Gumtree Idiots

Author
Discussion

Europa Jon

Original Poster:

554 posts

122 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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I've recently had to offload a large amount of household items. Local charity shops are too full to accept donations. Some stuff is now on Ebay. Other items that are hard or impossible to pack & post have been put on Gumtree. So far, I'm not impressed with the average prospective purchasers using the latter website. Seemingly, 9 out of 10 users can't click on the map link to see where we live. 8/10 can't compose a basic sentence in English: I had a new compressor for sale. One interested party sent me the message: 'wot it cum wiv'. I replied 'it cum wiv plug'. 7/10 ask if an item is still for sale, then when I reply 'yes', I hear no more. My asking prices are lower than comparative items, yet a few tw*ts text an offer of half the asking price. Some say they're coming to collect the items and don't show. They rarely reply when I politely ask if they've reconsidered. One just now wanted me to do a 100 mile round trip to deliver a wardrobe! Imagine if they changed their mind upon delivery!
Sadly I've resorted to sarcastic replies to some of these dreamers. The stress is getting to me.
What's the average Pistonheads reader's experience of Gumtree? Is Facebook Marketplace any worse?

Cupramax

10,469 posts

251 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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My personal favourite with Gumtree is “have you still got this” requests 15 milliseconds after the advert is posted. Look at the advert you fuvktards hehe

Caddyshack

10,600 posts

205 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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I broke up a nice TT recently, the idiots I got......asking millions of questions on a £50 part, offering half, asking for pictures and videos and then telling me they haven’t got the money right now???

One bloke said he lived in the village 8 miles away, battered me down to £30 for a pair of calipers and when he did not turn up all day I messaged...his reply....sorry, I had to relocate to another town miles away without notice.

grumpy52

5,565 posts

165 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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I tend to ignore text messages and always put that texts and emails will be ignored in the adverts .
I also ignore any offers if they haven't viewed the item .
You will also get some smart ass inform you that xyzz has one cheaper ,so go buy that one .
You have to develop a thick skin when dealing with the general public , don't expect any sort of punctually either !

glazbagun

14,257 posts

196 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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Only experience with facebook marketplace was when I asked about a Pug 306 shed and agreed to meet that afternoon only to arrive and there be noone there and no answer to my calls. Apparently owner thought I'd meant the same day next week.

Gumtree has been better with me. I put a Strat up prices to sell and a guy called, asked about the pickups and agreed to pick it up tomorrow.

That night I got two texts from another guy who was furious I'd agreed to sell it when he cpuld come dowb andbpick it up today. He continued his rant the next day after it was picked up with no haggling.

People are just awful and we would be better off without them. laugh

cherie171

367 posts

116 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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I'd say it's actually worse than Facebook, at least on there you get their name, sometimes their location and from how open or private their profile is, a general indication of intelligence. The standard opening line of "Is this still still available?" is a template reply that can just be clicked with no need to think about how to put a sequence of letters in a particular order to make a coherent sentence.


Evoluzione

10,345 posts

242 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
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Oh God not this again, is it not possible to go longer than 7 days without someone complaining about trying to sell online?
If you buy or sell you have to put up with retarded people, get used to it.


boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Not used Gumtree, but sell a few bits in Facebook and have very few issues. Occasionally get a daft offer but I just reply politely with a no thanks. Most of the time transactions are simple and quick

Shuvi McTupya

24,460 posts

246 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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I generally find Facebook Marketplace OK now i have learned that is OK to ignore anyone that makes a silly offer right off the bat, or anyone that just clicks the 'is it still available' button.

After someone has passed the first two tests, i have a quick glance at their FB profile and quickly judge them to see if i am fancy dealing with them..

EarlofDrift

4,636 posts

107 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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My experience of Gumtree mirrors much of what OP has posted.

A highlight has to be when I had an 10 year old PC tower years ago I had wiped and stuck a upgrade of Windows 10 on. Women turned handed over the £100 and off she went. Next day I get a text 'Windows 10 fake, reported you to police', I text back explaining that in wasn't fake it was simply the beta version and when the full version is released she can upgrade for free. She didn't have an effing clue the response was ' no internet, all fake, reported to police'. So I told her to get the police to call me . A few days later I get a call from the local PC repair guy who explained that she wasn't very computer literate and he had tried to tell her the same thing. I have no idea if she reported me to the police or not but I'm sure she gave the plod. a good laugh.

Most responses seem to appear within a few minutes of posting you always get ' still for sale?' I answer 'yes, it is still for sale' - No Response.

Then last time I was advertising a car for sale one night and got a text a few hours later ' still for sale, I come now to collect ?'

"no, because it's 1am and I'm trying to sleep" the response was "ok, no sale"

Did they think I was that desperate for a sale I'd meet them at 2am in the forecourt of the 24hr garage.



Edited by EarlofDrift on Thursday 2nd July 01:45

ruggedscotty

5,606 posts

208 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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i tried to sell a bike - found facebook was good, it went pretty quick, however gumtree....

Hi you have the bike for sale

Yes

it is an adults bike - depends on the size of the adult

would it fit me

what size are you,

Im 24

you taking the piss....?

no

well how high are you ?

the bike is a teen / young adult

ok what bus route are you on...
or could you deliver ?

i can deliver

Ok thats good

delivery is £25

what, the bike is up for sale for £50 thats half the cost of the bike..

You wanted delivery its not free...

Ill come out and see it when will you be in

in in all day

so i wait, sure enough the chap turns up, get on the bike tries it likes it, I want to buy it, ok i said im selling it.

Ill give you 40 quid for it, im asking £70 for it, you said in the advert it was £50, you offered 40 for it, so obviously you didnt see the price.
its 75 now if you want it or not.

Your a #unt he said. I just laughed. Bike back in the garage and told him to foxtrot oscar.

meanwhile 2nd person turns up, saw it on facebook show him the bike he pulls out £50 gives me the money and bike is away. 1st person is a bit confused. looks at him and says ye had yer chance, if you hadnt ducked about you would have been on your way home on a bike... maybe next time you wont be the #unt will ye...

facebook seems to work better than gumtree these days, lots of buying groups if you can fend off the karens and the chancers lol

malaccamax

1,247 posts

230 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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I've always had a good experience on Gumtree. If you price it well and ignore the idiot texts (easy to do, just don't engage), good buyers emerge. I like how you can just leave items on there and wait. And it's free!

ETA. And it means I don't have restart my Facebook account! Bonus win

hotchy

4,454 posts

125 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Sorry. I also ask if it's still available...

In next and she wanted the table and chairs. Near £600.

Gumtree..brand new 200.

Nice older lady. Turns out she had it 2 weeks and decided to sell her house and move in with her new boyfriend. Too old to wait she said. Fair play.

bonerp

812 posts

238 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Its a bit like this on Facebook. Just sold my Nintendo Switch and extra games and controllers. £380 advertised for.
"will you take £180?" delete.
"will you take £220?" delete and blocked.

Next one - "whats your lowest price?"

I say £350.

They say £340 is their max

Fook off then.

Sold it for £350 to a decent chap with a young family. tongue out

I'm now going through the same pain with my GoPro Black H7!

cmvtec

2,188 posts

80 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Gumtree is ok for low value stuff.

I once tried selling a Citroen C2 on there. It was cheap, I just needed rid of it as I wasnt using it and I had no storage for it.

One bloke turned up (which meant I had to take time out to go and get the car), tested it, then told me he was really looking for a van and was I interested in his Toyota Corolla.

It transpires that I can be quite rude when provoked

Zetec-S

5,832 posts

92 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Part of the reason you get people messing around is there are a lot of people on there who don't work, but are trying to make a bit of easy cash. They trawl gumtree/marketplace/etc for items for free or under-priced that they can sell on.

Likewise they'll think nothing of spamming 20 different people who have an xBox for sale and try and knock the price down as much as possible so they can then sell on for a profit, they just need 1 person to take a lower offer and thats maybe 50 quid in their pocket.

krisdelta

4,566 posts

200 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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I tried to sell some spare wheels from my C63 on FB marketplace, I just marked them as a sold after 2 days of idiotic messages containing "£200" or the innit bruv brigade "cash now, no fuss bruv" (cue - lots of fuss, then silence). I am going to summon up the courage to put them on eBay and contain the idiocy to a 7 day window.

ade73

432 posts

108 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Word your adverts so you weed out most of the idiots.

Don't put your phone number, just use the email option.

Put in the adverts that the item will be taken down once sold, if the advert is up then it is still available.

The item is priced to sell but you wont take stupid offers or swaps.

I've sold loads of stuff on there and the only problems i've had is when people don't turn up.

Plymo

1,149 posts

88 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Depends what you're selling!
I've had my bike up on there (royal enfield, so not an innit bruv magnet)
Unsurprisingly it's not selling quickly, but I've had responses from people who can spell, and have asked sensible questions.

I also sold a failing Peugeot 206,
Within a few minutes I had a phone call from a Nigerian man, living in the other end of the country (Essex!) Who would have a courier come and collect it.

Very dodgy sounding!

This courier sounded like a typical 3.14 and messed me and the Essex guy around.
So instead of cash from the courier he transferred me the money, and arranged another courier.

Who did turn up! So the car was gone, I had the money in my bank and the logbook was filled out online to his company (genuine, I checked).

No weird chargebacks, no cloned plates being used for bank robberies, dogs tied together or exiled princes needing somwhere to rest their money.

I love gumtree smile

Squishey

567 posts

127 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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We've been having a big clear out of all of our old baby stuff; clothes, toys, pushchair, car seat, etc.

So far we've received 3 messages asking whether we have any spare nappies that they can have for free!