Loosing Faith in Humanity . . .

[tpenfield]

I made the mistake of posting some stuff on FB Marketplace to get rid of some stuff. . . Some boating related items and parts to my now defunct outboard.

I get a response to a posting for the engine cover . . . asking if it runs !!!

On other stuff that I have, I get a bunch of one-hit wonders . . . then crickets.
FB should really take the "is it available" button off their screens

Similar craziness when we were getting rid of stuff earlier this year in preparation for selling the house. I sort of forgot about that before posting stuff this time.

I think I might switch over to eBay.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I made the mistake of posting some stuff on FB Marketplace to get rid of some stuff. . . Some boating related items and parts to my now defunct outboard.

I get a response to a posting for the engine cover . . . asking if it runs !!!

On other stuff that I have, I get a bunch of one-hit wonders . . . then crickets.
FB should really take the "is it available" button off their screens

Similar craziness when we were getting rid of stuff earlier this year in preparation for selling the house. I sort of forgot about that before posting stuff this time.

I think I might switch over to eBay.

I put on my posting “ will not respond to is this available “
I don’t let the people that leave a response then ghost bother me at all. I sell 99% of the items I list on marketplace. You can eliminate a lot of the BS if you sell within groups that are specific to your items, like boating groups

As far as EBay, That ship has sailed as far as I’m concerned. I used to make a solid second income selling antique motorcycle parts there. Then came the fees and other BS.

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks for the advice. I don't usually respond to the
'available' questions. The engine cover inquiry was quite the laugh

I did just sign up for the Mercury/Mercruiser Parts group, as most of my engine parts are those brands. Still a newbie on that group, so the posts are screened by the Mods.

 

[alldodge]

My neighbor was selling his fishing boat, hardly used 30 hp tracker on MP. Had two calls showing real interest and one said ok I'll be coming on X day. The guy doesn't live here so he travels down 4.5 hr trip. Guy doesn't show and says decided to go another way

The good thing is he did sell it to someone how lived near him but unknown. She gave him all the money in cash except 2K and said I'll give you the rest when you bring me the boat. Only seen boat in pics

Bad and Good story

 

[Pmt133]

I've sold a few things on market place. Lots of interest but few hits. Got 2k for my old 3.0l within a week of listing. But had a set of wheels and tires listed forever. I had a guy dicking me around for nearly a year... next guy who messaged I said I'll leave them out, take them. I don't even want the money at this point. He left me 200$ under the door. So there are still honest people around.

 

[Renken2000Classic]

The reason people ask "Is it still available", is obviously, because so many people leave up a post after it's sold (CL). And before getting their hopes up any further, they want to get that point squared away. How hard it is to say "Yes"? I sometimes want to ask if it's still available just for fun, to the ones who are so adamant about not responding to that apparently reasonable question. But then I don't sell a lot of stuff, so don't have the perspective of those who do.

 

[tphoyt]

Sadly the quotidian very often the opening line from scammers.

 

[redneck joe]

On the avail thing, I just give a thumbs up.

 

[BWR1953]

On the avail thing, I just give a thumbs up.

 

[redneck joe]

I see what you did there....

 

[tpenfield]

I did get rid of a set of boat fenders on FB Mkt Place . . . as far as the engine parts go . . . nothing but crickets. I took all the listings down.

It seems to me that eBay is still the go-to place for buy/sell of engine parts, despite the (somewhat high) selling fees. FB is better for complete engines, either working or 'for parts'. IMO, YMMV

And as for the 'Is it available' stuff . . . I usually check the buyer profile. If it looks like they are someone who has interested related to what I am selling, then I'll give them a shout back. I have yet to see any of 'them' actually come through. So, maybe it is a lead-in to a scam, but I'm just not sure how it would go from there.

 

[tphoyt]

I sometimes wish I had FB just for the market place but I don’t do FB. I signed up many years ago and was contacted by several people from the past that needed to remain in the past so I quickly shut that down. I still use CL for stuff and so far it has been good for me. Then there is word of mouth. I’m in a small town so the word spreads pretty fast. Boat parts are tricky. I have seen the same stuff on CL for months and even years. There is a marina that has a bunch of OMC stuff from the 70’s that is new old stock that has been on CL for years. I guess it just takes the right person at the right time.

 

[redneck joe]

I sometimes wish I had FB just for the market place but I don’t do FB. I signed up many years ago and was contacted by several people from the past that needed to remain in the past so I quickly shut that down. I still use CL for stuff and so far it has been good for me. Then there is word of mouth. I’m in a small town so the word spreads pretty fast. Boat parts are tricky. I have seen the same stuff on CL for months and even years. There is a marina that has a bunch of OMC stuff from the 70’s that is new old stock that has been on CL for years. I guess it just takes the right person at the right time.

Sign up under a different name and email. I have three profiles. Don't ask...

 

[redneck joe]

I did get rid of a set of boat fenders on FB Mkt Place . . . as far as the engine parts go . . . nothing but crickets. I took all the listings down.

It seems to me that eBay is still the go-to place for buy/sell of engine parts, despite the (somewhat high) selling fees. FB is better for complete engines, either working or 'for parts'. IMO, YMMV

And as for the 'Is it available' stuff . . . I usually check the buyer profile. If it looks like they are someone who has interested related to what I am selling, then I'll give them a shout back. I have yet to see any of 'them' actually come through. So, maybe it is a lead-in to a scam, but I'm just not sure how it would go from there.

A thumbs up is much h quicker than stalking a profile....

 

[Scott Danforth]

I managed to sell my two old 50's merc's to an old-merc nut from Canada that was down visiting. I have some other marine stuff that I renewed the FBM listing a few times, get the random inquiry.

CL has a bunch of spammers.

Ebay is hit or miss.

Have a bunch of VP stuff, some old outboard stuff, etc that I keep relisting.

you may try AOMCI to sell the parts. @sphelps is the resident active AOMCI member, maybe Sam can comment.

 

[Pmt133]

I hit them back woth one of the auto replies it suggests.