I recently started selling stuff on Facebook market. I got that "Is this still available" message all the time. And after I reply yes, 8 out of 10 times, these people do not come back to me, they just disappear. I don't understand why people are doing this. Why bother asking if they're not really interested? Is it just me having this problem?
Selling on Facebook Marketplace
xsolider on 10/11/2023 - 17:00
Last edited 10/11/2023 - 17:09 by 1 other user
Last edited 10/11/2023 - 17:09 by 1 other user
Comments
Really? I've been a Trademe member for ages. Hardly ever had this problem there. Why would it become a norm on Facebook?
I think a big part is that this is the default pre-populated message on Marketplace. It’s actually pretty easy to hit ‘Send’, particularly on mobile when you’re scrolling through.
You need to be a lot more deliberate to ask a question on Trade Me.
Yep im trying to sell on facebook as well, so many low ballers and "is this still avaliable"
Additionally, a lot of sellers do not answer my questions as well. My questions are all specific. I don't ask is this available.
Yeah, it's super common for people to do that. You'll also be surprised by the number of people who promise to pick up at certain time but never turn up. Just get use to it. I laugh when I see a listing that says "Don't ask whether it's available, blah blah blah"…haha, why resist that?
The store posts are the most annoying. Click on an item thinking it's for sale locally, but the post instead wants you to click on a link to take you to their website. That and the items for a $1 that aren't actually for $1.
Why bother with Facebook at all? Just use TradeMe where issues are quite rare.
Fees. Additionally, I've sold a few stuff on Facebook which were listed on Trademe as well but not sold.
Sadly I've sold several items on TM during their free Sats this year that didn't complete. Time wasters. Seems more prevalent lately.
Sadly I've sold several items on TM during their free Sats this year that didn't complete. Time wasters. Seems more prevalent lately.
It does happen - I have had it too maybe three or four times over twenty plus years across hundreds of sales.
Fees. Additionally, I've sold a few stuff on Facebook which were listed on Trademe as well but not sold.
In terms of fees, I would suggest just adding the fees to the price you set on TM, that way you don't care (same as courier - I always just offer it at the buyers cost), but I would also add a 'fee' onto the price I was selling anywhere else to account for their additional costs, and that would include the time / hassle factor if you are getting lots of time-wasters.
I tried Facebook many years ago, but it was fairly pointless then as well, plus people always wanted things for a price that wasn't worth it, so I gave up, and stayed with TM since.
If you happened to be in a place where time was not (or was less of) a consideration (retired perhaps) then Facebook might be worth it I guess.
Many TM buyers don't check their TM email address these days, they expect you to message them via the TM app which is a pain the the ass. Sometimes the only way to get in touch because they get a notification on their mobile they got a message.
Have noticed this as well.
Oddly I've sold more during the normal time when I have the prices higher due to fees, it baffles my mind why some of these same people don't buy during the free selling when I have it lower
I find certain items especially large, delicate, sell well on Facebook. Too expensive or risky to ship. Also, if you just want some cash for an item rather than chuck, you can price a bit higher, haggle and accept an ok-low offer for quick sale without having to endlessly hold items listed on trademe.
"Is this available?" is a meme, but honestly it doesn't bother me even if the pass-through rate is low. Why?
Because it takes 2 seconds to press the automated reply "Yes, are you still interested?" and then you leave it.
The next step is up to the buyer; 60% of which ghost, 20% of which waste your time/don't buy, and 20% that actually ends up buying.
If this speeds up the buyer finding process and saves the 8% I'm happy to hit the reply; you do have to ration your time with the timewasters though, but they get easier to spot as time goes on (such as the one's that insult you).
Is this still available?
Its called FOMO. Fear of missing out.
On trademe ive probably had the "a trader has reqested to relist" after an auction has ended 100's of times and not 1 single time has that auction been bought. They don't want to buy it but they're afraid of not being able to ha.
Giving fixed price offers to watchers of your auction are a waste of time too. Watchers of buy now auctions are just that - watchers not buyers.
Of course there may be rare exceptions to the ruleGiving fixed price offers to watchers of your auction are a waste of time too
I normally offer it for 24 hours only, and I would guess that maybe 10% result in a sale from that so borderline for me.
10% isn't bad I'd say that's worthwhile for 24hr fixed price offers for sure. There are loads of variables including what your trading and to what % of traders plus whether your fixed price offers are the same or less than the auction. Just a waste of time in my experience so from that perspective they aren't worthwhile
Yep - I totally agree that it does depend on what it is.
I never sell anything for less than $19 now - just not worth it from my perspective, so if it is a $19 item, I just re-list, and nearly always they are smaller things that don't take up much space, so I don't really care if they sell or not as my other alternative is to throw them out, and there is 'space' saving from them being gone.
If it is something bigger / more valuable, and especially if it is large enough to be a 'hassle' having it lying around, I often reduce the price to see if it gets a response, then re-list, perhaps above the 'offer' but with a lower 'start / reserve' and 'buy now' than before.
If that doesn't work, I try increasing the 'start / reserve' - often I double it. Just to show that most people have no idea, that works more often than you might think!
Last thing I did the latter with was a lawn mower - I definitely wanted that gone! I couldn't sell it for $49 (maybe a few weeks, so two re-listings), then I relisted it at $99, and when it didn't sell, I 'offered' it to watchers for $49, and it was snapped up. They got themselves a real bargain :-)
@Alan6984: That's actually genius, using the same "fake sale" strats by putting up the ticket price and reducing it post auction.
That's actually genius, using the same "fake sale" strats by putting up the ticket price and reducing it post auction.
If it works :-)
I did the same thing many years ago with a car I was selling at the old Ellerslie Racecourse Sunday morning thing - might be twenty years ago now, hard to remember.
I won't have these numbers exactly right but they are there or thereabouts I think and the learning is right regardless:
I seem to recall that you had to choose which 'section' you wanted to park up in, so I chose, say, the 'Up to $2,000' section, and priced the car at $1,900. Lots of tyre kickers, but all the offers were around $1,000 to $1,300 range - I went home after three hours or so, slightly dejected.
Following week, I went back, and chose the '$2,000 to $5,000' section, and priced it at $3,500. All the offers were in the $2,000 to $2,500 range so I accepted $2,500 within about half an hour.
Most people have very little idea of what something is objectively worth to them, and buy almost entirely on emotion, and just want to get, what they perceive as, a bargain.
My theory regarding why watchers constantly request fixed price offer for everything is not so-much about FOMO per se, but they're trying to get the item offered for lower than the reserve price.
Therefore, the only real reason to offer fixed priced offers is to troll the watchers who request it by putting the fixed price higher than the reserve (Tardme auto-sets to buynow price lmao)
It pisses me off when sellers offer fixed price higher than what the reserve was because if I wanted the item, I would have just auto-sniped it with Bidbud at the reserve price.
I have this one guy whose constantly watching every week and request relist and stuff for some pci wifi cards, it been almost 1yr he's doing that
sold two car recently. One compact car was sold quickly on Trademe, which I guess it's because my asking price was fairly low.
Another 7 seater Mazda Premacy had no luck on Trademe with no enquiries. I tried Turners and trade-in, and dealers told me to list it on Facebook market place. I did and received lots of enquiries, of which most of them were "dealers" I guess. Finally two persons came to view the vehicle and it was sold soon.
So Facebook is a good place to sell you car according to my experiences.
Interesting, I found car people extra-unreliable, but that might be because I was selling a $20 car part.
Yeah, I had my car on TM for like 3 weeks without a single bite. Friends were telling me to list it on Facebook for a few weeks and I was very hesitant. As soon as I did I had 3-4 people offering asking price and a few more offering under.
Marketplace is a joke.
Everyone wants to buy for $1 or free.Same as people on Cheapies. Or Tardme. No difference basically other than Facebook people expect lower price because of no fees and you can haggle with buyers/sellers easier.
List it higher than you expect to get then they talk you down.
Worth it over giving tm a insane cut.
I sold an xbox one recently.
Listed it for $220 (had a bunch of extras and a limited controller). Everyone offered $100-$170 with 'ill come with cash right now'.
So I deleted the listing, forgot about it for a while, then listed it at $250 and someone offerd $220 straight away. People just want to feel like they're getting a bargain
Years ago was selling a trailer cheap for a quick sale $100
No interest at all for weeks. Put it up to $250 it sold the next day and had inquiries all week.
No one wanted a $100 trailer but lots wanted a $250 trailer.
Same trailer :)
A lesson there somewhereThat's correct, for some reason, people are scared of buying if something is too cheap, maybe it's that saying, "If it sounds too good to be true…", they think you're a scammer. That's why you need to know the market price of the item you're selling, then make it 10-20% cheaper, and it will be sold quickly.
A good theory. Mine was people assumed a $100 trailer would be a "piece" not necessarily a scam and a $250 trailer would be a good trailer. Which it was.
And not a piece of art or a piece of cake a piece of something though ha.
Years ago was selling a trailer cheap for a quick sale $100
No interest at all for weeks. Put it up to $250 it sold the next day and had inquiries all week.
No one wanted a $100 trailer but lots wanted a $250 trailer.
Same trailer :)
A lesson there somewhereMany (possibly most) people out there simply equate price and quality as it is cognitively easy.
A lot of people don't understand how the world really works, and they need to simplify it, so in many cases, they will trot out the foolishness that their 'grandmother' told them:
'You get what you pay for!'
It is rarely true, but little point in trying to explain / help them out - they are never going to change, and likely won't thank you for your efforts :-(
You get the advice you paid for :P
You get the advice you paid for :P
Yep!
If I charge a client $5,000 for a piece of work (generally, advice), they pretty much always do exactly what I told them to.
If I give it away for free, not so much!
However, that is just people avoiding cognitive dissonance. If they paid $5,000 for crappy advice, that would make them a fool, and they clearly aren't a fool (they would know after all!), so logically the advice must be good, so they follow it.
:-)
at $100 my first thought would've been 'scam'
'Is this still available' is the 'start a conversation' button for some reason.
Im in the boat where people are asking me questions about the items and it's getting frustrating. 'is this good for arts and crafts?'… god I don't know, probably? Every piece of information I have is in the photo… including a link to the product new.
I'm convinced some people are browsing a version of facebook marketplace that is just photos and prices, and no description. I don't have the facebook app on my phone, maybe this is what it is like for them? I too just get so many questions that are in the description.
'any issues?'
'Apparently your ability to read, sir, is an issue'
Im tempted to send screenshots of the description instead of a text reply
Funny you say that, as half of the Facebook Marketplaces listings I click on I can't see the contents of the Description on my phone, I have to share it with someone else and click on their link, or login from a PC to see the description. Think its a Marketplace fault.
Interesting thank you, I suspected as much. Time to start generating a jpeg of the description to include in my listings!
@Rubenite: Whilst I don't bother with FB myself, that's actually a great idea, and fairly trivial to do.
that explains why people bother to include a photo of a tape measure up against the furniture item instead of simply stating the dimensions…
Here's something that surprised me.
Couple of years back had near 50 auctions on tm. Wanted to raise funds quickly for something.
So the approximately 15 auctions with watchers I dropped the price. Not a single one sold.
So that's where I formed the theory that watchers aren't buyers, but of course there are many exceptions and variables.
Anyway I found it a surprising and interesting result.
All were buy now auctionsGood rule of thumb I've found is every 1 in 10 watcher is a serious buyer.
Well yes im a serious buyer of auctions I watch. And if the price dropped would pounce on them.
But that doesn't seem to be the norm.
One in ten sounds likely
Happens to everyone.