Let's Talk Tuesday: Selling Things Online

This post will specifically be about Facebook Marketplace (FBM). While I've bought a few craft items on Etsy, I have never sold anything there and I have never ventured into eBay, besides looking to see what a vintage item is worth that I already own.

My first step into FBM was when we had four dining room chairs of my husband's aunt that were in great condition, but that we'd never use. My kids didn't want them either. 

They looked similar to this, but the cushions had a black background. I was asking $45 for the set, but I would have taken anything. I just didn't want them to go to the dump.

Within about 10 minutes of posting, I had a response from someone who claimed they could pick them up immediately. That should have been my first warning. I asked whereabouts they lived and that's when they asked for my cell phone number. I knew right away that spells scam, so I deleted the post and wound up putting the chairs to the curb the day before trash day, hoping someone would pick them up. Unfortunately, no one ever did. If I had known about places that took furniture at the time, I would have gone that route, but this was quite a while ago and I wasn't as informed then.

My husband was cleaning out the basement in November and decided to get rid of two tennis hoppers that my son used in high school. They are between $45-75 new and ours were in mint condition, so I thought I'd try FBM again.

This is a picture of what one looks like. You pick up the balls without bending over on the right and then flip the handles down and you can grab balls from the basket to hit. It's actually a very clever design and I priced them fairly at $10 each. 

It was crickets for two months, and then last Monday, someone messaged me that he was interested in one of them. Said he could pick it up after work that evening and asked if it was in good condition. I responded yes and told him the city where I live. He said he also lives in this city and then he asked if I could take Venmo. Um, for $10?? I don't even have a Venmo account. I responded that it would have to be cash. I heard nothing from him for another two days. By this time, I figured it was a scam because of the Venmo thing, wanting to pick it up the same day, and his name and profile indicated he was from South America!

Thursday morning, I have a message from him saying he can pick it up between 6-6:30 that evening. Fortunately, my husband was going to be home because I still thought this was fishy. I responded ok and reminded him it was $10 cash. At 5 pm, I get a message saying it should be around 7 pm. By this time, I had done an internet sleuthing job and found his LinkedIn page that he did indeed work nearby and also had a tennis ranking in a nearby city. 

At 7 pm sharp, I see a car parked in the street in front of our house. I open up the door in case he was unsure about the address. And I wait. And wait. No one gets out of the car for 10 minutes. Then a man gets out, starts walking up our driveway, then returns to his car and is pressing all sorts of buttons on his key fob. I can't even by this point. He finally arrives at my front porch, I step outside, and he hands me a card for some business he is opening that combines tennis and squash. He is asking me if I play tennis and then he is asking me how the hopper works. This made no sense to me, as wouldn't a tennis player know?? When he seems satisfied, he picks it up and starts to walk down the steps, when I stop him and say, "Um, that will be $10!" He turns around and acts as though he forgot and pulls out two $5 bills from his coat. I take it, say "thanks" and shut and lock my door. Absolutely nuts!

Was any of this worth $10? I think you know the answer to that question. On the flip side, I've had much better luck as a buyer. I purchased a very nice dollhouse for one of my granddaughters (you cannot find decent dollhouses anymore!) last year and I regularly buy what my husband calls my 'Black Market Bath & Body Works' products for extremely discounted prices from a woman the next town over. I have no idea what her story is, but I take my $2.50 hand soaps off her front porch regularly and slide my cash envelope under her doormat.

Have you had any experiences buying or selling online?