Dealing with people with items for sale

[cumbriasteve]

My cheeky one was when I advertised a Kawasaki on ebay in the old days when off site sales were common, it was worth around £500 and I got the usual how much will you take.

I told one guy £450 cash in hand and it was his, he replied he would not go any higher than £300, end of conversation...or so I thought.

Four days later it sold to the winning bidder for £726, Mr £300 contacted me right away demanding I sell it to him for the price I previously mentioned of £450, claiming it was a binding contract, he would take me to court, him and his brother would be driving up to see me etc, he tried everything to intimidate me, I think there was around 25 messages from him...all I did was laugh.

 

[Wozzaaah]

If you want to see some real blinding examples of clueless people trying to sell stuff on a forum:

https://www.speakev.com/threads/j1772-to-type-2-cable-5-metre-32amp.123886/

That's exactly why we insist on a fixed price on here, saves all the messing about.

 

[MattF]

I advertised a 2 bedroom bungalow to rent and put pictures and full details, Included in the advert it said "NO TEXTS" calls only in normal working hours, I got a text at 2am asking was the bungalow a ground floor one...I think social media has damaged the minds of many people.

It hasn't damaged/dumbed down anyone. Technology has merely made easy means of correspondence available to the masses. One time of day, they would have had to dial a number & speak to someone in person, else write a letter by hand & pay to send it. In other words, years ago, they would rarely pass the first hurdle.

 

[winchman]

Just had a reply on Shpock about a £5 item asking me if I will deliver it !

Aaarrrrggghh !

I have sold some stuff by offering to deliver locally, sold a snooker table to a bloke 2 miles away etc.
Had a bloke hasseling me for days as I wouldnt deliver some speakers to Mid Wales, even after I explained its a 6 hour trip for £30 speakers!
Had loads of trouble with a nutter in California who won a model that was collection only, many people just dont read the ads and arent happy when you have to read it for them.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Not used French e-bay, other than buying a few bits. There is a free one that works quite well 'leboncoin' and shifted several bits with that. Still got a few chancers on that, plus the usual scammers.
As for haggling, I cut my teeth on that in the souk in Marrakesh. Luckily I had an old GF who lived there to show me the ropes, she spoke arabic and knew who would bargin and who would not. Eye opener would hardly explain it, back in '77.

 

[arther dailey]

same old thing,just sold some kit on ebay, cash on collection or clearly stated will palletise for mainland gb ....winning bidder is in france... and he got it for pennies !!! thats the way it goes eh.

 

[HughF]

same old thing,just sold some kit on ebay, cash on collection or clearly stated will palletise for mainland gb ....winning bidder is in france... and he got it for pennies !!! thats the way it goes eh.

This is what the global seller program is for.... It makes international sales on eBay totally effortless. I have shipped stuff all over the world with it, and it's only a cheap shipment to some warehouse up north.

 

[Robotstar5]

This is what the global seller program is for.... It makes international sales on eBay totally effortless. I have shipped stuff all over the world with it, and it's only a cheap shipment to some warehouse up north.

Is that the one in Lichfield?

 

[HughF]

Is that the one in Lichfield?

Can't remember, it's above the M4 so it's 'north' to us Dorset folk

 

[TechnicAl]

I sold my Driveway on ebay.........we were having it relaid and the builder quoted 600 or 700 quid for lifting up and removing the old block paving.....I had a brain wave......someone might want the old blocks so I put it on ebay starting at 99p but buyer removes quickly........I got £150 from a local who came and loaded up his pick up about 5 or 6 times but did it within the day. So .I saved quite a bit

I had a bloke from Birmingham asking about it...I told him I was 90 miles away but that didnt deter him....he said he had a trailer.....I told him that he would probably need 10 trips to remove them all and 10 trips back and forth to Brum....wouldnt it be cheaper to buy new?....I think the penny dropped eventually


The other week I saw some shoes on the net, they were a known brand but I forget which one, and they were £20. I thought thats a bargain I'll have them. Anyway they didnt fit so I put them on ebay....someone bid £60.....crazy

 

[arther dailey]

This is what the global seller program is for.... It makes international sales on eBay totally effortless. I have shipped stuff all over the world with it, and it's only a cheap shipment to some warehouse up north.

as I was selling a large item,1metre diameter didnt think it would work on the global thingy as its only for little parcels (?) ,anyways hence in the listing I stated Mainland GB. but I dont mind ,quite happy to ship, you either go the whole hog and are helpfull to all buyers in every way you can or you dont expect to get constant sales, if you as a seller cant be bothered why would a seller be bothered with you is the way I see it.
all good stuff and I will check further into the international sales side of things HF. cheers arther

 

[Farside]

and agricultural facebook selling groups who dont put up a price.

I see a lot of that in rural areas. Some people don't want their neighbours to know how much they got for something, also they might be hoping a mug comes along.

 

[Farside]

eBay has a buy it now or best offer setting so people have chosen to put it to auction rather than offers although I did have an argument with eBay about buy it now.

I’ll put it to auction but if you want it right now it’s the buy it now price. However eBay removes the buy it now option as soon as you get a bid which makes no sense to me. If you want it now it’s the buy it now price, if that’s too much then bid but don’t be surprised if someone buys it now and you miss out. eBay didn’t see it that way but I got my 50p buy it now costs refunded.

I don't know if it's still the case, but ebay US has the BIN running all the time there are still bids happening, so that someone who just wants / needs it can come along and pay the BIN over every other sod that's trying to get it for peanuts.
I've done that a couple of times and serve them right.

 

[Farside]

It hasn't damaged/dumbed down anyone. Technology has merely made easy means of correspondence available to the masses. One time of day, they would have had to dial a number & speak to someone in person, else write a letter by hand & pay to send it. In other words, years ago, they would rarely pass the first hurdle.

That's about the size of it.
Technology has given access to the stupid, who are now flooding the world with their dumbness.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I don't know if it's still the case, but ebay US has the BIN running all the time there are still bids happening, so that someone who just wants / needs it can come along and pay the BIN over every other sod that's trying to get it for peanuts.
I've done that a couple of times and serve them right.

Used to be like that on the uk I belive until the bid went above the buy it now price

 

[Dieselman 63]

I don't know if it's still the case, but ebay US has the BIN running all the time there are still bids happening, so that someone who just wants / needs it can come along and pay the BIN over every other sod that's trying to get it for peanuts.
I've done that a couple of times and serve them right.

Iirc it’s if you set a reserve and bidding may go up to the reserve, then after that the bin price disappears. I too relish in overcutting the bidding war, especially when there are unanswered questions

 

[Burdekin]

If I want something on eBay that is an auction I'll message the seller and ask if they have a price, quite often they do and we do a deal. A guy was selling two brand new front wings for a Volvo P1800, I got them for 1/4 of the new price, he also had other parts that he threw in for free but the big one was he said I have a P1800 in the barn also, he'd bought all parts to restore but never started. Sold me the car for £600, couldn't believe my luck. So when looking for parts I quite often contact folk now who are selling other parts to see if by chance they have what I'm looking for. Surprising what some folk have sitting in the shed or loft.