TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:05 am

This morning's deal, a set of alloy wheels.

What is with people today?!

Used to be the hassle was flake buyers. Load up the (pick one) car, bike, parts, tires with misgivings. Delivering merchandise is the kiss of death. Buyers have no skin in the game. Often as not The Missus already put the kybosh on the deal by the time I get there.

Now we have flake sellers.

Take a simple transaction. I negotiate a price. I show up with a fistful of cash, I claim my parts and off I go.

Except...

Everything plays out like dope deals, now.

At least with a dope deal I have the dealer's cell number and a street corner or an alley for a meeting place. Or so they tell me. :roll:

Seems Facebook is trying to channel all communication through Facebook. Exchange of phone numbers is frowned upon. Sellers are loathe to divulge their location or contact information. Deal that was supposed to happen this morning I was supposed to be on a specific stretch of road at a specific time. Even though that stretch of road is over an hour away I'm familiar with it. I have never seen anything but trees on that stretch of road. No cars for sale. No car parts.

Here's The New Deal:

Want to sell stuff? Let's work out what would traditionally have been a handshake deal at least 24 yours in advance. We agree on a meeting place at least 24 hours ahead of time. While I have successfully met at abandoned gas stations or vacant retail locations I'm less likely to do so in the future.

Am I being unreasonable?

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Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:57 am

Tell me about it! :roll:
I really don't use FB at all except for marketplace, as a last resort, if I can't find what I want on craigslist.
I don't have a cell phone so I can't text. When I contact a seller I suggest we communicate over email or we can exchange phone numbers and talk. Half the time I get ghosted because they're too lazy to communicate in those ways. Emailing on your phone is almost exactly the same as texting!
Or they act all cagey and what to to text you the address when you're on the way. What difference does it make? I'll know your address either way!
The application itself is terrible. It's nearly impossible to use all the search criteria I want and if you add one criterion it seems to remove another. And then some listings that were previously visible seem to disappear.
It's too bad that so many people seemed to have abandoned a perfectly simple, well-implemented open platform like craigslist to go to a fussy, complicated closed platform like facebook.
I just don't see the upside.

Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:00 am

photogdave wrote: Or they act all cagey and what to to text you the address when you're on the way. What difference does it make? I'll know your address either way!

Tell me about it!

The New Deal:

I want a credible destination 24 hours in advance of hitting the road.

Among the many hats I've worn over the years I'm supposedly a communications expert. Failure to divulge your location is clear communication you're not serious about selling.

Besides, it's insulting. What an I going to do, drive a hundred miles, show up and pay cash for your junk then come back and steal the rest?

I can generally figure out the seller's address, phone number and other information by clicking on the seller's profile plus a few more clicks on Google.

I tried to buy VW parts from a dead guy last week. Seller has been dead since 2016. He has the same picture on his Facebook profile as used for his obituary. :roll:

There was some zombie sending replies to my PMs. :roll:

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Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:55 pm

Wife got some new dishes and I decided "why not give away the old ones to some young person just starting out?" They weren't nasty, sure a couple of chips but hey...they were free. Some youngster might need them

Boxed them and left them out in the driveway 3 different times for people who never showed.

Why?

Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:50 am

FB marketplace can be wonderful. :lol:

If I have not cell ph numbers, I do not deal at all. And certainly if I do not get a proper address, I don't.

There are deranged people out there. Gotta be careful. And which part of town you are going to is also w/ utmost importance. You do not want to get robbed if you are gonna be buying.

And no jewelries for me. I just deal w// the usual stuff, patio bricks, stainless fridge, washer/dryer, old grill, camping equipments, firewood logs, those stuffs.

Cell phones, computers, laptops, watches, jewelries - I leave those alone. You will get robbed or killed w/ those exchanges.

And if it is a meeting place, a gas station is fine. I have a concealed carry - I will go to those places for lawnmowers buy or something. And I do not park next to the person. I park far way and walk up - gives me more time to draw my weapon in case. You can never be too careful guys

Admin note: removed political trolling

Wed Apr 24, 2024 6:25 am

it's not the platform, it's the people, no matter the platform, if they can't be bothred, they can't be bothred simples.
the wife puts stuff out for people to collect from buy nothing groups all the time, if it's sat for more than 4 days, l help it into the dumpster.
if l wanted stuff gone, folk got one chance, they don't come get it, the next person got a chance, l gave up faceache all together, now l take stuff to the DAV.

Wed Apr 24, 2024 9:37 am

Wife has been selling stuff on FBMP for a long time.
About 75% of the transactions are successful.
She doesn't sweat the other 25%.

Fri Apr 26, 2024 11:57 am

Flakebook, a poison platform that keeps intruding into our lives. I'll take the old CL any day of the week ( but that ship has sailed).

Fri Apr 26, 2024 12:17 pm

Manfred58sc wrote: Flakebook, a poison platform that keeps intruding into our lives. I'll take the old CL any day of the week ( but that ship has sailed).

Just as many flakes on that platform as well.

Fri Apr 26, 2024 3:29 pm

And Craigslist shrinks daily. It’s losing the battle.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 2:49 am

bring back the good old 'exchange & mart' :lol:

Sat Apr 27, 2024 5:14 am

The local police here have set up Safe Trade Zones, basically you can meet the person you are purchasing from, or selling to in the parking lot of a police station in designated parking spots to exchange.

Better than at an abandoned mall or under a bridge in the sketchy part of town.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 3:26 pm

People are people and flakes are flakes. It doesn’t matter what the platform is.
Facebook does have a very good tracking method so they remember what you looked for and highlight similar items. That can make life easier at times.
The one problem I do have with Facebook marketplace is that many sellers have drunk the Kool-Aid about not communicating away from Facebook. Very frustrating for those of us that occasionally look on there. If something is going to be a back-and-forth, I will plead with the seller to give me a phone number or at least an email address. If they won’t, I really don’t want the item.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 6:53 pm

Only hda FB for six months or so, and only for marketplace. Already encountered plenty of flakes, but no worse than CL has become.

Just got a big pile of firewood today for free, and used the truck I bought for $500 a month ago, all on marketplace.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 8:18 pm

I think some of the problem with market place is, people are listening things for other people. Like a wife listening something for her computer illiterate husband. So then there’s a middle person to deal through.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 8:28 pm

A recent ad for some VW parts stated not to respond to the ad, she was only listing for a friend. But, the contact info in the ad text was hidden with no way to view it. I sent her a message asking for contact info since it was not visible in the ad, and she got back to me right away with the info. She stated she was aware the info was not accessible, but didn't bother to change the ad.

Interesting tactic.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 8:30 pm

CL is deader than dead in my area, and yes it had its share of flakes. It also had a cool vibe and some amazing people without the "prompting" that FB has. At least the CL had to be renewed every 30 days, FB they linger forever and stack on each other as junk changes hands over and over. I like the safe trade zones maybe right next to the safe sleeping lot for the working homeless. Die monster,die.

Sun Apr 28, 2024 6:44 am

I've only inquired/bought one item from FB Marketplace, a cross-bed tool box for my 1998 Frontier for $50 which had a working lock, was 10 miles from me, and new were over $100.

I've bought just a few things from Craigslist, including the Dell laptop/Windows 10 I am using right now. Mrs. Cusser's 2014 Yukon was obtained through a CL listing, and we sold our 2005 Yukon and 1994 Suburban through CL too. Selling the 2005, immediately (within 5 minutes) got a lot of automated scams, which wanted me to text a certain number back to them. But I did get several legitimate responses that evening, and sold the 2005 the next morning. The 1994 was listed on CL for $1994, "a dollar per year" - who could resist such an advertising pitch !!! But I accepted $1900...

Sun Apr 28, 2024 7:38 am

I will alwas be thankful for CL as that's where I found my bug at a killer price too. Wasn't easy making the deal happen with me being in Ireland and the bug in california but thanks to a very accommodating samba member it happened. Thankfully the other guy who was interested thought an hour away was too far for him to go view :lol:

Fri May 24, 2024 12:29 pm

Got a new name for my Marketplace Pet Peeve. I call it

"Marketplace hide 'n' seek."

Sellers loathe divulging their location. That's a big part of the Marketplace Handa- Jobba.

I'm workin' a deal buying a vehicle eight hours away. I'm tryin' to work a "gravy" deal on parts that would otherwise be outta my reach in the same area. They're not worth the drive by themselves.

Seller is playin'

"Marketplace hide 'n' seek."

Sellers who use FB Marketplace: If you wonder why buyers blow you off.
that's why.

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