Thread: You've Got To Be Quick On Gumtree

Originally Posted by bollie7

Its the scammers who really p**s me off. the ones that message you and say "Hi there I'd like to offer $whatever" I have recently had our little caravan for sale and I have had at least 5 messages that were identical except for the price offered and the "persons" name. R soles.
peter

You do realize that on Gumtree if they submit the "Make an offer" thing then it's an automated message from Gumtree with the offer amount and sellers name yeah ?
This does not indicate a scammer, I have bought and sold a fair bit of stuff on Gumtree and used that once or twice. It's a quick way for people to submit an offer if they are interested in the item but are put off by the price. There are both buyers and sellers that are time wasters. Quite often potential buyers will submit an offer at what they are willing to pay, if the seller indicates that they would sell it for that amount then buyer arranges inspection / collection. It avoids the whole buyer rocking up, tyre kicking for 30 mins then trying to low ball the seller. Personally I prefer straight up offers and normally do that myself, much easier when both people go in knowing what the expected sale price is.

On gumtree at least, I'm a magnet for characters with the ars% hanging out of their pants trying to buy stuff. I always get these idiots texting rather than phoning, "hey mate, still got it, I'll give you $5" even if it was $10 and beyond a bargain at that price, I usually send back, just sold for $2 to give them the tom-tits, as they'll undoubtedly be totally annoying in real-life - if they actually did turn up.

I'd never reserve anything, short of a deposit on there either, sorry OP.

Yep, beware of the texters in my experience. If the person can't even be arsed to use their mouth to speak, that attitude normally extends to the rest of the whole buying/selling experience. It's amazing what a short conversation can achieve and helps make a personal connection. Until then the other person is just another swinging dick who learnt how to SMS.

Even when I call a retailer to check stock levels before I go to collect it, I'll ask the person's name, tell them again my name, and get them to put the item aside for me with a time I will be there by, say 4 pm. I tell them if I'm not there by 5 pm, then put it back on the shelf. Everyone knows where we stand, and if something comes up I wasn't expecting I'm not screwing anyone around.

I've both sold and bought stuff from Gumtree and like most am well aware how Gumtree operates, its full of all sorts of characters so you have to expect all character traits good and bad, I also never hold anything for any one unless a deposit is paid, the difference is that I let all prospective buyers know that up front.

The main reason I was p****d off for missing it was the $50 selling price for a what is regarded as decent drill press, if it had been $350, $250 or even $150 I would have thought 'ce la vie, missed out on that one - another will come along eventually'. I do have a drill press - British made - dug it out of a skip - tossed in there as it had a bent spindle, I've managed to straighten it and fix the morse taper socket and bring the runout down from 50thou to around 8thou, perfectly acceptable for no critical holes, it's setup with a treadmill motor and variable speed controller, while I have it, I can't justify the usual asking price of $500 or more for a Waldown or similar.

I've noticed the young ones tend to text and and the oldies always phone. I once had someone text me " I'll give you $10, but only if you can deliver'. It was for a $250 guitar.

Texters don't seem to know how to spell or use punctuation I've noticed. When I reply to the smart arses I always ad ,,,,,,, ....... ????? !!!!! '''', feel free to use any of these, and bring grammar along too, then I'll know what the hell you're trying to say!

I've only ever sold stuff through eBay and it's always been a pleasant experience. Their fees are steep, but it's worth it for the reduction in stress. Even when the buyer has paid CoD, they never tried to low-ball me when they collected the item. Maybe you get a better class of buyer & seller on eBay than on Gumtree?

Originally Posted by familyguy

The main reason I was p****d off for missing it was the $50 selling price for a what is regarded as decent drill press, if it had been $350, $250 or even $150 I would have thought 'ce la vie, missed out on that one - another will come along eventually'. I do have a drill press - British made - dug it out of a skip - tossed in there as it had a bent spindle, I've managed to straighten it and fix the morse taper socket and bring the runout down from 50thou to around 8thou, perfectly acceptable for no critical holes, it's setup with a treadmill motor and variable speed controller, while I have it, I can't justify the usual asking price of $500 or more for a Waldown or similar.

Sure, but why would you be "p****d off" at the seller as you said in the original post? Personally I think you should be p****d off with yourself not him. That sounded like a bargain and a good buy, it's a shame you didn't buy it; it was apparently important to you. Not so important however that you could be bothered speaking with the seller, introducing yourself as a real and decent person who was definitely going to buy it and would not dick him around, offering some way of actually securing it, and making a firm time to meet with him before anyone else could get there. I sell a lot of stuff cheaply as I put a value on my time and want stuff gone fast and without hassle. I suspect that was the case with this particular item too. I have mates who have clearing sales on their properties and they have people at their farm gates before dawn! Same with garage sales, put up a sign that the sale starts at 8 am, and you'll open your curtains to find your tackle swaying in the breeze is being gawked at by a bunch of people waiting at the gate! That's if you're lucky, if you're unlucky they will be knocking on your door earlier. That's the way it works, they're often the professionals who make a living from this type of thing and as the thread title says, "you have to be quick".

That's just my opinion of course, but as both a buyer and a seller it works for me and I have no complaints. When Masters closed up I accidentally chanced upon a store under control of the receivers. I left the store with around half a tonne of steel. How? Because I asked how much it was, the guy told me, and I couldn't get my money out of my wallet fast enough! Then I asked what other steel he had left and told him I'd buy everything left in the store at the same price. A few minutes later another guy who'd been there earlier came back and told the liquidator that he'd "thought about it and would they accept XYZ?". "Too late mate, see that guy with the white workmate, he just bought the lot!". Sucked in, be faster!

Rather than abusing people and getting "p****d off" when you miss out on something, personally I'd be asking if they had anything else similar they wanted to sell. I've lost count of the number of times I've personally bought, or know others who have, all sorts of stuff from sellers by asking that question. It's surprising the amount of times when somebody will come back and say something along the lines that they "weren't going to sell this, but now you mention it ...". Boom, you've got another bargain, thanks for coming!

Originally Posted by Pete F

Not so important however that you could be bothered speaking with the seller, introducing yourself as a real and decent person who was definitely going to buy it and would not dick him around, offering some way of actually securing it, and making a firm time to meet with him before anyone else could get there.

That's exactly what I did.

Originally Posted by Pete F

Rather than abusing people and getting "p****d off" when you miss out on something, personally I'd be asking if they had anything else similar they wanted to sell.!

I guess that's where we differ because I wouldn't spend a single red cent with someone who just stuffed me around and wasted my time, I would feel as though I'm rewarding their poor behavior, not gonna happen.

Originally Posted by NedsHead

I guess that's where we differ because I wouldn't spend a single red cent with someone who just stuffed me around and wasted my time, I would feel as though I'm rewarding their poor behavior, not gonna happen.

Sure, like I said, that's just my personal opinion and you're entirely free to have yours. If you feel your life is forever changed as a result of a seller's callous act of making your mate hook up a trailer to a towbar unnecessarily, then good luck to you. Personally I would have moved on in, oh I don't know, about 33 seconds, but that's obviously just me. Meanwhile you continue to put up whinging posts about how you missed out on bargains, and I'll continue to enjoy using the bargains I bought by trying to cooperate, work with sellers and see their perspective

The only person doing all the whinging here is you mate, I don't understand why you're so emotionally invested in making me look like the wrongdoer in my story, guilty conscience perhaps.


Make your next post count because I won't be taking anymore of your bait.

Ok, see you later. You got me, it's my guilty conscience, that would be it.

I'm not doing any whining at all, I'm just suggesting you try to be a bit more empathetic. It wasn't my post whinging about "some people" because someone decided to sell HIS lathe to somebody other than you. Why? Who knows? According to your story you couldn't be bothered asking him because you were too busy sending him abusive texts!!! Maybe he had a good reason ... or maybe you're right, you're on to him too, he woke up that morning and said to himself, hmm, who's life can I make miserable today? I know, I'll find some random dude on the street and convince him to come collect my lathe before the guy I promised it to gets here ... no wait his mate ... who I sent a message to say don't come

I just think it's pretty rough to start taking pot-shots at people who aren't here to defend themselves without even the slightest effort to consider their story and situation. Then get all beat out of shape and whine on a forum about it. Nobody lost any money here. Nobody drove half way across the continent to find somebody going at their lathe they'd already paid for with a sledge hammer. Nobody lost body parts. Holy Cow, if a couple of text messages and somebody hooking up a trailer is what some people seriously consider "going to a lot of time and effort" it may explain a few things!

Life sucks, no I don't think the stories told represent good behaviour, but there's some people out there who don't do the right thing. No actually, there's a LOT of people who don't do the right thing. Big deal, First World problems, there's no participation awards in life mate. Fortunately you and I aren't one of them. No wait, if you think sending them abusive text messages will help and the guy is suddenly going to come to his senses and chase you down the road towing a lathe, well knock yourself out. Do you seriously think the guy was going to get the message and think to himself, holy moly, I sure hope God doesn't read that text come judgement day!

Personally? Well I think you'll survive! Try walking a mile, or even a few steps in somebody else's shoes. Who doesn't like free shoes 'ey?

It's Christmas Eve. Millions of people won't, and can't, eat tonight. Or tomorrow night.

I see an increasing amount of this sort of crap around us; I got abused the other day on the train for, wait for it, going to the airport with my bags. No abusive texts, but instead I was told I was a "disgrace" for being there. I kid you not. This forum used to be filled with people making all kinds of stuff. Now? Now it's whining about missing out on a 50 buck drill press.

Let's try to keep our "problems" in perspective 'eh. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to my friends here, and even those who don't think so highly of me I hope it's a healthy and productive season and 2018 for everyone. Yes, even that bloke with the lathe :P

Originally Posted by MasterSpoon

You do realize that on Gumtree if they submit the "Make an offer" thing then it's an automated message from Gumtree with the offer amount and sellers name yeah ?
This does not indicate a scammer, I have bought and sold a fair bit of stuff on Gumtree and used that once or twice. It's a quick way for people to submit an offer if they are interested in the item but are put off by the price. There are both buyers and sellers that are time wasters. Quite often potential buyers will submit an offer at what they are willing to pay, if the seller indicates that they would sell it for that amount then buyer arranges inspection / collection. It avoids the whole buyer rocking up, tyre kicking for 30 mins then trying to low ball the seller. Personally I prefer straight up offers and normally do that myself, much easier when both people go in knowing what the expected sale price is.

No I did not realise that. Thanks for filling me in about it.
However I still think all the "offers" I got were from scammers. The reason I think that is this. In this instance, I had a small, old but in good condition, caravan for sale. Only $6k. Who makes an offer on something like that without, at the very least, contacting the seller and asking questions about the condition etc? Especially without coming to have a look at it.. Its a cheap van. I'd think that most people who are looking at a cheap older van are doing so because they cant afford (or dont want the expense of) a later model. So if they cant afford a later and possibly better one, I'd assume they would want to make sure they were not buying something that wasnt as advertised and so wasting their money.
Funnily enough, of the "offers" I got, the only one that responded when I said I wanted a higher price was the one that had only offered $1k sight unseen. That one I told them that I believed they were a scammer. He came back ranting and raving in very broken english (this was via messaging on Gumtree) and telling me he was going to report me to gumtree. I told him go ahead. Didnt hear anymore from that one either.

Now that I know about the oiffer thing, next time I get an offer on something, I will try and find out if it is genuine before I dismiss it as just another scam attempt.

For those who might not be aware, Gumtree has a reputation for attracting a lot of scammers. There plenty of stuff on the net about how they work.

Merry Christmas to everyone here.
I hope no one does themselves (or others ) any injuries durng the festive season.

Peter

Originally Posted by bollie7

Who makes an offer on something like that without, at the very least, contacting the seller and asking questions about the condition etc?

Peter that car I mentioned earlier, you know the one I was virtually giving away? In the few hours it was there I had texts of "offers", "will you accept xyz?" It seems it doesn't matter how cheap something is, some people will want to offer less. If I HAD been giving it away I reckon I'd get texts asking me to fill it up with fuel first

Don't know about some of you whinging old gits on here, but the 1st thing I generally do is send a text and ask a few basic questions, you can generally tell how much the seller knows about what he is selling or whether it is a scam by the type of response you get. Far to many times have I rang and gone around to see something and it is not what was advertised or was in excellent condition but when you get there it has bits missing or doesn't work and then the sell will give you all the excuses under the sun.

Anyhow have a Merry Christmas everyone.