Rant on chancers and beggars

[NancyJohnson]

I have a fairly expensive piece of (discontinued) upholstery fabric up on eBay at the moment; it has hundreds of watchers.  It's amazing the messages I've been sent about it.

 

Chancers and beggars, yes.  Many offers for 30/40% of what it's advertised for.  Many requests to sell a metre or two.  Many people asking me what I'd take for it (when I reply saying I'll take the buy-it-now price, they get shirty).

 

The best one was a woman begging me to reduce the price because she didn't have much money and she needed the fabric because their daughter's Cockapoo (Trixie) had defecated on their sofa it was somehow my duty to sell it cheap to her so she could get new seat cushions made.

 

It's like a game.  For every dumb offer I get, I feel like adding £10 on the BIN price.

 

 

[Paul S]

I've been on BC since 2008 and only ever felt moved to use the 'ignore' feature on here once.  I had 2 x BF cabs (Supercompacts or Two10s, can't remember now) for sale for a competitive price, discounted for both, at a time when they moved fairly quickly but it was collection only as I didn't have boxes.  Some chap seemed to think he was doing me a massive favour by offering 2/3 of my discounted asking price and to include postage in that.  Quite reasonably, I thought, I filled my reply with laughing enojis then finished with the word 'no'.  That prompted a deluge of vaguely unpleasant PMs, hence the ignore.

 

 

[Machines]

I'm going to be posting a cheap Jazz copy to Facebook later, can't wait for messages that will ensue.

[martin8708]

I use as many platforms as I can when selling gear , BC is good , but not 100% free of low-ball offers, people who agree to buy , then go radio silent , and people who change their mind . I have made some great sales on the bay , but their exorbitant charges are putting me off.
As some-one who works with the public , I don’t pull my hair out anymore ( there’s none left , anyway ) , I just accept that there are lots of people who will take their chances ( to put it politely ) 

Playing devils advocate , I live on the Isle of Wight ( which is pretty far South ) and all the gear that I like seems to come up for sale in the North , so yes , I will politely message sellers who are doing collection -only to bear me in mind , or re-consider postage options . I’m OK with a polite “no” , but sometimes I have won them over and made the purchase.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 05/03/2022 at 09:09, AndyTravis said:

This was a winner the other day.

 

Martin's going send his daughter a son-in-law?

[Cosmo Valdemar]

.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Cosmo Valdemar
Duplicate post

[Daz39]

1 hour ago, Machines said:

I'm going to be posting a cheap Jazz copy to Facebook later, can't wait for messages that will ensue.

Ooh is that a Precision?

[AndyTravis]

1 hour ago, Machines said:

I'm going to be posting a cheap Jazz copy to Facebook later, can't wait for messages that will ensue.

My sisters cousin in law lives 15 miles away - if it was cheaper than this fish supper I’ve found at a restaurant in Rhyl, I’d get her to send her friends fiancé…

[lozkerr]

On 05/03/2022 at 08:33, tegs07 said:

Is it made of tonewood?

Is it good for metal?

[Lozz196]

I had an amp & 2 cabs up at £800

 

Got a message asking if I’d accept £400

 

Yes, twice was my reply

 

An indefinite period of silence followed

 

 

[CJPJ]

I would imagine that for every 100 or so cheeky offers/questions, there will be someone who actually accepts ..... so its just a numbers game for the chancers. I think it's just a case of firm and polite no or just ignore. It is very iritating though. Nothing wrong with making a reasonable offer but I get annoyed with the 'what's the lowest you'll accept, mate?' to which I reply "From you? What I'm listing it for ... mate" 

[dave_bass5]

All this talk makes me want to post something for sale, just to do a bit of Twat baiting 😂

Edited March 6, 2022 by dave_bass5

[CJPJ]

5 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

All this talk makes me want to post something for sale, just to do a bit of silly billy baiting 😂

What's the lowest you'd take, mate?

[dave_bass5]

Just now, CJPJ said:

What's the lowest you'd take, mate?

Dunno, you tell me, ill also throw in Global insurance when i send it 🙄

[40hz]

My personal favourite, when selling one of my Modulus Fleas through Facebook, is when some scruffy oik told me it was nothing more than a glorified Peavey and not worth anything. Where do these people come from?

[dave_bass5]

6 minutes ago, 40hz said:

 Where do these people come from?

As you said…..Facebook 😂

[Woodinblack]

I like it more literal. Offer something for £400:

Whats your best price?

My best price is about £800, but I am willing to take £400

 

[Lfalex v1.1]

When clearing out a lot of stuff during the divorce,  I actually had two really good Gumtree buyers turn up, without hassle,  for two separate transactions!

 

One lovely chap bought my partially-modded Squier VMJ for his wife and paid the (sensible) amount I'd asked for it without question. 

 

A second came to buy my Rega Planar 3 turntable, and paid the asking price. 

He then proceeded to buy my MXR M-80 and Hartke VXL Bass Attack pedals too (!)

 

They're not all numpties out there. 

Just mostly. 

[dave_bass5]

When i was selling my GK MB800 i put in the ad that the XLR wasnt working, but other than that, it was all good and priced this accordingly.

Had a couple of lowball offers the same day, then one guy genuinely interested. We had a chat and he didnt argue about the price, but asked if it was all working perfectly. I pointed out that my ad clearly states its condition, and no, the XLR doesn't work. At that point he came but with a much lower offer, due to it not being in perfect working condition 😂

I stood my ground and we met up and he paid the asking price. Was a nice guy, and we had a good chat. I just couldn't get over how he didn't know about the issue before.

[Downunderwonder]

I think they must have dropped reading comprehension practice and testing from the education system.

[TimR]

Don't get emotional, it's a business transaction. Keep it friendly and answer the questions. Avoid sarcasm or whit as that will go missing in written communication.

 

If the buyer can't string a sentence together then they're hardly likely to have been able to read the original advert. Sometimes English is not their first language, again, a lot of nuance can be missing or missed in written communication.

 

Answer questions politely and don't get drawn into conversation that's not directly related to the object being bought/sold. Don't reply to anything that's not a direct question. 

 

It may be frustrating but if you want to sell something that's just what you have to cut through. 

[dave_bass5]

If someone offers me £400 for something listed at £850 I’ll take that as sarcasm and give it back. 
I get the broken English thing, you can normally tell by the way the message is written, but if they can’t read an ad how will they read a reply? 
My philosophy is there will always be someone else along that will want it and pay a reasonable price. I haven’t lost a sale if is a stupid low ball offer. 
 

Slightly off topic, my bands were looking for a drummer last month. We had 6 get in touch and all turned up and we good players. We got sorted. I put, in capitals at the top of the ad  that we are now sorted, and I’m still getting drummers get in touch with their credentials and telling me they are available for auditions.

Drummer jokes aside, what is going through their minds when they know it’s all done and dusted? 

[Daz39]

4 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

If someone offers me £400 for something listed at £850 I’ll take that as sarcasm and give it back. 
I get the broken English thing, you can normally tell by the way the message is written, but if they can’t read an ad how will they read a reply? 
My philosophy is there will always be someone else along that will want it and pay a reasonable price. I haven’t lost a sale if is a stupid low ball offer. 
 

Slightly off topic, my bands were looking for a drummer last month. We had 6 get in touch and all turned up and we good players. We got sorted. I put, in capitals at the top of the ad  that we are now sorted, and I’m still getting drummers get in touch with their credentials and telling me they are available for auditions.

Drummer jokes aside, what is going through their minds when they know it’s all done and dusted? 

The same thing as goes through their mind when they see a 'firm at £400 price" - they ask: 'What's your best price?' (coz obviously I deserve a better deal)

[TimR]

56 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

If someone offers me £400 for something listed at £850 I’ll take that as sarcasm and give it back. 

 

Why are you wasting your time and energy?

Ignore it and they'll either come back with a decent offer or go away.

 

You're getting emotionally involved, annoyed and frustrated for no reason whatsoever, and you're giving them an indication that you'll engage with them. 

 

Why spend any energy and time on people who aren't serious? 

[dave_bass5]

4 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

Why are you wasting your time and energy?

Ignore it and they'll either come back with a decent offer or go away.

 

You're getting emotionally involved, annoyed and frustrated for no reason whatsoever, and you're giving them an indication that you'll engage with them. 

 

Why spend any energy and time on people who aren't serious? 

Because its fun 😂. Id get frustrated and annoyed just by reading the message, so the harm (if you want to call it that) has already been done whether I reply or not. I know when to stop, and im not outright rude, but ill have a bit of fun with it and see how it goes. 

Obviously only to the stupid ones where i know there in no chance of a sale. Im always happy to answer questions, but i expect people to have at least read my ad and not ask really obvious ones (or put a stupidly low offer in). I think those sort of people need a reply at least 😎