Thanks for being passionate enough about the classifieds to share feedback. With 15,000+ ads and 20,000+ users on the site every day we’re fortunate to have so many different viewpoints and so much feedback…. the exact kind of feedback that’s helped evolve the site into playing the role it plays in the community today. This will be a pretty long post but it has some info that I feel is important when you're using the site.
The thing to keep in mind when using online classifieds is that every buyer, seller and item being sold is different. Some live in-town, some outside of town. Some work during the day, some work during the night, others don’t work at all. Some items being sold could be of interest to a lot of people, some to only a few small group of people. Some items being sold you just want to get out of your house, some you prefer to maximize every dollar you can on. For every person that wishes to be very flexible, there’s another that would like to sell based on their exact terms.
The bottom line in all situations is to be as clear as possible in communication so that neither buyer or seller end up with surprises as far as who shows up when, who waits for how long, etc.
Here’s how I sell and I have zero problems.
- place item for sale
- when I get a reply, I tell them that the item is available, that they’re welcome to come have a look and that I sell on first come, first serve.
- sometimes at this point people will try to haggle on price. If the item was recently posted I usually tell them that I just posted the item and that if it's still around in a week I'll consider other options. Of course this depends on the item I'm selling, how easy I think it'll be to sell
- if they're interested enough to come I give them a somewhat small time window when I expect I will be home (usually 1-2 hours). I tell them what approx area of the city I’m in and to send me a text message at (my phone number) when they’re about to head out and I’ll let them know the address. Again being clear that its first come, first serve... unless its an item where I feel its necessary to be more flexible.
- If I get another inquiry on the item, they’re told the same thing
- If I get a text message from someone that they’re on their way, I then tell anyone else replying that it might be tentatively sold but to stay tuned
- If the person buys the item, awesome. If not, if there was another inquiry that's gone as far as texting me I tell them the address. Rinse repeat, rinse repeat.
The beauty of this system is that:
- the buyer is clear on how I’m selling
- I don’t end up with 3 people all with my address, perhaps all showing up at the same time
- I’m not re-arranging my entire day/night around selling the item. If something comes up where I have to step out, nobody has my address yet and I can tell them in that text message to give me another (10, 20, 30 mins, etc) before they drop by.
- I get literally no no-shows because if somebody is at the point of texting me that they're on their way, they're going to come. Worst case scenario something comes up where they cant make it and everybody understands why I had to go to the next person sending an inquiry.
At the same time every item is different. In the odd case I’ll make an exception and tell someone that the item is theirs if they can come by (name time here). This is more likely if it’s a bigger ticket item that I feel will be harder to sell where I feel I need to be that much more flexible to make sure I make the sale.
I wouldnt go as far as to call this etiquette because like I said everyone is in a different situation and will sell based on what works for them...... But bottom line, communicate communicate communicate. Be honest with what works from you, be as flexible as your life allows and based on how desperately you want to sell (or buy)......but nobody would expect you to give up your entire day waiting for someone!
As far as scams, systems are in place to severely limit the amount of scams however its inevitable that the odd one will make it through the cracks. You can help limit things that much more by reporting any scam ad or scam reply that you come across. Each ad has a “report” link on it. Reports on replies can be submitted through the contact link at the bottom of any page.
For more on safe practices when using the service please check out https://ebrandon.ca/classifieds_safety.aspx
If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to drop me a note through https://ebrandon.ca/contact.aspx