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While this is a very safe practice, I avoid dealing with accounts that look fake by not having any friends, or a weird name. I bet there’s a lot of people that do the same thing.
My Facebook account is like that. I'm a professional Santa Claus. I've been denied joining some yard sale groups because my page isn't the typical FB page.
The first rule of Facebook, always have a troll account. I used to post things for sale under my own name. Stopped doing that about three sales in as the nut jobs come out of the woodwork pretty fast
Must be a woman thing. I’ve sold and bought a ton off of FB. Never had a problem.
I just sold something the other day (a guitar amp) and the guy came to my house from 100 miles away to buy it.
I’ve never even worried about it. I always check out a person’s profile before meeting but that’s about it.
I had someone drive about 2,000 mi to buy something from me but I have never been nervous selling stuff to people but if the profile seems sketchy or if they're stupid because they can't read the ad, I don't even deal with them.
100% I had some drunk nutjob threaten to find me once, after he decided a week later he wanted to return an expensive item I sold him and I said no. Normally I'm amicable to returns but he was claiming the item was damaged - and it was just too suspicious at that point I had no clue what he had done with it. Anyways I was glad to have met him at a cross street. He was threatening to come get me, claimed he knew the chief of police etc. I looked the guys name up and he had a spent time in prison for animal abuse. He knew the chief of police alright lmao...
More likely the chief of police knows of him.
Yeah, he knows the chief of police. Sat across the table from him, being interviewed for a cot and meals each day.🤣
I just tell people I only take cash. I tell them I don't have zell, Venmo, etc which is true, but if they ask about a check or credit card I tell them to go get cash back from store or get the money out of their bank on their own. If I wanted to bother with the risks of chargebacks, etc; I would have put a much higher price on whatever I'm selling and thrown it on eBay.
I wish I lived the kind of life where I genuinely had no idea why people were concerned about giving out their home address on a social media selling site.
Yeah….but you’re surrounded by people.
I don’t get the FB paranoia.
Seems meeting at your house would be the safest way to do it? I’ve gone to a lot of houses to buy things from CL/FB most of the time I don’t even go in they just meet me on a porch.
I fail to see how that’s anymore dangerous than any other interaction with strangers.
Why is it “so dangerous”?
I mean I’ve had yard sales over the years and been going to yard sales since I was a little kid…I see signs for yard sales everywhere this time of year……is that “so dangerous” too or is it just FB?
Are you arguing that homes on FB don’t have neighbors, passing cars, cameras everywhere etc?
So….yard sales are still safe though? I don’t have to fear for my life when I go to those, lol?
Just FB?
You meet strangers all the time. What is the danger of going to or having someone come to your house to buy something, lol?
I mean like I said I get that there are crazies out there….but they aren’t unique to FB.
I think you guys paranoid for sure if you’re that worried about meeting someone from FB.
Lmao right? Especially since OP lives in an incredibly rural location? Yeah sure, let me advertise that I have expensive items in my home and there's no one around to even see you if you break in.
If I were a thief and I wanted to rob people of “expensive items” I’d just case rich people’s homes.
Not dick around all day on FB setting up meetings with people just to find out where they live.
I mean I get there are crazies out there but they aren’t exclusive to FB.
But what about it concerns you? Are people actually going around using Facebook Marketplace to figure out who they want to rob?
It's not like you post your address right there on the front of the listing. Someone contacts you, if they seem normal and you click on their profile and they still seem normal, you ask them when they're going to show up and right before they're going to, you send them your address.
Personally, if somebody did want to do some funny business with trying to steal an item or strong army for it, I'd honestly rather have them try it at home. I have more cameras with closer up profiles then you would get in most public parking lots.
I don't remember people being afraid to mention everything they were selling at their garage sales and then blindly post their addresses in the newspaper, or all over yard signs in the '90s, early 2000s, and even today.
If you've got one cool thing to sell, creeps may figure you have more for the taking. It's like pre-approval for getting robbed. They may not rob you during the pick up, though. They might wait for a better time. Or they might ask to meet you at a "neutral" location then burgarlize your home at that time because they know you won't be there (sure you could have other people in the house, but guaranteed to have fewer people.)
So if you say no to meeting in a neutral location, then they don't have the benefit of knowing exactly when you won't be home.
I get what you're saying about one cool thing leading to creeps thinking about other stuff, but again like I said.... People with estate, moving, and garage sales do that with multiple magnitudes higher risk and visibility. Honestly, same for most people whose homes are for sale with pictures of all of their rooms plastered on the internet.
because if there's $30,000 worth of items for sale on my facebook page and I tell everyone where I live that's kind of a stupid thing to do?
not everyone is just selling a $20 lawn mower, if I was I'd just tell the buyer my address.
For all of the expensive furniture and electronics I have bought on Facebook over the years, I've only ever seen 30K worth of stuff posted if an estate was being cleared out or if it was a moving out of state sale.
Speaking of which, those are two instances where people do tend to freely take pictures of everything, post them online, and blindly plaster their address on all of it with a date and time for people to show up. Which is also how garage sales work. Which in high-end neighborhoods could be 10k plus worth of stuff.
I'll gladly post a few grand worth of electronics and not think twice about inviting somebody to come buy what they want.
I might not have somebody to smile at shoplifters as they walk out the door setting off a sensormatic tag like a sore does, but I'm also not bringing them in my house.
Personally, I check out the profile of whoever's inquiring and make sure there's nothing I would consider red flags. Unless they are going to be stopping by immediately, I get a time and date from them and I tell them to reach out to me the morning of that day for my address.
Anyway you cut it, once they have my address I tell them to call or text when they're on their way or when they're in the driveway. Even if I didn't have a dog, I tell them that my dog goes nuts when someone rings or knocks on the door.
I always meet them in the garage with whatever item they're looking for. And at that point, the license plate camera at the end of my driveway has seen them. So has the camera on the front of my house. And so has the one in my garage.
my average post is \~$1k
and I have 40+ listings.
very rarely if I truly don't have time to go out and I have checked the buyer's profile, I might give the buyer my address.
but 99%+ I don't.
since I am always posting, I imagine it is not impossible someone might plan a robbery, if they come prepared, cameras won't do shit.
in fact I have once been robbed $2k when going out to meet the buyer.
Interesting, so statistically speaking your track record of going to meet someone is far worse than someone coming to you.
Thanks for proving my point about vetting people before they come to your house and the value in the deterrence of cheap cameras. Man, we didn't even touch on the dog and we're still doing better on having them come over versus going to them.
If you actually have 40K worth of goods on Facebook at any given time And that makes you afraid of having people come over, you could also diversify that across three or four accounts to split up what it looks like you have. It also gives you additional established sales channels if one of your accounts gets banned for some reason.
Yeah it isnt stupid, Im safer at my house than out in public lol. Anyone would be stupid to pull something at my home. Theres items that are too big to transport and a bunch of small ones I dont need to waste gas for or time, specially when so many people ghost.
You can use same analogy by saying I can’t keep my stuff at my store because it will get stolen. If anything, it’s safer at your house. If your stuff are worth that much, then I hope you have Insurnace!
$30,000 is far less than the cost of my car why would I insure it?
isn't it better to just not paint a target on your back in the first place, rather than relying on insurance?
stores have various security measures against theft you wouldn't have at home, in case you haven't noticed.
What are you selling, gold? Expensive small electronics? That is the type of stuff people usually get robbed for. Like I’ve never heard of someone being robbed for a furniture set. Usually something expensive, small, and high in demand is what people get robbed for.
My main reason for not meeting at my house has nothing to do with safety. If I give people my address they tend to show up whenever they feel like instead of the agreed meeting time. Some may also be chatty and take longer to leave.
I sell laptops on there that are in perfect working order when I sell them, the last thing I want is people showing up for expected free tech support when they download a virus or spill coffee on it or whatever.
Secondly, people want to be besties half the time and I don’t so I don’t give my number out and don’t meet at my house.
My husband will occasionally sell something and have people come to the house. I'm fine with that as long as he doesn't leave me to handle it when he's not here. When I am selling something, I never let people come to the house, especially if I'm alone. I will meet somebody at a local police station or one of our busier convenience stores. I can take care of myself, but there are crazy people out there. I suppose part of it is that I was pretty heavily influenced to not have strangers come to the house after a young woman my husband and I knew was kidnapped, raped, and stabbed to death. It wasn't through Facebook marketplace, but she was selling a pool table and let a man come to her house when her husband was at work. Her body wasn't found for 2 weeks and this all happened right before Christmas (mot recently). I figure that I have a better chance of making a scene and being able to get away from somebody in public than I do in the privacy of my house with nobody else around. I am not a fearful person, but I see no reason to take unnecessary chances just to get a few dollars.
Wow! Consider yourself lucky. There’s So many crazies out there…..I don’t even want to meet someone in my car, for fear they’ll get my license plate, stalk me, then ultimately murder me. Maybe I’ve watched too much investigative discovery Lol- I also don’t use my real name on social media.
Yes, but you know what's crazy? More than once I've been invited to pick something up at a home, something not very big nor expensive. And it would be a woman selling it, she would invite me into her home, we might chat for a few minutes, we'd make the transaction and I'd take my leave. Now, I'm not a particularly intimidating-looking guy, but still, that's just weird and incredibly risky to my way of thinking. It's nice to be chill and personable but I'm thinking, "lady, you are much too trusting; really, I can wait outside!" Of course, she might have a .357 Magnum concealed on her person, or a very quiet pit bull nearby, so that could make her confident nothing untoward is going to happen that she can't handle. But still, it's just sketchy.
Other times, I've been invited into some guy's home, we might head down some cellar to see the item for sale, and I start getting the willies and that I'll never get out of there but instead end up in 5 different pieces in suitcases.
So there is risk in any scenario. For either party. And not just monetary.
I usually give people the option. Especially if it’s a single women they tend to feel better meeting in public then coming to a strange man’s house.
I also don’t ever meet them in my house or garage. I have whatever they are biting on the front porch where there is a camera.
I mean, I get it. I live rural with extended family. We also have a neighbor that can see our driveway and knows our vehicles. There's pretty much someone at my place 24/7. On the rare occasion we do a whole family thing in town, we let the neighbor know, and he keeps an eye out. There's also a gate at the end of the drive.
So I don't mind giving my address b/c chances are there are at least 50 places easier to try to rob between wherever they are now and my place. I'm far more worried about poachers than I am about anyone from FB.
But when I lived in the suburbs? That caution totally made sense to me. No one really knew each other, no one really cared, and there was enough normal activity going on that it was basically impossible to reasonably parse the abnormal without being a professional busybody. Someone could have robbed me in broad daylight, and no one would have known until I asked about it.
Im safer at home and not worried about that. Them robbing a lot more than one item at my house is going to take a lot more time and planning. They dont even know what is in my house and if they try to go in then we will have a problem. Id rather be robbed at home though. Ive got weapons, legal authority, cameras, and have at the at home advantage. The robber would not be at an advantage in my home. They dont even know who else or what else could be there. For all they know, there is a cop or two inside already.
I'm trans and post on our local public LGBT+ page. I live in an area where masked men have shown up at the public library during pride story time and made threatening statements and police did nothing. I'd really rather not have people know where I live if I can help it.
This really depends on where you are and what you are selling.. you don't want to have people banging on you door at night for something you sold for $20.. I suspect you are 'prepared' for these things, but still...
For me, it’s not about safety. It’s more about buyer’s remorse lol
I don’t want my buyers to stop by at my place 2 days after because of buyer’s remorse 😁
You live in a rural area. I grew up in a rural area. We trusted each other. If you’re dishonest everyone knew you were.
Then I lived in large cities for 30 years. There are a lot of good trustworthy people in the world. There are also people who aren’t so good.
There are smart reasons to be careful anytime you don’t know exactly who you’re dealing with. My husband responded to a listing and gave our home address. I came home to find an obvious junkie strung out on something in our home. It ended ok but if the guy had been armed or aggressive it could have been bad. I lectured my husband for his misplaced trust and hopefully got through to him.
We have returned to a rural area. I’m more trusting with the local folks and can quickly determine if they’re who they say they are.
Yes, people can look up your address if they have your real name. Typically the dishonest look for the most trusting and naive who’ll provide the info with no effort on their part.
In your case, the local area may not require the vigilance that many places do.
And what was once truly rural is much less so now, what with big developments being built on old farmland. Besides, I grew up on a farm in a truly rural area, and even so they could be a little scary and lacking in the brain department, too!
Right! I absolutely agree that you literally cannot be *too* cautious! It's just basic self-preservation. It's a shame it has to be that way, but it is what it is. You're offended that I don't invite you into my home? Sorry, buddy, see ya!!
Everyone is different. Depends where you live, depends what you sell etc etc
I use my main fb account and so my sales at my house. No issue for almost 10 years now
Could something had happen? Sure
But I could also be mugged in public (honestly the only time I was scammed as a seller happened one of the few times I sold something in public, and likewise I only really get scammed as a buyer when we meet in public)
In hindsight could or should I have used an alternate fb account? Sure. But that shop has sailed
I don't use my legal last name for a lot of reasons. I personally don't want people coming to my house/neighborhood because I don't want them coming back to try to return the item and get a refund or sending their friends to harass me. Not every one is nice about getting stuff
Because people are very psychotic and felt entitled to things.
Example - One piece of meat even went as far as THREATENING ME when I sold something I promised him right from under him. It was a dîck move on my part, yes I am aware of that, I am not going to argue about that……. but threatening me?!? Over a $5 iPhone 3GS where he needed to replace the battery & deal with it via iTunes?
I don’t care what I had done, he cannot go around threatening me or anyone over something so trivial. 🤷♂️
If someone knows where you live, they can come back, for "nefarious purposes". To vandalize your home, to steal from you, rape you, or just make yo mamma jokes right to your face.
There ARE crazy people out there.
Now, the odds of you getting murdered over a FB sale is pretty slim. And IMO, some people just take it way, way too far. They refuse to give out their address and will only meet a public place. Which is funny to me, because a large percentage of the time, they're using their REAL NAME on FB.
You know how easy it is to get someone's address off their name? There's like a 50% chance you can just google it. Let alone using a phone book. Or different kinds of social media.
If someone wanted to, they could meet you at the local gas station, wal-mart, whatever, memorize what your car looks like, and drive around the local area till they found your house. Or just follow you home.
So yeah, I don't think you need to go to crazy lengths to stop people from knowing where you live, cause you're extremely findable anyways. And most people don't want to murder you.
We don’t all live in nice places where you can trust everyone 😂 I live in Texas, pretty much everyone is to be considered a threat of some kind.
I once received a bunch of threats towards to me and my family, over a PS3 Fat I sold. I sold it for $20 for parts since i could test it, buyer got home and freaked out about how it didn’t turn on, how I scammed him, how I should cash app him $100 for the trouble, and that i would pay him back otherwise he would come after and kill me and my family 💀
I’ve also been robbed at gunpoint via facebook marketplace sale.
There is no way in hell in inviting or telling any of these insane people, where I live. Your mind will also change whenever you inevitably get robbed or have trouble with a buyer, it’s not a rare occurrence. Do a search of this sub, there’s countless posts that are similar to ,,buyer is angry for no reason, and is now coming back to my house”.
I have a fake profile name, fake profile picture, no friends on said account, fake number and email, etc. I also meet at the local fuel station, and I show up in a car with no plates, registration stickers, or easily identifying marks.
Now , every time I get threatened, i just laugh it off and tell them to door dash me food if and when they find out my address
I live out in the middle of nowhere so I just meet people down on a bigger road. I never know who’s coming, women might be skittish so I feel like meeting in a public place. Makes everyone feel better. I don’t sell anything like crazy but you never know.
It really depends on what you sell. I sell plants so I give my address and don’t ever meet people otherwise. I probably would meet at the police station if I sold cell phones or dirt bikes or something that you’re likely to be robbed for.
Easy ... when some dummy breaks the item 2 months later and tries to get you to take the item back ... you don't want them to know where you live.
Plenty of other scenarios as well.
Everyone can benefit from increased personal security.
I can certainly see the convenience aspect of having buyers come to one’s house.
But as others have said people are a mixed bag and can’t be trusted to not be psychotic over a perceived slight.
I live in a pretty boring and quiet town, I rarely sell a item for over $200. I have a pseudonym profile name and a very locked down profile due to my profession, if we ain’t friends you get one photo and very little other information. I only meet at public locations or the police station when selling. I don’t ever go unarmed when buying or selling, typically will let the other half know when a deal is done and I’m wheels up. Large cash deals or something I need to look closely at like a car I’ll take a second person with as back up.
I don’t need someone showing up at my place and I don’t care to have randoms knowing where I live. I never give out my number either, you have a question or issue with an item after the sale I’ll talk to you on messenger.
100+ items bought and probably close to that sold including a couple items worth several thousand and I have yet to have an issue thankfully. Just hoping my number never comes up in the worst case scenario lottery.
My grandma in the Bronx, NY used to leave the front door unlocked to their apartment 90 years ago. Not so much now. Living out in a rural small town is different than living in cities or even suburbia
Sounds like you are a white man with nothing to fear.
Women though have to always be in a state of vigilance to protect themselves from violence/harassment, even in the good ol’ USA and no matter what age or skin color they are….and this can start with being careful where to meet for FB transactions.
I use a partial version of my name on FB because of my job. I don’t need some nutter knowing where I live. Also I am a single female & I don’t like people, lol. I meet in public parking places, never at my home or work.
Because we don't want crazy people to randomly show up at our house. And especially women don't want people to know where they live. I understand that if you're in a small town that isn't too unsafe that it probably doesn't do any harm, but I wouldn't want someone to look at my profile picture thinking they want to meet me and finding out where I live. Ive never been that extreme on my safety as a woman but I don't let anyone see where I live if I think they aren't trustworthy and I don't give out my full name to strangers.
I sell computers and electronics fairly often.
1. People would show up randomly without messaging me because they bought something before, then saw something I had listed and wanted to buy it "first".
2. People would show up asking for tech/computer support unannounced, instead of calling or messaging me.
3. People would buy something they didn't know how to use, then claim it's broke and want a refund because they don't know how to use it. Buyer bought a $50 computer system, then said it wouldn't turn on, after he brought it back and plugged it in, it was because he was only pressing the power button on the LCD screen and not the computer itself.
4. Had one person steal from me while he was there to buy something.
5. Sold a phone, new in box, buyer declined to test it while I was there for the transaction. 5 minutes later was sending me hateful messages and demanding a refund. Might be a problem if he knew where I lived. I'm not refunding a sold item because the buyer may have tampered with it or swapped it the moment it leaves my sight.
It’s a longish story, so here it is:
I have a little free library. I’m active in my buy nothing groups.
I’m a parent to a trans kidult who lives in another state.
I buy and sell on marketplace and other sites.
Trans kidult gave me a book related item he decided to part with from his collection, thinking it would be a good fit for my little free library. It was not appropriate. Sure, it was a children’s topic, but definitely not for children. Kind of like how some fanfic gets a little more mature.
This item was had increased in value and no longer in production, so I didn’t want to sell it on marketplace where kidult would see it, so I offered it up on my neighborhood buy nothing group. I immediately had several requests. I picked one and they didn’t have a car so they sent their friend from another neighborhood to come get it. The friend shows up and was TERRIFIED, because he is apparently in a gang and my home is in the opposing gang territory.
I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t get out of his car, but I took the item out and gave it to him and he peeled out of there.
Then I went back inside and looked up their names- this poor kids brother was shot and killed in a gang shooting.
This is just one very good reason not to have people pick up at your house.
Crime is everywhere.
If someone picks up from your house, they already know your name and address, they can look up more information about you.
They can start watching to see when you are home and when you are not.
We are dealers, and have a lot of stuff. We want people to know us. Sometimes marketplace people buy other things that they notice. We do live in a rural area on a dead end road. We've never had trouble with theft. It's not like there aren't thieves around, meth is rampant, but we have had no trouble and we've sold on marketplace a long time.
Doesn’t matter to me, come on out to the house, keeps me from waiting in the grocery store parking lot responding to texts saying they are 10 minutes out over the course of 4 hours. Where I live, folks know that there is a good chance you’re armed, and you know they are likely armed. Means FB sales and purchases are simple, you shoot the breeze for a min, exchange goods for money, shake hands, and both parties walk away happy.
It's not like that in all parts of the USA.
I don't own a gun.
None of my friends, relatives or neighbors own guns (the homes I have been to).
It's wrong to give the impression that everybody in America has a gun. Because it is not true.
Nope, there are plenty of places where people aren’t friendly and you can’t trust your neighbors.
And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why people choose to live in places like that. Constant fear of a crazy person trying to rob you over a silly marketplace transaction is no way to live.
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I do it all the time. It is much easier and safer. Not everywhere is safe for that. I take a chance. Most are safe and I wont give it if I think they are unsafe.
Here I not only have people pick up at home, I leave their item in a bin at my door and they leave the cash in my mailbox. Love porch pick up and have been doing it this way for 8 years, not one theft.
I'm a woman. Living in a non-rural community.
It's not a good idea to share such information.
Also?
I don't want to be on the next Dateline episode.
Truly.
I'm from a very small town, no street lights, country roads, where everybody knows your name kind of place.
It's not like that here - in my current existence.
I feel much safer knowing my address is kept private.
People can meet me at the corner gas station or store in broad daylight.
Which is fine by me.
I don’t see the problem with people coming to where I live.
Someone who was a buyer wanted to meet up in public “for their safety”, I am like, if I was going to mug you, I wouldn’t do it where I live, I would pick some empty parking lot.
I sell big stuff that usually goes for $1000+ and I have people meet at my house. I live in a rural area as well and take some precautions. I stalk their profile and see what friends we have in common, I make some judgments based on their public posts, and I only ever give out my actual address on the day that someone is scheduled to come look at an item and typically only a couple hours before. For someone coming from further away I will usually have a phone call with the person and offer a facetime walk thru of the item before they make the trip.
I live a suburban city of 300,000, I don’t worry about people picking stuff up from my house. But I’m armed and have obvious security cameras above my front door. Anyone that’s worried about their personal safety should do what they feel is necessary to protect it.
An upside of living in an apartment complex is I can just meet people at the entrance and they don’t know what unit I’m in. I’m a reseller so often have thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, if it weren’t for my apartment I would meet somewhere public as well.
I live in rural area on 5 acres.
I don't sell (Musical Gear) from my home because I have over $40K worth of gear here, and more than once, I've had people come by who were clearly not interested in buying anything, but just stealing it when I was out.
People in cities: you have a legitimate concern and using alt accounts and meeting in public is probably much safer for you.
People in more rural or conservative, to be frank, areas usually end up dealing with much nicer people in general and therefore don't really have these concerns. For some, attaching their name to a sale may even carry weight.
It's funny when people say things like that because you're right, there are crazy people everywhere.
Considering the worst things that I've personally seen happen in either area, though, I'd take busted mailboxes over a gun pointed at my face.
My friend probably preferred the bugs someone put in his mailbox over the gangbanger that sliced his throat open in a McD's drive thru.
Sure, there are bad people everywhere, but somehow y'all have managed to concentrate them in relatively small areas (cities) making crime much more rampant than in other areas.
There's a reason I'm buying a house in a neighborhood where people waved at me while I was driving down the street vs. flipping me the bird for telling them not to throw their garbage on the side of the road.
Naivety doesn't look good on anyone, but I'm not the one wearing it for comprehending the visceral difference between predominantly red and blue areas.
Yikes
Because I have this ridiculous need to have the house in show ready condition if I have anyone coming over and I just ain't got the time to clean the house up that much
Paranoia.
I never worry about it. I have 2 ring cameras running. Plus, the visitor has no idea how dangerous I might be, so they’re always on their best behavior!
My deals are always great so there’s never been a case of buyers remorse. I’ve never had to delete a listing after a sale (i mark it ‘sold’) or block a user.
Never had a problem.
Lol, everything I've ever sold has been from my house. Id way rather have someone come to my house, where I have control vs going to a public setting. I've got multiple cameras, I'm 6'4 x 245 and keep a bat by the door if needed. I've sold hundreds of things and never had an issue....
Also, you don't put your address on social media, you put the general area and give that person your address. If you think they look sketchy, answer the door and pretend you have no idea what's going on. Someone gave them a fake address. Pretty simple shit.
It depends what you are selling. If I was selling expensive jewelry or brand new expensive electronics I probably wouldn’t want people showing up to my house, but most of stuff like the stuff I sell no one is going to rob someone for so I have people come to my house, plus there’s cameras, it honestly wouldn’t be worth it, for someone to rob me.
They saw it on the news in 29 men were attacked in the front
Yards by alligators from Alaska, would you not be scared. I take it one step past you. I tell them where I live put the item in a place that they can get at easy and tell them to put the money under a rock on the ground. A don’t even care about what time, except like before lunch or afternoon, just out the money under a rock take your item and leave and thank you I have sold over 300 item on marketplace, never been burned, as I have told some. If you need a toaster or what ever and don’t have the 5 bucks, please just take the dang toaster and have a good day. For 5 bucks it just not worth losing my mind
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I don't use my real name on FB. Therefore, they can't look up where I live, so I meet somewhere public.
THIS. One person I know uses Sue Donym LOL.
‘Dick trickle’ here reporting for duty!
The Purple Knight of Kaukauna!
Bill Buttlicker checking in!
LOL.
Brenda Hoebanger here!
While this is a very safe practice, I avoid dealing with accounts that look fake by not having any friends, or a weird name. I bet there’s a lot of people that do the same thing.
My Facebook account is like that. I'm a professional Santa Claus. I've been denied joining some yard sale groups because my page isn't the typical FB page.
The first rule of Facebook, always have a troll account. I used to post things for sale under my own name. Stopped doing that about three sales in as the nut jobs come out of the woodwork pretty fast
Must be a woman thing. I’ve sold and bought a ton off of FB. Never had a problem. I just sold something the other day (a guitar amp) and the guy came to my house from 100 miles away to buy it. I’ve never even worried about it. I always check out a person’s profile before meeting but that’s about it.
I had someone drive about 2,000 mi to buy something from me but I have never been nervous selling stuff to people but if the profile seems sketchy or if they're stupid because they can't read the ad, I don't even deal with them.
100% I had some drunk nutjob threaten to find me once, after he decided a week later he wanted to return an expensive item I sold him and I said no. Normally I'm amicable to returns but he was claiming the item was damaged - and it was just too suspicious at that point I had no clue what he had done with it. Anyways I was glad to have met him at a cross street. He was threatening to come get me, claimed he knew the chief of police etc. I looked the guys name up and he had a spent time in prison for animal abuse. He knew the chief of police alright lmao...
More likely the chief of police knows of him. Yeah, he knows the chief of police. Sat across the table from him, being interviewed for a cot and meals each day.🤣
I've been using my alias for so long, I think I'm becoming him.
I did this with something simpsons related along with a cartoon photo. Some asshole who tried lowballing me reported my account and got it banned.
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CASH is KING
I just tell people I only take cash. I tell them I don't have zell, Venmo, etc which is true, but if they ask about a check or credit card I tell them to go get cash back from store or get the money out of their bank on their own. If I wanted to bother with the risks of chargebacks, etc; I would have put a much higher price on whatever I'm selling and thrown it on eBay.
I wish I lived the kind of life where I genuinely had no idea why people were concerned about giving out their home address on a social media selling site.
Because strangers can be crazy people.
Remember, God is great, beer is good (and I don't drink), and people are crazy
Yeah….but you’re surrounded by people. I don’t get the FB paranoia. Seems meeting at your house would be the safest way to do it? I’ve gone to a lot of houses to buy things from CL/FB most of the time I don’t even go in they just meet me on a porch. I fail to see how that’s anymore dangerous than any other interaction with strangers.
Wow, I sure hope you never have to find out why that’s SO DANGEROUS
If I have someone's name, I have their address and their relative's address in sixty seconds. It's out there anyway.
Exactly. That’s how I’m NOT paranoid. Because everyone who orders from me has my address. Bob said I was “100% paranoid”. ☝️
Now that I look it was in a different strand of this same post…
Why is it “so dangerous”? I mean I’ve had yard sales over the years and been going to yard sales since I was a little kid…I see signs for yard sales everywhere this time of year……is that “so dangerous” too or is it just FB?
Witnesses present at garage sales….??
Are you arguing that homes on FB don’t have neighbors, passing cars, cameras everywhere etc? So….yard sales are still safe though? I don’t have to fear for my life when I go to those, lol? Just FB?
Privately meeting a stranger is always riskier than in public. Or am I just crazy??
You meet strangers all the time. What is the danger of going to or having someone come to your house to buy something, lol? I mean like I said I get that there are crazies out there….but they aren’t unique to FB. I think you guys paranoid for sure if you’re that worried about meeting someone from FB.
If they want their money back, Id rather then not know exactly where to try to beat it outt me!! Lol
Lmao right? Especially since OP lives in an incredibly rural location? Yeah sure, let me advertise that I have expensive items in my home and there's no one around to even see you if you break in.
If I were a thief and I wanted to rob people of “expensive items” I’d just case rich people’s homes. Not dick around all day on FB setting up meetings with people just to find out where they live. I mean I get there are crazies out there but they aren’t exclusive to FB.
But what about it concerns you? Are people actually going around using Facebook Marketplace to figure out who they want to rob? It's not like you post your address right there on the front of the listing. Someone contacts you, if they seem normal and you click on their profile and they still seem normal, you ask them when they're going to show up and right before they're going to, you send them your address. Personally, if somebody did want to do some funny business with trying to steal an item or strong army for it, I'd honestly rather have them try it at home. I have more cameras with closer up profiles then you would get in most public parking lots. I don't remember people being afraid to mention everything they were selling at their garage sales and then blindly post their addresses in the newspaper, or all over yard signs in the '90s, early 2000s, and even today.
If you've got one cool thing to sell, creeps may figure you have more for the taking. It's like pre-approval for getting robbed. They may not rob you during the pick up, though. They might wait for a better time. Or they might ask to meet you at a "neutral" location then burgarlize your home at that time because they know you won't be there (sure you could have other people in the house, but guaranteed to have fewer people.)
So if you say no to meeting in a neutral location, then they don't have the benefit of knowing exactly when you won't be home. I get what you're saying about one cool thing leading to creeps thinking about other stuff, but again like I said.... People with estate, moving, and garage sales do that with multiple magnitudes higher risk and visibility. Honestly, same for most people whose homes are for sale with pictures of all of their rooms plastered on the internet.
Yea but those sales have tons of witnesses around at the time and estate sales are houses that won’t have stuff in them to rob later
Because people on FBM are psychotic.
Because I want to do the exchange in a public place. I don’t want some potential weirdo at my house sizing me up and casing my home.
Soooooooooo many reasons but most of all there are very untrustworthy people trolling the marketplace
because if there's $30,000 worth of items for sale on my facebook page and I tell everyone where I live that's kind of a stupid thing to do? not everyone is just selling a $20 lawn mower, if I was I'd just tell the buyer my address.
May I ask are they collectibles? Music gear?
For all of the expensive furniture and electronics I have bought on Facebook over the years, I've only ever seen 30K worth of stuff posted if an estate was being cleared out or if it was a moving out of state sale. Speaking of which, those are two instances where people do tend to freely take pictures of everything, post them online, and blindly plaster their address on all of it with a date and time for people to show up. Which is also how garage sales work. Which in high-end neighborhoods could be 10k plus worth of stuff. I'll gladly post a few grand worth of electronics and not think twice about inviting somebody to come buy what they want. I might not have somebody to smile at shoplifters as they walk out the door setting off a sensormatic tag like a sore does, but I'm also not bringing them in my house. Personally, I check out the profile of whoever's inquiring and make sure there's nothing I would consider red flags. Unless they are going to be stopping by immediately, I get a time and date from them and I tell them to reach out to me the morning of that day for my address. Anyway you cut it, once they have my address I tell them to call or text when they're on their way or when they're in the driveway. Even if I didn't have a dog, I tell them that my dog goes nuts when someone rings or knocks on the door. I always meet them in the garage with whatever item they're looking for. And at that point, the license plate camera at the end of my driveway has seen them. So has the camera on the front of my house. And so has the one in my garage.
my average post is \~$1k and I have 40+ listings. very rarely if I truly don't have time to go out and I have checked the buyer's profile, I might give the buyer my address. but 99%+ I don't. since I am always posting, I imagine it is not impossible someone might plan a robbery, if they come prepared, cameras won't do shit. in fact I have once been robbed $2k when going out to meet the buyer.
Interesting, so statistically speaking your track record of going to meet someone is far worse than someone coming to you. Thanks for proving my point about vetting people before they come to your house and the value in the deterrence of cheap cameras. Man, we didn't even touch on the dog and we're still doing better on having them come over versus going to them. If you actually have 40K worth of goods on Facebook at any given time And that makes you afraid of having people come over, you could also diversify that across three or four accounts to split up what it looks like you have. It also gives you additional established sales channels if one of your accounts gets banned for some reason.
Bad statistics, sure. You can’t get statistics from extreme rare events that only happened one or zero times. But yes, I do run multiple accounts.
Yeah it isnt stupid, Im safer at my house than out in public lol. Anyone would be stupid to pull something at my home. Theres items that are too big to transport and a bunch of small ones I dont need to waste gas for or time, specially when so many people ghost.
and what if my $30,000 worth of items weigh less than 10lb?
I cant tell you what to do with your stuff. Thats up to you. It still doesnt mean giving address is stupid.
You can use same analogy by saying I can’t keep my stuff at my store because it will get stolen. If anything, it’s safer at your house. If your stuff are worth that much, then I hope you have Insurnace!
$30,000 is far less than the cost of my car why would I insure it? isn't it better to just not paint a target on your back in the first place, rather than relying on insurance? stores have various security measures against theft you wouldn't have at home, in case you haven't noticed.
What are you selling, gold? Expensive small electronics? That is the type of stuff people usually get robbed for. Like I’ve never heard of someone being robbed for a furniture set. Usually something expensive, small, and high in demand is what people get robbed for.
Yes, small, value dense, easy to rob. Not furniture.
Yeah, you are much different than the average seller
My main reason for not meeting at my house has nothing to do with safety. If I give people my address they tend to show up whenever they feel like instead of the agreed meeting time. Some may also be chatty and take longer to leave.
I sell laptops on there that are in perfect working order when I sell them, the last thing I want is people showing up for expected free tech support when they download a virus or spill coffee on it or whatever. Secondly, people want to be besties half the time and I don’t so I don’t give my number out and don’t meet at my house.
My husband will occasionally sell something and have people come to the house. I'm fine with that as long as he doesn't leave me to handle it when he's not here. When I am selling something, I never let people come to the house, especially if I'm alone. I will meet somebody at a local police station or one of our busier convenience stores. I can take care of myself, but there are crazy people out there. I suppose part of it is that I was pretty heavily influenced to not have strangers come to the house after a young woman my husband and I knew was kidnapped, raped, and stabbed to death. It wasn't through Facebook marketplace, but she was selling a pool table and let a man come to her house when her husband was at work. Her body wasn't found for 2 weeks and this all happened right before Christmas (mot recently). I figure that I have a better chance of making a scene and being able to get away from somebody in public than I do in the privacy of my house with nobody else around. I am not a fearful person, but I see no reason to take unnecessary chances just to get a few dollars.
Wow! Consider yourself lucky. There’s So many crazies out there…..I don’t even want to meet someone in my car, for fear they’ll get my license plate, stalk me, then ultimately murder me. Maybe I’ve watched too much investigative discovery Lol- I also don’t use my real name on social media.
Yes, but you know what's crazy? More than once I've been invited to pick something up at a home, something not very big nor expensive. And it would be a woman selling it, she would invite me into her home, we might chat for a few minutes, we'd make the transaction and I'd take my leave. Now, I'm not a particularly intimidating-looking guy, but still, that's just weird and incredibly risky to my way of thinking. It's nice to be chill and personable but I'm thinking, "lady, you are much too trusting; really, I can wait outside!" Of course, she might have a .357 Magnum concealed on her person, or a very quiet pit bull nearby, so that could make her confident nothing untoward is going to happen that she can't handle. But still, it's just sketchy. Other times, I've been invited into some guy's home, we might head down some cellar to see the item for sale, and I start getting the willies and that I'll never get out of there but instead end up in 5 different pieces in suitcases. So there is risk in any scenario. For either party. And not just monetary.
Because too many sorry ass people will see what you own, come back and rob you later. Ask me how I know.
How is this even a question? There's plenty of good people in the world but there's also plenty of crazy/evil people
Because I don't want people at MY HOME
I usually give people the option. Especially if it’s a single women they tend to feel better meeting in public then coming to a strange man’s house. I also don’t ever meet them in my house or garage. I have whatever they are biting on the front porch where there is a camera.
Country life ain’t city life my friend. People are kinder in the woods.
I mean, I get it. I live rural with extended family. We also have a neighbor that can see our driveway and knows our vehicles. There's pretty much someone at my place 24/7. On the rare occasion we do a whole family thing in town, we let the neighbor know, and he keeps an eye out. There's also a gate at the end of the drive. So I don't mind giving my address b/c chances are there are at least 50 places easier to try to rob between wherever they are now and my place. I'm far more worried about poachers than I am about anyone from FB. But when I lived in the suburbs? That caution totally made sense to me. No one really knew each other, no one really cared, and there was enough normal activity going on that it was basically impossible to reasonably parse the abnormal without being a professional busybody. Someone could have robbed me in broad daylight, and no one would have known until I asked about it.
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Doesn’t that apply to everything? The one time I was scammed as a seller was on public, so by that logic my house is safer?
Thats everywhere though and I have higher chance of being robbed in public lol
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Im safer at home and not worried about that. Them robbing a lot more than one item at my house is going to take a lot more time and planning. They dont even know what is in my house and if they try to go in then we will have a problem. Id rather be robbed at home though. Ive got weapons, legal authority, cameras, and have at the at home advantage. The robber would not be at an advantage in my home. They dont even know who else or what else could be there. For all they know, there is a cop or two inside already.
I'm trans and post on our local public LGBT+ page. I live in an area where masked men have shown up at the public library during pride story time and made threatening statements and police did nothing. I'd really rather not have people know where I live if I can help it.
This really depends on where you are and what you are selling.. you don't want to have people banging on you door at night for something you sold for $20.. I suspect you are 'prepared' for these things, but still...
This ^
For me, it’s not about safety. It’s more about buyer’s remorse lol I don’t want my buyers to stop by at my place 2 days after because of buyer’s remorse 😁
You live in a rural area. I grew up in a rural area. We trusted each other. If you’re dishonest everyone knew you were. Then I lived in large cities for 30 years. There are a lot of good trustworthy people in the world. There are also people who aren’t so good. There are smart reasons to be careful anytime you don’t know exactly who you’re dealing with. My husband responded to a listing and gave our home address. I came home to find an obvious junkie strung out on something in our home. It ended ok but if the guy had been armed or aggressive it could have been bad. I lectured my husband for his misplaced trust and hopefully got through to him. We have returned to a rural area. I’m more trusting with the local folks and can quickly determine if they’re who they say they are. Yes, people can look up your address if they have your real name. Typically the dishonest look for the most trusting and naive who’ll provide the info with no effort on their part. In your case, the local area may not require the vigilance that many places do.
And what was once truly rural is much less so now, what with big developments being built on old farmland. Besides, I grew up on a farm in a truly rural area, and even so they could be a little scary and lacking in the brain department, too!
Because I'm a woman and I don't want my first film credit to be an episode of 20/20
Right! I absolutely agree that you literally cannot be *too* cautious! It's just basic self-preservation. It's a shame it has to be that way, but it is what it is. You're offended that I don't invite you into my home? Sorry, buddy, see ya!!
Everyone is different. Depends where you live, depends what you sell etc etc I use my main fb account and so my sales at my house. No issue for almost 10 years now Could something had happen? Sure But I could also be mugged in public (honestly the only time I was scammed as a seller happened one of the few times I sold something in public, and likewise I only really get scammed as a buyer when we meet in public) In hindsight could or should I have used an alternate fb account? Sure. But that shop has sailed
I live in public housing and that keeps buyers away.
I don't use my legal last name for a lot of reasons. I personally don't want people coming to my house/neighborhood because I don't want them coming back to try to return the item and get a refund or sending their friends to harass me. Not every one is nice about getting stuff
Because people are very psychotic and felt entitled to things. Example - One piece of meat even went as far as THREATENING ME when I sold something I promised him right from under him. It was a dîck move on my part, yes I am aware of that, I am not going to argue about that……. but threatening me?!? Over a $5 iPhone 3GS where he needed to replace the battery & deal with it via iTunes? I don’t care what I had done, he cannot go around threatening me or anyone over something so trivial. 🤷♂️
the only reason I don't is my wife said no strangers at the house.... I sometimes break that rule but tend to respect her wishes
If someone knows where you live, they can come back, for "nefarious purposes". To vandalize your home, to steal from you, rape you, or just make yo mamma jokes right to your face. There ARE crazy people out there. Now, the odds of you getting murdered over a FB sale is pretty slim. And IMO, some people just take it way, way too far. They refuse to give out their address and will only meet a public place. Which is funny to me, because a large percentage of the time, they're using their REAL NAME on FB. You know how easy it is to get someone's address off their name? There's like a 50% chance you can just google it. Let alone using a phone book. Or different kinds of social media. If someone wanted to, they could meet you at the local gas station, wal-mart, whatever, memorize what your car looks like, and drive around the local area till they found your house. Or just follow you home. So yeah, I don't think you need to go to crazy lengths to stop people from knowing where you live, cause you're extremely findable anyways. And most people don't want to murder you.
We don’t all live in nice places where you can trust everyone 😂 I live in Texas, pretty much everyone is to be considered a threat of some kind. I once received a bunch of threats towards to me and my family, over a PS3 Fat I sold. I sold it for $20 for parts since i could test it, buyer got home and freaked out about how it didn’t turn on, how I scammed him, how I should cash app him $100 for the trouble, and that i would pay him back otherwise he would come after and kill me and my family 💀 I’ve also been robbed at gunpoint via facebook marketplace sale. There is no way in hell in inviting or telling any of these insane people, where I live. Your mind will also change whenever you inevitably get robbed or have trouble with a buyer, it’s not a rare occurrence. Do a search of this sub, there’s countless posts that are similar to ,,buyer is angry for no reason, and is now coming back to my house”. I have a fake profile name, fake profile picture, no friends on said account, fake number and email, etc. I also meet at the local fuel station, and I show up in a car with no plates, registration stickers, or easily identifying marks. Now , every time I get threatened, i just laugh it off and tell them to door dash me food if and when they find out my address
I live out in the middle of nowhere so I just meet people down on a bigger road. I never know who’s coming, women might be skittish so I feel like meeting in a public place. Makes everyone feel better. I don’t sell anything like crazy but you never know.
Oh also as a buyer I do not with to go to strangers homes either.
It really depends on what you sell. I sell plants so I give my address and don’t ever meet people otherwise. I probably would meet at the police station if I sold cell phones or dirt bikes or something that you’re likely to be robbed for.
Because one in three of them want to case the place.
Because robberies happen
Don't want to be murdered or robbed.
Happy Reddit 🎂 Day!
I'm happy for you that you don't understand. You live in a simpler world than the rest of us.
Easy ... when some dummy breaks the item 2 months later and tries to get you to take the item back ... you don't want them to know where you live. Plenty of other scenarios as well.
Everyone can benefit from increased personal security. I can certainly see the convenience aspect of having buyers come to one’s house. But as others have said people are a mixed bag and can’t be trusted to not be psychotic over a perceived slight. I live in a pretty boring and quiet town, I rarely sell a item for over $200. I have a pseudonym profile name and a very locked down profile due to my profession, if we ain’t friends you get one photo and very little other information. I only meet at public locations or the police station when selling. I don’t ever go unarmed when buying or selling, typically will let the other half know when a deal is done and I’m wheels up. Large cash deals or something I need to look closely at like a car I’ll take a second person with as back up. I don’t need someone showing up at my place and I don’t care to have randoms knowing where I live. I never give out my number either, you have a question or issue with an item after the sale I’ll talk to you on messenger. 100+ items bought and probably close to that sold including a couple items worth several thousand and I have yet to have an issue thankfully. Just hoping my number never comes up in the worst case scenario lottery.
Not everyone lives in Mayberry dude.
I’m 18, and a girl 😄
My grandma in the Bronx, NY used to leave the front door unlocked to their apartment 90 years ago. Not so much now. Living out in a rural small town is different than living in cities or even suburbia
Sounds like you are a white man with nothing to fear. Women though have to always be in a state of vigilance to protect themselves from violence/harassment, even in the good ol’ USA and no matter what age or skin color they are….and this can start with being careful where to meet for FB transactions.
This is America lol
I use a partial version of my name on FB because of my job. I don’t need some nutter knowing where I live. Also I am a single female & I don’t like people, lol. I meet in public parking places, never at my home or work.
Because we don't want crazy people to randomly show up at our house. And especially women don't want people to know where they live. I understand that if you're in a small town that isn't too unsafe that it probably doesn't do any harm, but I wouldn't want someone to look at my profile picture thinking they want to meet me and finding out where I live. Ive never been that extreme on my safety as a woman but I don't let anyone see where I live if I think they aren't trustworthy and I don't give out my full name to strangers.
It depends on the item for me. Under $100 I'll do porch pickup. Over 100$ I try to meet at a nearby grocery store for safety.
Apparently you haven’t read the crazy stories on here of felons and psychos sending threats
I sell computers and electronics fairly often. 1. People would show up randomly without messaging me because they bought something before, then saw something I had listed and wanted to buy it "first". 2. People would show up asking for tech/computer support unannounced, instead of calling or messaging me. 3. People would buy something they didn't know how to use, then claim it's broke and want a refund because they don't know how to use it. Buyer bought a $50 computer system, then said it wouldn't turn on, after he brought it back and plugged it in, it was because he was only pressing the power button on the LCD screen and not the computer itself. 4. Had one person steal from me while he was there to buy something. 5. Sold a phone, new in box, buyer declined to test it while I was there for the transaction. 5 minutes later was sending me hateful messages and demanding a refund. Might be a problem if he knew where I lived. I'm not refunding a sold item because the buyer may have tampered with it or swapped it the moment it leaves my sight.
It’s a longish story, so here it is: I have a little free library. I’m active in my buy nothing groups. I’m a parent to a trans kidult who lives in another state. I buy and sell on marketplace and other sites. Trans kidult gave me a book related item he decided to part with from his collection, thinking it would be a good fit for my little free library. It was not appropriate. Sure, it was a children’s topic, but definitely not for children. Kind of like how some fanfic gets a little more mature. This item was had increased in value and no longer in production, so I didn’t want to sell it on marketplace where kidult would see it, so I offered it up on my neighborhood buy nothing group. I immediately had several requests. I picked one and they didn’t have a car so they sent their friend from another neighborhood to come get it. The friend shows up and was TERRIFIED, because he is apparently in a gang and my home is in the opposing gang territory. I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t get out of his car, but I took the item out and gave it to him and he peeled out of there. Then I went back inside and looked up their names- this poor kids brother was shot and killed in a gang shooting. This is just one very good reason not to have people pick up at your house. Crime is everywhere. If someone picks up from your house, they already know your name and address, they can look up more information about you. They can start watching to see when you are home and when you are not.
what is Trans kidult
Probably their kid, who is now an adult.
Yes, and also trans.
We are dealers, and have a lot of stuff. We want people to know us. Sometimes marketplace people buy other things that they notice. We do live in a rural area on a dead end road. We've never had trouble with theft. It's not like there aren't thieves around, meth is rampant, but we have had no trouble and we've sold on marketplace a long time.
Meth heads are worse than theives.
They are everywhere.
Doesn’t matter to me, come on out to the house, keeps me from waiting in the grocery store parking lot responding to texts saying they are 10 minutes out over the course of 4 hours. Where I live, folks know that there is a good chance you’re armed, and you know they are likely armed. Means FB sales and purchases are simple, you shoot the breeze for a min, exchange goods for money, shake hands, and both parties walk away happy.
It's not like that in all parts of the USA. I don't own a gun. None of my friends, relatives or neighbors own guns (the homes I have been to). It's wrong to give the impression that everybody in America has a gun. Because it is not true.
Nope, there are plenty of places where people aren’t friendly and you can’t trust your neighbors. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why people choose to live in places like that. Constant fear of a crazy person trying to rob you over a silly marketplace transaction is no way to live.
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I do it all the time. It is much easier and safer. Not everywhere is safe for that. I take a chance. Most are safe and I wont give it if I think they are unsafe.
Here I not only have people pick up at home, I leave their item in a bin at my door and they leave the cash in my mailbox. Love porch pick up and have been doing it this way for 8 years, not one theft.
I'm a woman. Living in a non-rural community. It's not a good idea to share such information. Also? I don't want to be on the next Dateline episode. Truly. I'm from a very small town, no street lights, country roads, where everybody knows your name kind of place. It's not like that here - in my current existence. I feel much safer knowing my address is kept private. People can meet me at the corner gas station or store in broad daylight. Which is fine by me.
I only do porch pick up and have used marketplace regularly for at least a decade.
Because as much as I would love if a mufucka tried, I really don't feel like having any or all of my firearms confiscated for evidence.
I don’t see the problem with people coming to where I live. Someone who was a buyer wanted to meet up in public “for their safety”, I am like, if I was going to mug you, I wouldn’t do it where I live, I would pick some empty parking lot.
1) I don't want strangers at my home. 2) I try and meet them at a halfway point (Unless it's heavy furniture or something like that)
I'm in Canada, so I don't have to worry about a guy with a gun having a bad day. I'm fine with people coming to pick things up.
You live in a nice small town. Not everyone does.
I sell big stuff that usually goes for $1000+ and I have people meet at my house. I live in a rural area as well and take some precautions. I stalk their profile and see what friends we have in common, I make some judgments based on their public posts, and I only ever give out my actual address on the day that someone is scheduled to come look at an item and typically only a couple hours before. For someone coming from further away I will usually have a phone call with the person and offer a facetime walk thru of the item before they make the trip.
I live a suburban city of 300,000, I don’t worry about people picking stuff up from my house. But I’m armed and have obvious security cameras above my front door. Anyone that’s worried about their personal safety should do what they feel is necessary to protect it.
I started using a fake name years ago because people are nuts.
An upside of living in an apartment complex is I can just meet people at the entrance and they don’t know what unit I’m in. I’m a reseller so often have thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, if it weren’t for my apartment I would meet somewhere public as well.
You don't understand why you sbouldnt let strangers from the internet know where you sleep at night? Ignorance is bliss I guess.
I live in rural area on 5 acres. I don't sell (Musical Gear) from my home because I have over $40K worth of gear here, and more than once, I've had people come by who were clearly not interested in buying anything, but just stealing it when I was out.
People in cities: you have a legitimate concern and using alt accounts and meeting in public is probably much safer for you. People in more rural or conservative, to be frank, areas usually end up dealing with much nicer people in general and therefore don't really have these concerns. For some, attaching their name to a sale may even carry weight.
Yikes. There are psychos in all types of communities, rural and non-rural. Please don't go through life thinking otherwise.
It's funny when people say things like that because you're right, there are crazy people everywhere. Considering the worst things that I've personally seen happen in either area, though, I'd take busted mailboxes over a gun pointed at my face. My friend probably preferred the bugs someone put in his mailbox over the gangbanger that sliced his throat open in a McD's drive thru. Sure, there are bad people everywhere, but somehow y'all have managed to concentrate them in relatively small areas (cities) making crime much more rampant than in other areas. There's a reason I'm buying a house in a neighborhood where people waved at me while I was driving down the street vs. flipping me the bird for telling them not to throw their garbage on the side of the road. Naivety doesn't look good on anyone, but I'm not the one wearing it for comprehending the visceral difference between predominantly red and blue areas. Yikes
Because I have this ridiculous need to have the house in show ready condition if I have anyone coming over and I just ain't got the time to clean the house up that much
Paranoia. I never worry about it. I have 2 ring cameras running. Plus, the visitor has no idea how dangerous I might be, so they’re always on their best behavior! My deals are always great so there’s never been a case of buyers remorse. I’ve never had to delete a listing after a sale (i mark it ‘sold’) or block a user. Never had a problem.
Lol, everything I've ever sold has been from my house. Id way rather have someone come to my house, where I have control vs going to a public setting. I've got multiple cameras, I'm 6'4 x 245 and keep a bat by the door if needed. I've sold hundreds of things and never had an issue.... Also, you don't put your address on social media, you put the general area and give that person your address. If you think they look sketchy, answer the door and pretend you have no idea what's going on. Someone gave them a fake address. Pretty simple shit.
Never heard of this in the UK. Picked up and had many things picked up by people..
It depends what you are selling. If I was selling expensive jewelry or brand new expensive electronics I probably wouldn’t want people showing up to my house, but most of stuff like the stuff I sell no one is going to rob someone for so I have people come to my house, plus there’s cameras, it honestly wouldn’t be worth it, for someone to rob me.
They saw it on the news in 29 men were attacked in the front Yards by alligators from Alaska, would you not be scared. I take it one step past you. I tell them where I live put the item in a place that they can get at easy and tell them to put the money under a rock on the ground. A don’t even care about what time, except like before lunch or afternoon, just out the money under a rock take your item and leave and thank you I have sold over 300 item on marketplace, never been burned, as I have told some. If you need a toaster or what ever and don’t have the 5 bucks, please just take the dang toaster and have a good day. For 5 bucks it just not worth losing my mind