Rant on chancers and beggars

[bagsieblue]

I've had all kinds of fun selling a car on Facebook, quite angst inducing at the time, but funny now looking back.  The pick of which was me sticking at my reply to whats your best price, then continuing to offer £50 less.  they were due to come over and view one Sunday afternoon, didnt show then got a message a couple of hours later asking if I could drive over to theirs with it as they had had a drink and wouldnt be able to drive it back...erm - No.   A lovely lady bought it the following day and I still see here pottering around town in it, cue various messages from the no shows that ..we had a deal, I'd backed out of the deal etc..........anyway;

 

These stories always remind me that I saw an interesting social experiment where in various towns various items were left outside houses with a sign saying free for collection - please take.  Items such as sofas, fridges, table and chairs TV units.  In almost all cases none of the items went.

 

Experiment repeated with same items but with nominal values on of £50, £25 etc.  In almost all cases the items disappeared overnight in a couple of days or so with no payment being made.

[Boodang]

If I'm in a mischievous mood and I'm in no hurry to sell something (and I did this with a classic car I was selling as I was fed up with ludicrous offers).... if I've explicitly stated no offers, the buyer gets one warning after which the price goes up by the amount of the difference in their offer. Huge amounts of fun to be had with indignation from the buyer, especially if they then go up to the original asking price which has now in turn gone up, so I treat it as an offer and price goes up again! They even use swear words!! Brilliant!

Edited March 7, 2022 by Boodang

[tegs07]

The strangest example of this was when I moved from a rental property to a new house. A lot of the stuff in the rental wouldn’t fit in the new house and I had been gifted some items from downsizing relatives. There was enough stuff to pretty much furnish a small flat. Since I had been gifted some pretty nice stuff and had a lot of stuff to shift I advertised it all on Freecyle for nothing. Just turn up and collect.

The number of time wasters was unbelievable including one where I left work early to meet someone and help them load it into a van. They didn’t bother to turn up but that evening I got a text from his wife saying he was busy and would I mind delivering it all to them. The mind boggles.

Eventually the 3rd on the list (of people that actually arranged to collect) did turn up. A lovely polish lady who couldn’t have been nicer. Bought me a bottle of wine and tried to insist on paying for the items.

Edited March 7, 2022 by tegs07

[EssentialTension]

There are plenty of timewasters but also ...

 

We were moving house, downsizing, and we had a very nice oak desk that had to be got rid of. We had failed to sell it at a fair price, so it went on Facebook for £25 if 'you take it away before the weekened'. A woman arranged for husband to collect in his van. Guy turns up, in the dark, and gets desk in van. He gives me thirty quid and says 'keep the change, very nice desk'.

 

Half an hour later woman rings up and says, 'that desk is worth way more than £30, I'd like to give you some more money?' After a brief chat Mrs ET and the woman agree a further £75 to a homeless charity. I don'y actually know for sure that the £75 was paid to charity but i'd like to believe it was.

[bagsieblue]

1 minute ago, EssentialTension said:

There are plenty of timewasters but also ...

 

We were moving house, downsizing, and we had a very nice oak desk that had to be got rid of. We had failed to sell it at a fair price, so it went on Facebook for £25 if 'you take it away before the weekened'. A woman arranged for husband to collect in his van. Guy turns up, in the dark, and gets desk in van. He gives me thirty quid and says 'keep the change, very nice desk'.

 

Half an hour later woman rings up and says, 'that desk is worth way more than £30, I'd like to give you some more money?' After a brief chat Mrs ET and the woman agree a further £75 to a homeless charity. I don'y actually know for sure that the £75 was paid to charity but i'd like to believe it was.

Good stuff - some faith in humanity restored..

[Bunion]

21 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Half an hour later woman rings up and says, 'that desk is worth way more than £30, I'd like to give you some more money?

It was the £200 of jewellery you left in the drawer… 

[knirirr]

23 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

There are plenty of timewasters but also ...

 

 

Years later I still remember a woman who wanted a tent I listed on Freecycle:

 

1. Emailed me without asking for a phone call instead.
2. Turned up at the easily-agreed time and took the tent away.

3. Emailed again a few days later to say her son had used it at a rock festival and wished to pass on his thanks for how useful it had been.

 

An unusually pleasant interaction.

 

 

[NikNik]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

If I'm in a mischievous mood and I'm in no hurry to sell something (and I did this with a classic car I was selling as I was fed up with ludicrous offers).... if I've explicitly stated no offers, the buyer gets one warning after which the price goes up by the amount of the difference in their offer. Huge amounts of fun to be had with indignation from the buyer, especially if they then go up to the original asking price which has now in turn gone up, so I treat it as an offer and price goes up again! They even use swear words!! Brilliant!

I did this with an ebay low-baller many moons ago, His language was choice.

[NikNik]

2 hours ago, Daz39 said:

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)

Best price is £200 above asking. Always!

[CJPJ]

Many buyers assume that, as a seller, you are in some way desperate or forced to sell and so can't understand why you won't or can't possibly take an offer or entertain a (cheeky) negotiation. Or their assumption is that you've already marked it up by x% in order to bring the price down later. 

[Misdee]

I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking to myself that Chancers And Beggars would be a good name for a band. Or a disco. ( Do they have discos anymore? Probably not. I don't get out much nowadays).

 

I have always found  prospective buyers on Basschat  to be very fair and quite knowledgeable.  However,back in the days before the internet when I used to advertise items in Bassist magazine I remember some right "characters" getting in touch by phone, quite often at very odd hours. "I really want to buy the bass but I can't afford that price because my wife has just had a baby." If your wife has just had a baby and you have more  urgent financial priorities why are you phoning  a complete stranger at half past ten at night to talk about a bass you can't justify buying? Just to let me know how you are fixed at the moment in case I was wondering perhaps? It can be hard to be polite sometimes.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Misdee

[Downunderwonder]

It used to be the price was the price here in NZ. Gradually there has been a shift to savvy consumer negotiating and being sucessful. 30 some years ago when I left NZ on my OE my worldly wise older cousin put me up to getting a hefty discount on a backpack, sleeping bag and boots as a package deal.

[Nail Soup]

6 hours ago, CJPJ said:

Or their assumption is that you've already marked it up by x% in order to bring the price down later. 

There may be some expectation of haggling…. 

 

 

[Supernaut]

Why entertain them in the first place? 
 

My favourite is, "I am interested, please call me on 07xxxxxxxxx."

 

*Deletes message*

[Guest]

Isn’t this rip-off Britain? Everyone thinks they’re being ripped off so wants something for the cheapest possible price. Desperate sellers exist, so if you’ve encountered one before then as a buyer you’re going to chance your arm again. Whether the offer is realistic or not is a moot point. Whilst there are general market rates, many items on sale here are priced wholly unrealistically (for extra credit spot the Fender ads that try to add polish and sparkle with “rare” or “highly regarded” for a very ordinary 2x4, and in the process approach or even exceed the current new price).
As a seller you want to maximise return, as a buyer you don’t want to pay a penny more. It’s as it ever was

[geoham]

On 04/03/2022 at 22:53, Rich said:

I've advertised a few things free to a good home on Farcebook marketplace. You would not believe how hard it can be to give stuff away. The no-shows, the initial keen interest followed by total radio silence, the "oh sorry I thought you were in Town A but you're actually in Town B, that's too far away for me" (despite the fact that my ads always clearly state Town B)...

Giving free stuff away... what a pain!

 

Gave a couple of things away that folk have very quickly gone on to sell. That really annoys me.

I needed rid of a couple of sets of Ikea drawers quickly, so offered them free on a Facebook group. About a dozen people jumped on it immediately, most with sob-stories!

I thought the fairest thing was to do was to offer them to the first person who commented on the post - I responded "I'll message you" within 5 minutes of their post, then dropped them an instant message.

 

Four hours later, no response from them I move to the next person on the list who collect them within 30 minutes.

A few hours later, the original person finally gets back to me and tried to arrange collection, gets very angry I didn't hold them for her. Her and some folk with the same surname publicly rip me to shreds in the Facebook group. How I didn't give her a chance to response, I was so unreasonable, left her kids in tears etc etc.

 

I think I'll stick to giving stuff to the charity shop now. No shortage of them where I am!

 

George

[mikeycrikey]

Think am going to be in a minority of 1 here but as far as selling goes I've never managed to sell anything on Basschat. 

Love this forum and spend way too much time lurking in the background. 

I have bought a lot of basses, amps, strings, pickups and pedals here and everyone has been a pleasure to deal with.

Unfortunately I've not managed to sell 1 of about 12 basses I've moved on over the years. The best I've managed was a trade swap deal that went very smoothly.

Everything I've sold has been through Facebook marketplace or one of the many bass for sale groups.

I've dealt with some really great people who have been a pleasure to deal with. Also had a few potential scammers and low ball offers but I just consider it all part of the process. I always reply in a timely and friendly manner to all offers and inquiries, even if its just to say "sorry, afraid I can't go that low Unfortunately" or "sorry I can only ship within the UK  but thanks for your interest".

I don't mind the low ball offers and chances, just say no and wait for the right offer.

Recently had 3 Yamaha BB bases for sale on here. Got plenty of likes and some nice comments. Even after offering postage or a meet up and eventually a price Drop or trade options I never got one solid offer here.

They all sold through Facebook Basses for sale Groups and the people who bought them where a pleasure to deal with.

One guy got a coach from London to Liverpool to buy my BB424X.

We met up in the city center, bought him a coffee and a sandwich. Did the deal and he then jumped back on the coach to London.

Not trying to put the Basschat Marketplace down at all but just pointing out that there are plenty of great  people who buy and sell there basses on other platforms 

 

[Muzz]

Worst 'selling' experience I've ever had was trying to give away a pair of sofas; I'd clearly said 'Free to collect', and even reiterated it further down in the description, with the sizes and 'You'll need a van big enough to fit both'...that kinda thing.

 

The number of people wanting free delivery was equally irritating and depressing, and one woman even turned up in a small hatchback (after saying she'd collect, asked me to hold them, etc) on her own, and demanded to know what I was going to do to help her take them away...

[uk_lefty]

Basically, it's all this guy's fault 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

28 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Basically, it's all this guy's fault 

 

[rushbo]

31 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

 

 

That is an astonishing likeness. 

[Bassfinger]

3 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Basically, it's all this guy's fault 

 

Eh? I thought Lex Luthor was a decent enough sort.

[NikNik]

4 hours ago, Muzz said:

Worst 'selling' experience I've ever had was trying to give away a pair of sofas; I'd clearly said 'Free to collect', and even reiterated it further down in the description, with the sizes and 'You'll need a van big enough to fit both'...that kinda thing.

 

The number of people wanting free delivery was equally irritating and depressing, and one woman even turned up in a small hatchback (after saying she'd collect, asked me to hold them, etc) on her own, and demanded to know what I was going to do to help her take them away...

Yeh, I tried to give away - give away! - one of these little beer fridges on Gumtree. Loads of interest and, yes, I got the 'can you deliver?' pish. One guy said he was 'on his way' and never showed up. I pulled the listing and relisted for £20, accepted £10 and it sold!

[geoham]

16 hours ago, NikNik said:

Yeh, I tried to give away - give away! - one of these little beer fridges on Gumtree. Loads of interest and, yes, I got the 'can you deliver?' pish. One guy said he was 'on his way' and never showed up. I pulled the listing and relisted for £20, accepted £10 and it sold!

I tend to agree - putting a token price on something is a sensible approach and keeps many timewasters at bay.

[Greg Edwards69]

My common one tend to be.

 

"Will you take £xxx (low ball offer) because I need to get the train from London to collect it?"

No, becuase I am not compensating for your travel expenses.

 

"Will you take £xxx (low ball offer) if I collect it today?"

No, you're not doing me a favour by paying me less when I'm in no rush to sell.