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Gumtree and strange buyers.


ambient

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14 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

I still remember getting a train from Poulton to Wigan to pick up a 5 string Warwick Streamer for £250, dodgy meet in a train station to hand over a bunch of used notes for a tatty looking gigbag. Best return journey I've had as there was nobody else in the carriage and I got to play my new bass all the way home. Good times!

You are near me then? I'm in Fleetwood 

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A friend was trying to give away a pretty good sofa on Gumtree.

 

Free but collection only of course.

 

Guy comes round to look at it. Likes it. Says he'll think about it. He's only got a Punto.

 

Friend gets a call from the buyer to say he wants it. Lovely. Then says it won't fit in his Punto... so he needs to get a van. He the actually asks if my friend will pay to hire the van!!! When this generous opportunity is refused he goes off on one, swearing and hurling insults!

 

It was FREE!!!! Tosser.

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8 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

A friend was trying to give away a pretty good sofa on Gumtree.

 

Free but collection only of course.

 

Guy comes round to look at it. Likes it. Says he'll think about it. He's only got a Punto.

 

Friend gets a call from the buyer to say he wants it. Lovely. Then says it won't fit in his Punto... so he needs to get a van. He the actually asks if my friend will pay to hire the van!!! When this generous opportunity is refused he goes off on one, swearing and hurling insults!

 

It was FREE!!!! Tosser.

That’s people for you.

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We have a local Bass Facebook page and the timewasters on there do your head in

Guy asks for any P basses,yeah i've got one and its this much.Just whats i'm after ,gets the pics loves it,gets some playing vids,loves it.Week of batting messages how muchwill you take ?!?! .Turns out he's 100 plus miles away and about 50 miles outside the catchment of the local page and he wants money off because of it .I knock £30 off for fuel,i'm asking £125 less than Bass direct want for the same bass second hand  ."IT'S TOO MUCH " !!

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The worst mither I've had with shifting stuff is when I've listed furniture for free, on a strictly 'come and get it' basis. The numbers of chancers and idiots complaining because I wouldn't deliver: "But...but...I've got no transport"  "Well, you haven't got two free sofas then, either..." 😕😀

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39 minutes ago, jazzmanb said:

We have a local Bass Facebook page and the timewasters on there do your head in

Guy asks for any P basses,yeah i've got one and its this much.Just whats i'm after ,gets the pics loves it,gets some playing vids,loves it.Week of batting messages how muchwill you take ?!?! .Turns out he's 100 plus miles away and about 50 miles outside the catchment of the local page and he wants money off because of it .I knock £30 off for fuel,i'm asking £125 less than Bass direct want for the same bass second hand  ."IT'S TOO MUCH " !!

I have had a complete timewaster on Facebook bass sales (general not local one), asked for picture after picture or every little bit and piece on a £70 starter bass. Then guess what? Yup, nothing, then two week later a question asking if it’s still for sale and then nothing again.

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Just playing devils advocate here.

I sometimes think when selling we forget that we are also asking someone that doesn't know us to trust us. Trust has to work both ways. Buyers and sellers can be scammed.

Yes, the guy seems to be a bit of a time waster, but maybe he has the same feeling as the OP, in that it might be a scam.

Tricky situation.

I much prefer to only deal face to face for more expensive items, and if i place an ad saying that i stick to it. 

 

 

Edited by dave_bass5
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7 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just playing devils advocate here.

I sometimes think when selling we forget that we are also asking someone that doesn't know us to trust us. Trust has to work both ways. Buyers and sellers can be scammed.

Yes, the guy seems to be a bit of a time waster, but maybe he has the same feeling as the OP, in that it might be a scam.

Tricky situation.

I much prefer to only deal face to face for more expensive items, and if i place an add saying that i stick to it. 

 

 

Absolutely true. I did go out of my way to reassure him though, and it was him who wanted them posting. He assumed I’d send them without him paying. I sent him a link to my public Facebook page, he had links to the labels who release my stuff, my Soundcloud and my Bandcamp, and he had my phone number.

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I have had quite a few things like that, cash on collection that then tries into a drama.

But to be fair, there have been a few times I have asked because there is something I really wanted but couldn't get to, so I never hold it against someone for asking, but once things start to get really complicated then I leave it.

 

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Not a bass but I was buying something from FB and had a wierdo to contend with. I work in Plymouth and the item was in the city somewhere but he wouldn't tell me where he lived. Lots of bizarre messages later he tells me to message him when I'm nearly there and he'll give me the address, NEARLY WHERE?!

Long story short, I get the address out of him but he will be out, his parents will be home though. I arrive at a very rough area and his mum answers and invites me in, the place is filled with boxes of stuff and she's yapping to me like she's never seen another person, telling me about all the stuff they buy and sell, I can't get away. Her husband arrives home and looks surprised to see someone in his house, she explains I'm buying a VCR, he hands me the box, puts his hand on my shoulder and ushers me firmly out the front door. The VCR didn't work properly but I wasn't about to go back and tell him, they were like the McGuires in Shameless. I'll put that one down to experience :)

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Any way you can find of being careful. 

I've recently made two remote purchases on the BC Marketplace - an amp from @Truenoand a bass from @HumblePie

Both times I sent a small bank transfer test payment to the seller and had email confirmation that had been received before sending the balance. A determined scammer could get around this, but might not bother for the small sums involved. 

 

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I had the pleasure of being on jury duty for a rather unsophisticated Gumtree "scammer"... Well, not "scammer" as such but he used Gumtree to set someone up for a mugging. Meet me at the train station, I'm not there yet walk to the bus stop, I'm not there yet walk down this alleyway.... Then batters the lad and nicks the phone. Silly thing was he did it in an alleyway that led to his house. With all the other evidence presented there was not much "reasonable doubt" left and he was rightly convicted. When we have the verdict the judge told us he's already admitted a few more of these so this would be added to his sentence. Seems some small errors in the victim statement provided enough to take this one to jury.

Anyway, seller not giving a proper location and messing you around is a massive red flag.

Google earth is also your friend. When trying to rent a flat through Gumtree many years back I thought the address wasn't right but didn't know the area. It was the local holiday Inn.

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2 hours ago, christhammer666 said:

ive had this loads. had a junk bitsa on there, £100 no offers, got an email offering £50. I didn't even bothering to answer

I had plenty of ridiculously low offers, I expect those though, I had someone text me about 2am last week offering me a price £200 lower than what I’m advertising them for. On the other hand I sold a cassette portastudio last Saturday, I agreed to meet the guy at new street station to deliver it, this was fine and no problem; I was passing through there on my way to UoB anyway, it just meant getting off the train there instead of going straight through. He didn’t quibble at all over the price, and gave me an extra £5 for my trouble.

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In order to stop the endless stream of messages asking ‘Is your amp/guitar still for sale mate?’, I now put on my listing ‘If you’re reading this then it’s still up for sale’. Doesn’t stop some still doing it though. Must admit though, so many people fail to update or delete adverts. Really bugs me when you enquire about an item only to be told it went a week ago.😠

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Re "only shipping when paid". Is it not a bit odd that we say we will only ship when paid to avoid scams/rip offs, yet we expect the buyer to part with his money with no guarantee that we will post him anything?

Cash on collection is the only way o go with this, but of course you severely limit your market (unless you live in London or somewhere big).

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