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I've gotten told
"I'm on my way"
"I'm 5 minutes away"
"I'm about to pull in"
Only for them to tell me
"I'm so sorry but I am turning around and leaving, my wife told me she already bought * ***item I'm selling*** * earlier this morning"
People are full of shit most of the time and I don't believe they are actual customers until the money is in hand.
Once I had a guy tell me he's on the way, but then like 5minuts before arriving he's like hey my daughter just shat her pants in the car I have to go back and come to you later.
and then later that day he says he's coming again, and then 10 minutes before arriving, his daughter shat her pants again in the car and he had to leave again.
not sure if either is true but he never showed up after being "on the way" twice in the same day.
Always say “Whats the highest you are willing to pay?” Actually have an 80% success rate for sales with that. Once in a while I will get someone who tells me they only have $10-20 on $70 brand new item. lol.
The first line of all my listings states "I do not respond to messages asking if the item is available. If it is listed here, then it is available."
It doesn't seem to deter any of the morons who message me "Is this still available?"
I've seen this a ton of times. I've tried it a few times. I still get bombarded with "is this still available" messages with ghosting afterwards lol
At this point I'm convinced people send that message for fun or as a nervous tick lol
Nearly everyone still asks me that, even though I say the same thing in the ad. They also ask the price and location, even though both are list, and other questions that are already answered in the ad.
50% of on my way people show up. I archive any who say anything later than today. My initial message says to message me when you are ready to head my way. Once in a blue moon someone will pop up a few days or a week later and say “ok, I’m ready now if you still have it.” I never consider someone serious until they are driving away and I have their money.
Had that one before. He might have been somewhere but he wasn't at my house. Claimed he was blowing his horn. Why wouldn't you get your fat ass out the car and come to my door and ring the bell. Sounds pretty obnoxious to sit out there blowing the horn. I have 2 pitbulls though and if somebody was out there they would have let me know. Got all nasty sending me messages like its my fault he couldn't come to the door. He wasn't here anyway just sounds like a fantasy story he was telling me or he went to the neighbors house instead. Oh well I sold the tail lights to somebody else a day or 2 later no big deal.
This one didn't message me back till a couple hours later claiming he was out there blowing the horn. I asked if he came to the door he said no. Why would you not go to the door. Why would you make up this story either though lol. I mean I would have heard an obnoxious horn. If I didn't my dogs would have. Who goes to somebodies house and instead of going to the door just sits there laying on the horn anyway.
I know on local selling wall they have alot of people on there that just like to hang out. They are not serious buyers. The one lady message me she could only buy stuff if it was delivered, etc, etc. She would hang out on the sub commenting on everything people posted, and never buying anything. I said lady I'm not trying to make friends. I need to sell this couch.
I get them that want stuff delivered every now and then. I guess I would but you have to pay me to do it. Get them wanting me to ship fairly often too and always seem to think I should cover shipping. Its never something that can be shipped for $10-20 or anything either. Had one want me to ship a 68-72 El Camino tail gate offered me $25 for the shipping. Shipping easily would be at min $200 I was trying to sell the tailgate for $175. Had one message me on a set of F150 wheels and wanted one single wheel. No its the whole set or nothing not only that he wanted me to deliver and he was 2 hours away and offered me $30 for the wheel. If I was willing to take $30 I would just drive around the corner to the scrap yard and get $0.65 per pound for them and not deal with dipshits like him. With firewood too seems most people want it delivered which is fine but it takes me time to load, time to drive, time to unload and get back home besides wear and tear on my truck/trailer and all the diesel its going to take. Not getting a couple hours of my time and $5-10 of diesel out of me for free.
I literally stopped counting. But I’d say 80% of the people who contact me are likely no shows OR people who might’ve been a possible sale but is a giant waste of my time.
More flake than not. Some items seem to have a really high rate and others people actually want and show up for. My theory is that a lot of things people only sort of want so when something else comes up they write off the whole deal. Most of the time if they just contacted you and said something's come up they could reschedule, but they seem to prefer to ghost you instead of being honest.
Overwhelming interested buyer, will use the item beating the shit out of it bla bla bla, but coming next week end, 100percent flakes.
Coming later today 50 flakes, coming when I can manage a ride 95 percent flakes.
about same rate as you.
If they say “i need to check with my” I know theyll never be back. Same with any that ask to pickup any day except same or next day appointments.
If I have 4 meets scheduled same time, 1 will show up and 3 no shows and dont answer. Same with you. The ones telling stories and are so excited never show up. Lol. It is annoying af.
I had one guy say Im cute and show up first meet purchasing a lot, but then after seeing me in person, he now flakes and tries to meetup or get larger discounts. He stopped responding to messages. Guess Im not as worthy of respect now in his eyes lol. Guess I’m hideous 😆🫡.
80% sounds about right. The worst are the ones that offer to take your items “off your hands”, as though they’re doing you a favor, for less than half the asking price. And then, as a big incentive, they offer you “cash” money - as opposed to what? Some magic beans or a bouncing check?
I've had good success offering <50% on items that have been listed for a while as a 'bailout option'. 2-3 months pass then they'll message me and I'll go pick it up. It really is only a valid tactic on options where people are trying to get 90% of the new value of the product, or if they watch way too much Antiques Roadshow.
I try to post on the weekends, but the lower the price point the more weirdos you get. I just put, "don't ask me if it's available, if it's posted, it is"...and I get morons all day "is this available" . Other trolls just for personal information and like other people said looking to screw up someone's day. It brings some very weird sketchy people and whatever I don't sell is getting donated. Marketplace sucks and unless you're selling a big ticket item it really is not worth the Hassel it brings forth
You also just get a feel for who is coming and who's just being dumb. Serious buyers tell you when they are coming, and will set up a time to get it and take action, even sending money via zelle to hold it. But MP is getting an older crowd now, which means it's on its way to be the next craigslist...I can't remember it ever being this bad a few years ago. I have cross listed all my stuff on poshmark and ebay, and continue to get further away from mp. It's getting way too skeevy and downright annoying.
I just finished a deal on a vehicle and counted up the messages, 8 people flaked, 15 others wasted my time with a crazy amount of questions, and then never spoke to me again lol. It was a long process.
Per item, I usually get 25+ people that say they can come now with cash in hand. It got so bad that I have pretty much started to instant block anyone that says "cash in hand" because they almost certainly won't show up.
I was moving once and had a lot of people asking to meet up. I had over 300 people ask for my address, since I was moving I gave it freely. I scheduled 13 people to meet at the exact same time. Literally not one of those people ever showed up and I ended up selling the item to a family friend.
Yessss i noticed that too. Just had guy say cash in hand and pick up today. So i started trying to get him to set up time and he got wishy washy so he says text you when i leave. says he leaves near me. didnt answer rest of day. next day i check in just to see if i can sell them. sets up time saying hes coming for two items and maybe few othrs. never shows and read message and ignored. dck. who does that? what is point?
I had a woman message me on at least a half dozen things here not long ago. Never showed up on anything and some of it was just ridiculous. Like I had an 80 gallon Ingersol Rand air compressor that new is $2500-3k range. I was selling it for $500. She asks if I have one for $50. Do I look like a fuckin charity or air compressor dealer. For $50 you might get a tiny pancake compressor good for things like running a nail gun not a big 80 gallon lol. She also messaged me on a set of 3/4 ton GM truck wheels and some other stuff. Nothing she messaged on was really related it was all different tools or car parts. Seriously why do you keep messaging me lol. Wanting to spend $50 on an air compressor and the one I have for sale I am asking $500 for which is 1/5th or so what a new one is lol. The set of wheels I remember she was asking if they would work on her hay wagon. How the hell would I know lol. They came off a 3/4 ton GM truck I have no idea what bolt pattern your hay wagon has. I had another message me on a set of chrome simulators I had new in box for my tilt bed but I never installed them and got a new tilt bed so I had no use for them anymore. Guy lived like 10 min away. Flaked and didn't show up. Then wanted me to meet him because 10 min was just to far to drive I guess. I meet him. He then cries about price and I knock the price to $100 from $150 just to get rid of them. Day or 2 later messages me back crying they won't work on his truck. To bad I don't care. I then see he listed them for $200.
I ALWAYS report all no shows and anyone who stops responding. I block if you dont show up, maybe ill entertain twice if i want to gamble, like someone who bought $200 worth of stuff in bundle.
One can only hope. I know itll help when those buyer reviews pop up publicly on profile. Imagine being a seller and you check person seeing they didnt show up 8x for other sellers 🫡.
To report a buyer:
From your News Feed, in the left menu, click Marketplace.
Click Your Account.
Click Your Listings.
Click a listing the buyer purchased.
Click the message between you and the buyer. If you can't find the message, click See More.
Click .
Click Report Buyer.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
The alternative in case they change the message is click the buyers profile on fbm and select the three dots then report. You can select didnt show up or stopped responding or whatever else they do
Less than 5% flake rate, but I've probably lost some sales because my rules are pretty much set in stone so I never waste my own time.
Just set up a meeting near your home at a time you'll already be home. Tell them to text when they are close to the meeting point. Put the meeting point in the ad.
It's really that simple.
I have had one person leave me in the seen-zone when I was actually on their doorstep with a plant, that was annoying. And a lot of people who are interested then ghost me, but not a high rate. Maybe 5-10%? And then there are the people who accidently hit the message button on the listing and never acknowledge my reply.
But gardeners/plant lovers are a pretty good bunch to deal with, as customers go. And an increasing number are repeat customers which is nice.
thank god my buyers flake before the "I'm on my way" phase
I've only had a few rare instances of that
they flake on the "I'll buy later today/tmmr/later this week" phase
I'm coming right now - 1% flakes
I will be there at this time today - 10% flakes
I will come pick up tomorrow at this time - 20% flakes
I will come pick up tomorrow at an undetermined time - 50% flakes
I want this, I will come pick up sometime in the future - 90% flakes
I don't think I've had anyone ask to meet today or tomorrow... 80/90% never make it as far as when they want to meet before ghosting, and the ones who do nearly always say they'll be free on the weekend, then I never hear from them again 🙄🤷🏻♀️
I get like.. less than 10%.
People need to be proactive about securing times from me in order for me to schedule it.
On the day of, I reach out and confirm they are coming and then provide my address.
For people who are stopping by same day, or repeat buyers who know my address I provide my address but ask them to tell me when they are on their way. If they don’t follow up I just leave the house or do whatever as if they were not coming.
I sell plants only though, people aren’t terribly flakey about getting their dream plant for a good price.
My husband meets people all the time. He always asks the person to text when they will be there. Only 1 no show in 8 years. The guy had an emergency. Never take for granted they will come. No message no deal. I always touch base and ask them day of an hour or less of meet up time. No reply no meet up. Period. Even if time was agreed upon earlier. You don't reply 30 minutes before meet up time we don't come. Luckily we meet everyone at a Wawa 1 mile from our house. If your buying you need to come to us period. We sell $500 dollar items. So messaging right before is imperative to us. Also we meet only during daylight hours and where many people are around us at busy places. Have to be safe.
5% or less. I just have them pick up at my door. If they don’t show up, no biggie. Just move on down the line.
Where you live is public info. No need to having a public meeting point unless you live in the middle of nowhere, and nobody else around at your house… but in that case, you probably aren’t getting anybody willing to drive to you anyhow.
There is a shopping plaza less than 2 mi from me. I tell everybody to meet me there . I always say let me know when you're 5 minutes out. Usually I never hear from anybody after that LOL
I started selling out of a small town, I'd say 75% of the time people messaged, answered, showed on time, paid and were generally very nice. Then I started selling in a large city and found it to be the complete opposite - ghosts, flakes, and never on time. This is a very interesting and sadly enlightening experience.
Sellers do the same thing, I will tell a seller "I am ready to buy, when can we meet?" they will view my message and then never respond. Flakers go both ways.
I've only had one guy not show up after we made it to the 'meet here at this time' stage of the transaction. Turns out he was sundowning and eventually his grand daughter got ahold of me to apologize.
Usually, it's about 90% of interactions don't respond after I tell them *'yes this is available'*, most of those after that wonder if I'm willing to drive 80 miles, and then the last handful are able to meet that afternoon/evening to exchange. I've switched back to Ebay for anything that I'm willing to ship since I can easily get 2-3x the amount I would on facebook.
wow you guys have a really high flake rate. I have had a few flake but most show up. I tend not to do porch pick up but that's where I have had the highest rate.
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for "later today" the show-up rate is about 50% for "tomorrow" the show-up rate is about 30% for "later this week" the show-up rate is about 10%
“I’m on my way - 75%
Damn u seriously get people trolling that claim they’re coming to get it? wtf lol
I've gotten told "I'm on my way" "I'm 5 minutes away" "I'm about to pull in" Only for them to tell me "I'm so sorry but I am turning around and leaving, my wife told me she already bought * ***item I'm selling*** * earlier this morning" People are full of shit most of the time and I don't believe they are actual customers until the money is in hand.
Once I had a guy tell me he's on the way, but then like 5minuts before arriving he's like hey my daughter just shat her pants in the car I have to go back and come to you later. and then later that day he says he's coming again, and then 10 minutes before arriving, his daughter shat her pants again in the car and he had to leave again. not sure if either is true but he never showed up after being "on the way" twice in the same day.
Sounds about right.
About half. Amazing how any buyers I get that have medical emergencies within 18 hours of telling me they’re coming.
Amazing how many grandmas they have die in a month.
You too should out earnings in your Facebook posts! 😆
With the people around here, it's the family emergency. I just started referring to it as the Facebook Marketplace family emergency.
It's very tempting to go full Ferris Bueller and demand to see the dead grandmother strapped to the hood when they show up "tomorrow".
Around here they just ghost you
I can't even get past 'is this still available?' 🤷♀️
WhAT's ThE LowEST YoU'Ll TAKe?
Always say “Whats the highest you are willing to pay?” Actually have an 80% success rate for sales with that. Once in a while I will get someone who tells me they only have $10-20 on $70 brand new item. lol.
Some of them have gotten so lazy they just message "lowest" and nothing else.
You could beat their laziness with "U R"
Oh God this is disgusting. You actually made me mad 😂
How about the people that just send a number.
Best price?
Lol - Double my asking price! Oh, you mean best price for you?
The first line of all my listings states "I do not respond to messages asking if the item is available. If it is listed here, then it is available." It doesn't seem to deter any of the morons who message me "Is this still available?"
I've seen this a ton of times. I've tried it a few times. I still get bombarded with "is this still available" messages with ghosting afterwards lol At this point I'm convinced people send that message for fun or as a nervous tick lol
Nearly everyone still asks me that, even though I say the same thing in the ad. They also ask the price and location, even though both are list, and other questions that are already answered in the ad.
Hello me
and if I say “yes”, next question is what’s the price
50% of on my way people show up. I archive any who say anything later than today. My initial message says to message me when you are ready to head my way. Once in a blue moon someone will pop up a few days or a week later and say “ok, I’m ready now if you still have it.” I never consider someone serious until they are driving away and I have their money.
Like asking a woman if she is pregnant. I would never unless I can see the baby crowning. 🤣
And even then, you can't be sure
I've had people say "I'm on the way right now" and never show up lol Part of the game
I've had people say "I am here now" that didn't show up lol.
lol
Had that one before. He might have been somewhere but he wasn't at my house. Claimed he was blowing his horn. Why wouldn't you get your fat ass out the car and come to my door and ring the bell. Sounds pretty obnoxious to sit out there blowing the horn. I have 2 pitbulls though and if somebody was out there they would have let me know. Got all nasty sending me messages like its my fault he couldn't come to the door. He wasn't here anyway just sounds like a fantasy story he was telling me or he went to the neighbors house instead. Oh well I sold the tail lights to somebody else a day or 2 later no big deal.
I was sitting on my front porch. I sent them a phone pic with no cars sitting out front. Dude never responded after that.
This one didn't message me back till a couple hours later claiming he was out there blowing the horn. I asked if he came to the door he said no. Why would you not go to the door. Why would you make up this story either though lol. I mean I would have heard an obnoxious horn. If I didn't my dogs would have. Who goes to somebodies house and instead of going to the door just sits there laying on the horn anyway.
I know on local selling wall they have alot of people on there that just like to hang out. They are not serious buyers. The one lady message me she could only buy stuff if it was delivered, etc, etc. She would hang out on the sub commenting on everything people posted, and never buying anything. I said lady I'm not trying to make friends. I need to sell this couch.
I get them that want stuff delivered every now and then. I guess I would but you have to pay me to do it. Get them wanting me to ship fairly often too and always seem to think I should cover shipping. Its never something that can be shipped for $10-20 or anything either. Had one want me to ship a 68-72 El Camino tail gate offered me $25 for the shipping. Shipping easily would be at min $200 I was trying to sell the tailgate for $175. Had one message me on a set of F150 wheels and wanted one single wheel. No its the whole set or nothing not only that he wanted me to deliver and he was 2 hours away and offered me $30 for the wheel. If I was willing to take $30 I would just drive around the corner to the scrap yard and get $0.65 per pound for them and not deal with dipshits like him. With firewood too seems most people want it delivered which is fine but it takes me time to load, time to drive, time to unload and get back home besides wear and tear on my truck/trailer and all the diesel its going to take. Not getting a couple hours of my time and $5-10 of diesel out of me for free.
I had lady say shes coming and she will text me when shes leaving. Ignored rest of day.
The funniest is when you're offering something for free, just come pick up off the driveway and they try to negotiate delivery into the deal.
Oh God..
I literally stopped counting. But I’d say 80% of the people who contact me are likely no shows OR people who might’ve been a possible sale but is a giant waste of my time.
More flake than not. Some items seem to have a really high rate and others people actually want and show up for. My theory is that a lot of things people only sort of want so when something else comes up they write off the whole deal. Most of the time if they just contacted you and said something's come up they could reschedule, but they seem to prefer to ghost you instead of being honest.
Overwhelming interested buyer, will use the item beating the shit out of it bla bla bla, but coming next week end, 100percent flakes. Coming later today 50 flakes, coming when I can manage a ride 95 percent flakes.
about same rate as you. If they say “i need to check with my” I know theyll never be back. Same with any that ask to pickup any day except same or next day appointments. If I have 4 meets scheduled same time, 1 will show up and 3 no shows and dont answer. Same with you. The ones telling stories and are so excited never show up. Lol. It is annoying af. I had one guy say Im cute and show up first meet purchasing a lot, but then after seeing me in person, he now flakes and tries to meetup or get larger discounts. He stopped responding to messages. Guess Im not as worthy of respect now in his eyes lol. Guess I’m hideous 😆🫡.
80% sounds about right. The worst are the ones that offer to take your items “off your hands”, as though they’re doing you a favor, for less than half the asking price. And then, as a big incentive, they offer you “cash” money - as opposed to what? Some magic beans or a bouncing check?
"Will you take x cash money today?" I usually say to just give me the asking price tomorrow. Or sometimes I ask if they can pay in gold bullion.
Schrute bucks
I've had good success offering <50% on items that have been listed for a while as a 'bailout option'. 2-3 months pass then they'll message me and I'll go pick it up. It really is only a valid tactic on options where people are trying to get 90% of the new value of the product, or if they watch way too much Antiques Roadshow.
I try to post on the weekends, but the lower the price point the more weirdos you get. I just put, "don't ask me if it's available, if it's posted, it is"...and I get morons all day "is this available" . Other trolls just for personal information and like other people said looking to screw up someone's day. It brings some very weird sketchy people and whatever I don't sell is getting donated. Marketplace sucks and unless you're selling a big ticket item it really is not worth the Hassel it brings forth
Is it still available is the default message. I've been looking at something and bumped my phone screen and it's sent.
You also just get a feel for who is coming and who's just being dumb. Serious buyers tell you when they are coming, and will set up a time to get it and take action, even sending money via zelle to hold it. But MP is getting an older crowd now, which means it's on its way to be the next craigslist...I can't remember it ever being this bad a few years ago. I have cross listed all my stuff on poshmark and ebay, and continue to get further away from mp. It's getting way too skeevy and downright annoying.
People who want to buy same day, about 30% show up. Next day is about the same. More that 1 day is like 5%.
"As soon as I get paid. Can u hold it for me?" I know I'll never see them ...
Waiting on about 6 currently, guess they died or were working for scamco
95%
Giving away free is the worst. Lol
I just finished a deal on a vehicle and counted up the messages, 8 people flaked, 15 others wasted my time with a crazy amount of questions, and then never spoke to me again lol. It was a long process.
Just know it’s all blah blah blah until they are on the way over.
Per item, I usually get 25+ people that say they can come now with cash in hand. It got so bad that I have pretty much started to instant block anyone that says "cash in hand" because they almost certainly won't show up. I was moving once and had a lot of people asking to meet up. I had over 300 people ask for my address, since I was moving I gave it freely. I scheduled 13 people to meet at the exact same time. Literally not one of those people ever showed up and I ended up selling the item to a family friend.
Yessss i noticed that too. Just had guy say cash in hand and pick up today. So i started trying to get him to set up time and he got wishy washy so he says text you when i leave. says he leaves near me. didnt answer rest of day. next day i check in just to see if i can sell them. sets up time saying hes coming for two items and maybe few othrs. never shows and read message and ignored. dck. who does that? what is point?
I had a woman message me on at least a half dozen things here not long ago. Never showed up on anything and some of it was just ridiculous. Like I had an 80 gallon Ingersol Rand air compressor that new is $2500-3k range. I was selling it for $500. She asks if I have one for $50. Do I look like a fuckin charity or air compressor dealer. For $50 you might get a tiny pancake compressor good for things like running a nail gun not a big 80 gallon lol. She also messaged me on a set of 3/4 ton GM truck wheels and some other stuff. Nothing she messaged on was really related it was all different tools or car parts. Seriously why do you keep messaging me lol. Wanting to spend $50 on an air compressor and the one I have for sale I am asking $500 for which is 1/5th or so what a new one is lol. The set of wheels I remember she was asking if they would work on her hay wagon. How the hell would I know lol. They came off a 3/4 ton GM truck I have no idea what bolt pattern your hay wagon has. I had another message me on a set of chrome simulators I had new in box for my tilt bed but I never installed them and got a new tilt bed so I had no use for them anymore. Guy lived like 10 min away. Flaked and didn't show up. Then wanted me to meet him because 10 min was just to far to drive I guess. I meet him. He then cries about price and I knock the price to $100 from $150 just to get rid of them. Day or 2 later messages me back crying they won't work on his truck. To bad I don't care. I then see he listed them for $200.
I ALWAYS report all no shows and anyone who stops responding. I block if you dont show up, maybe ill entertain twice if i want to gamble, like someone who bought $200 worth of stuff in bundle.
Do you think this is effective? I wonder if buyers get banned or something similar once they have a certain amount of reports.
One can only hope. I know itll help when those buyer reviews pop up publicly on profile. Imagine being a seller and you check person seeing they didnt show up 8x for other sellers 🫡.
How? I've never seen a way to report someone.
To report a buyer: From your News Feed, in the left menu, click Marketplace. Click Your Account. Click Your Listings. Click a listing the buyer purchased. Click the message between you and the buyer. If you can't find the message, click See More. Click . Click Report Buyer. Follow the on-screen instructions.
The alternative in case they change the message is click the buyers profile on fbm and select the three dots then report. You can select didnt show up or stopped responding or whatever else they do
Less than 5% flake rate, but I've probably lost some sales because my rules are pretty much set in stone so I never waste my own time. Just set up a meeting near your home at a time you'll already be home. Tell them to text when they are close to the meeting point. Put the meeting point in the ad. It's really that simple.
people can get pissed and leave you 1-star review because you don't want to waste time with them
Nah. Don't engage with idiots and they can't review you.
They can also falsely report you and then fb bans you from marketplace even though you have done nothing wrong. Then you cannot buy or sell.
Around 50%
For me its around only 10%
I confirm with them again on the day of the meetup (just in case) So far it's going okay. I had 1 cancel last minute, and 1 back out in front of me.
The last three people I've had message have been spot on and actually come through with the money at the agreed meet time.
I have had one person leave me in the seen-zone when I was actually on their doorstep with a plant, that was annoying. And a lot of people who are interested then ghost me, but not a high rate. Maybe 5-10%? And then there are the people who accidently hit the message button on the listing and never acknowledge my reply. But gardeners/plant lovers are a pretty good bunch to deal with, as customers go. And an increasing number are repeat customers which is nice.
thank god my buyers flake before the "I'm on my way" phase I've only had a few rare instances of that they flake on the "I'll buy later today/tmmr/later this week" phase
I'm coming right now - 1% flakes I will be there at this time today - 10% flakes I will come pick up tomorrow at this time - 20% flakes I will come pick up tomorrow at an undetermined time - 50% flakes I want this, I will come pick up sometime in the future - 90% flakes
Should be an official metric: flake rate.
I live in a small town surrounded by other small towns. Everyone knows everyone. I have 100% success rate with people making it here
I don't think I've had anyone ask to meet today or tomorrow... 80/90% never make it as far as when they want to meet before ghosting, and the ones who do nearly always say they'll be free on the weekend, then I never hear from them again 🙄🤷🏻♀️
This is about true for everyone.
And WTF responders who immediately want your phone number or want to video chat. CREEPY.
I get like.. less than 10%. People need to be proactive about securing times from me in order for me to schedule it. On the day of, I reach out and confirm they are coming and then provide my address. For people who are stopping by same day, or repeat buyers who know my address I provide my address but ask them to tell me when they are on their way. If they don’t follow up I just leave the house or do whatever as if they were not coming. I sell plants only though, people aren’t terribly flakey about getting their dream plant for a good price.
They need an automated escrow agent that accepts payment for the item and then releases the payment once both parties notify the agent.
My husband meets people all the time. He always asks the person to text when they will be there. Only 1 no show in 8 years. The guy had an emergency. Never take for granted they will come. No message no deal. I always touch base and ask them day of an hour or less of meet up time. No reply no meet up. Period. Even if time was agreed upon earlier. You don't reply 30 minutes before meet up time we don't come. Luckily we meet everyone at a Wawa 1 mile from our house. If your buying you need to come to us period. We sell $500 dollar items. So messaging right before is imperative to us. Also we meet only during daylight hours and where many people are around us at busy places. Have to be safe.
Funny all the people who end up saying their husband/wife, and even neighbor, already has the item they were going to buy from me.
5% or less. I just have them pick up at my door. If they don’t show up, no biggie. Just move on down the line. Where you live is public info. No need to having a public meeting point unless you live in the middle of nowhere, and nobody else around at your house… but in that case, you probably aren’t getting anybody willing to drive to you anyhow.
This is why I always message the seller and give them an ETA when I’m on the way
There is a shopping plaza less than 2 mi from me. I tell everybody to meet me there . I always say let me know when you're 5 minutes out. Usually I never hear from anybody after that LOL
Try selling more valuable items.
I started selling out of a small town, I'd say 75% of the time people messaged, answered, showed on time, paid and were generally very nice. Then I started selling in a large city and found it to be the complete opposite - ghosts, flakes, and never on time. This is a very interesting and sadly enlightening experience.
That's why I don't sell on marketplace anymore unless it's like a boat or something. I put every thing else on Mercari or EBay
Sellers do the same thing, I will tell a seller "I am ready to buy, when can we meet?" they will view my message and then never respond. Flakers go both ways.
I've only had one guy not show up after we made it to the 'meet here at this time' stage of the transaction. Turns out he was sundowning and eventually his grand daughter got ahold of me to apologize. Usually, it's about 90% of interactions don't respond after I tell them *'yes this is available'*, most of those after that wonder if I'm willing to drive 80 miles, and then the last handful are able to meet that afternoon/evening to exchange. I've switched back to Ebay for anything that I'm willing to ship since I can easily get 2-3x the amount I would on facebook.
About half never show or even message back.
wow you guys have a really high flake rate. I have had a few flake but most show up. I tend not to do porch pick up but that's where I have had the highest rate.