicians CL for “ski supplies for upscale clients”… (they’re selling blow) 😂🤷🏼‍♂️

[BruceM]

1 hour ago, kizanski said:

I am suspicious that "he" bothered to spell out "Cannabis," as opposed to just "weed" or "pot."
Makes me think it's a sting operation or something - lol.

Who the fuck says cannabis?

I will also say that, here in MN, they legalized THC sales a couple of years ago, but only if the THC was hemp derived.  So, since cannabis derived THC products are also a thing, it's not unusual to mention whether it's hemp or cannabis derived, and it usually says so on the packaging.  I have found myself making that distinction in casual conversation as we try to sort out laws and what's actually legal at any given time.  It's never come up when trying to sell something online, however.

[LucSulla]

5 hours ago, santellavision said:

Has anyone actually figured out how a troller saying "Is it still available" gets them anything? What's the purpose of them sending that message?

It's an auto-generated message Facebook gives as an option when you click to message the seller. My guess that the reason it is so common is that it ranges from laziness to people of Facebook not understanding that you can actually type something to just being semi-literate. 

 

 

Edited March 31 by LucSulla

[Dave Scepter]

3 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

 

I've noticed that even though you "type in your message to the seller" that there's a glitch in the Matrix and it often defaults with "Is this item still available?"

[Biz Prof]

10 hours ago, santellavision said:

Has anyone actually figured out how a troller saying "Is it still available" gets them anything? What's the purpose of them sending that message?

I'll pop in to add this. Having purchased well over 50 items via Fb Marketplace, I've run across a fair share of aged posts that the listing user had forgotten to remove. Thus, my opening salvo is always, "I'm interested in your ______. When are you available for me to take a look at it?" A reply will tell me if it's available. A non reply will tell me the same.