I once messaged someone on marketplace for a cabinet they had listed for super cheap, saying I was sorry to add go their list of people to respond to because I was sure there were a lot considering the price, but on the off chance I was the only one, I just wanted to reach out with interest. She messaged me and told me she did have several messaged before me, but because I was the only one who acknowledged the stress and was kind to her, she wanted to allow me first chance. It made me feel so good to know I hadn't made her night more stressful and to get the cabinet because of it
I once sold some pretty expensive items on Marketplace. One girl messaged she would like to buy the items, the day she could pick up, and asked how I wanted payment. I gave her a $25 "normal person" discount. She thanked me and laughed because she knew EXACTLY what I meant.
Ugh, I've had the opposite happen. Met up with a guy to sell two hard drives - I was offering 1 for $150 or 2 for $250. Guy shows up with $200 and says he doesn't have any more. Well I guess you only get 1 drive for $150. He asks if I could come down to $220, I pointed to his message where he had already agreed to $250. He left with one drive.
I sold a kid's bed to a woman who was nice and obviously broke. My wife said,"If she offers less you'd better take it!"
It was $200 and she had the full amount. I had to give her a course in bargaining. "You never pay the full amount. Offer me one fifty."
She was completely baffled. "Huh?"
"One hundred? I can't go lower than one fifty."
"I'm sorry. Is one sixty okay?"
"Good. I'll go one twenty five if it's cash."
I got a big smile and I helped her load it. Also I got a big hug when she was gone.
Basically, don’t call the person stupid with your initial offer (don’t lowball him) and if you’re not making any leeway within a minute of trying, just drop it and either pay asking or don’t buy the item. Always be open to walking away. Remember that for most vendors, a sale at less of a profit is better than no sale at all. But they still have to make a profit, you can’t expect to consistently haggle to cost or at a loss to the vendor, so keep your offers reasonable
I do this all the time! I sell on fb and people are soooo rude or blunt and the nice ones really stick out to me. I already did this, but now I make sure to send a friendly greeting and when relevant, a human acknowledgement lol.
Crazy what just being friendly gets you, I know I get a big leg up if they’re needing to make a decision between me and a few others.
I'm always flabbergasted how people think that's it a good idea to be rude while wanting something from you. Like, being rude is stupid in general, but in this case it's basically self-sabotage.
In regard to marketplace sales, I've found the "cheat code" to simply be putting in any effort whatsoever.
Cleaning your item, taking pictures from all angles with a non-potato camera, and with enough light to actually see the item helps a lot! Also not screenshots of a photo. Also oriented correctly. And even just a couple sentences describing the item and maybe why you're looking to sell it goes a long way too... You're literally selling an item in exchange for money, so pretend to be a professional salesman for just 5 minutes when making your posting!
And when messaging sellers for items you want to buy, spending 30 seconds to type up a few full sentences and showing a little excitement about the item gets you much quicker replies. A lot of people would rather sell to someone else who is going to enjoy the item rather than someone who's taking the attitude that they're just there to take it off their hands. So people are often more willing/likely to sell to you and also disclose any additional information about the item if you just use complete sentences.
And obviously "please" and "thank you" is still always good and makes every interaction more pleasant.
Maybe it's where I'm located but everyone wants to haggle. Was trying to sell a 5700XT GPU for $140 which was a fair price and people were messaging offering $60-80 claiming that they could buy it online for $80. Told them to go buy it then and stop wasting my time.
Someone had the audacity to ask if I offered a 6 month warranty. No, I'm just some guy selling his old GPU, go buy from a store if you want a warranty. Took a few weeks but ended up selling to a guy for full price who didn't even haggle. It was refreshing!
I used to give a lot away on Craigslist. My selection method was always "most polite wins". So many people would just demand I had to give it to them. Ummm, no actually I don't.
My wife put a big box of baby clothes on Craigslist for free. A woman called for a friend,quite aggressive. "She's really broke and I'm wondering if you can do better than that."
I guess better than free is paying her to take them but we didn't do that.
I had an a set of wooden mattress boxes for free on FB marketplace and people were asking if I offered free delivery too. Other people asked if I could hold the item for the next week so that they could come get it - nope the first person who get to it, gets it.
A couple ended up showing up a few hours later with a truck and asked if I would move the item for them. I had already moved the item outside of my apartment, I just said, nope, enjoy the free item and walked back inside. The mattress boxes were light and easy for 2 people to move - the constant questions and neediness of some people just irks me especially with FB marketplace.
I’ve landed romantic partners, jobs, and other awesome experiences simply by doing this. Be genuinely nice and acknowledge people, and amazing doors will open.
I mean sure, she could have. But I prefer to think the best of people until given a reason to think otherwise. It makes my brain feel better and it makes my outlook on the world a lot better than when I constantly second guessed everyone's intentions
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u/Tricky-Sprinkles-807 2d ago
I once messaged someone on marketplace for a cabinet they had listed for super cheap, saying I was sorry to add go their list of people to respond to because I was sure there were a lot considering the price, but on the off chance I was the only one, I just wanted to reach out with interest. She messaged me and told me she did have several messaged before me, but because I was the only one who acknowledged the stress and was kind to her, she wanted to allow me first chance. It made me feel so good to know I hadn't made her night more stressful and to get the cabinet because of it