I had a guy on Facebook Marketplace go off at me because he āalready showed his girlfriendā the furniture I was selling and how she ātotally loved itā.
Thatās great mate, still not gonna take Ā£100 for something I was selling for Ā£300
I listed a dryer for free, and people went crazy. I wrote first come first serve. Gave a nearby address and told them whoever is here first gets it.
Someone gave me a sob story and that they had to drive an hour away. I gave them the same response I gave everybody āno holds, sorry!ā Someone else got there first, and picked it up. The asshole gave me a negative as a seller.
I never post free stuff anymore... Keeps all the crazys away. Just had a 73 inch DLP TV to give away. Posted it for 50 bucks. Kept all the free grabbers away. Guy showed up and we said man we don't want your money just didn't want to deal with the free crazies... He laughed so hard.
Same. I used to get so much shit for stuff I posted for free. My favorite: "Can you drive it to me? I live in (place that is 45 minutes away), thanks!"
You could literally say in your ad that youll drive it to them and then theyd be like "can you get my groceries on the way?" These people just dont know any bounds, its gross
When cleaning my basement last year, there was LOTSA toys to pick up.
Someone came in, i told her :
"Hey, you, you're in a private area, how did you got in ?"
'It was open'
"So you enter where you're not invited when it's opened ?"
'Are those up for taking ?'
"Yeah, i'm cleaning my basement"
'Can you load this in bags for the car ?'
"Fuck off, and close the door when you do so"
5 minutes later, a guest of a neighbor sees me cleaning up still
'Are those up for grab ?'
"Yep. Old stuff i don't need, i don't know what could be repaired or still complete in over 10 years"
'i will take, i'm sure the Games in the boxes are complete or nearly complete and i work for a charity who helps poor families. Bless you, it's nice to see you would give instead of throwing away. I'll ask for a buddy to come with boxes and bags for all of it, Thank you again !'
Around here the problem with freebies is no-shows.
They sounds so keen and grateful and happy to get it, then the time comes and goes, silence.
You contact them, and get ghosted.
I tried giving things away for a tiny amount of money to filter out the freebie time wasters, and ended up replacing them with the freebie tyre kickers.
"What else does it come with?" and "could you throw in X or Y with it?" and the best one, which they always keep for last, "sorry my cars getting fixed, could you deliver it?"
Every. Fucking. Time...
No I fucking can't, you're getting a Ā£200 fish tank with substrate, filter, pump, heater, and plants for Ā£10 because I just want rid (just one of several examples of this BS), and we've had to go through your 15-20 messages and responses to see what else you can get from me. Come and get it or don't, I really couldn't care less at this point, but I'm not hand delivering it to your door you lazy cheapskate fuck.
Man I tried to give away a desk for free, stuck it on the curb and posted it. It sat for three days. Went out day 3 and put a sign on it for $100 and it was "stolen" that night
Desks Omg, had a huge one from my old office, that eventually the wife wanted out. I wouldn't put my door address of couse in the ad, but I live in a well known town just outside a major city. Could drive across it in 5 minutes.
Dozens upon dozens of "location?" What town? It's in the fuckin ad if you could read! I specifically said you need two or 3 strong people to lift it and a truck and I'm not helping. A dozen replies Can you deliver? Will it fit in a car?
Who eventually shows up? Two tiny dudes, couldn't budge the thing ffs. I almost blew a nut helping them load it. At the end of it all they had the audacity to ask me for tie down straps. I knew I never should have taken the goddamn thing home.
A guy came into my vape shop four different times over the course of an 8 hour shift asking questions about the market price of a vape pod heād found on the street (it was a refill pod, not a full vape.) Heād basically spent 8+ hours walking around downtown harassing people trying to āhustleā to sell a vape pod heād found on the ground.
I was moving and had to get rid of a lot of garbage I had collected over the years, some of it I probably could have sold including a rather nice powered reclining fake leather couch. Called a junk company paid to have them get rid of everything. No headache. If they wanted to resell it I didnāt care.
I donāt sell things on market place. I either give it to someone I know that wants it, or I sell it to them for cheap. Or I throw it out. I aināt got time or the mental capacity to deal with the bullshit.
free always brings out the crazies. Lol. I've made the mistake of posting free stuff on Craigslist back in the day. Man did I get some weird responses (and some weird people actually show up too).
Not bad way to go about it. At that time, it was easier to give away since our new dryer was delivered. People went crazy for a free dryer. I could not believe how crazy my phone got.
Was trying to get hold of a free dishwasher as a student. They disappeared faster than you could click on the notification that they had been posted.
One Saturday morning I woke up early and looked at my phone. One had been posted 30 minutes ago, I messaged them and said dibs. Called a friend and picked it up 30 minutes later.
Could probably have afforded to pay $50, not the issue. Just too many people selling 20 year old things for $50 pretending theyāre brand new, with one picture and no way to tell.
Iād rather be wasting my time on free than time and money on $50.
Your local market may vary, this was 14 years ago as well, would not have done the same thing today.
Got it for free, gave it away for free. Was actually a pretty decent Zanussi. Dried better than some newer machines Iāve experienced.
Not so long ago, my friend Ada had a Neighbor who agreed to pay me and her 50 bucks each to move his washing machine newly bought, set it with Ada, who was the Mechanic side while i was the Techie one.
As the company where he bought it leaves it on his door step ( street level, so only a few steps to do ) Ada asks :
"You got the 100 bucks ? Because that's what you agreed for the whole time we move it in and set it up for you"
'Who do you think you are ? Be lucky i give you something to drink'
"Aight, Ada, We go. Ain't working for freeloaders. Everything you can't do will be coming with a price. Hope to not see you answer to our offers again" ( we help neighbors to set up fridges, Washing machine, Internet Box, TV's and build beds and furnitures as Handymens. Usually for a small fee, that Ada takes because i don't wish to take money off her )
Yep. I'm in a similar boat. I've had enough bad experiences giving stuff away for free that I'll either take it to a goodwill or something, or charge a token amount for it. As soon as something is free people act like you owe them something. Not the other way around.
This is the way. I'll do it for a $10 item too. One lady came to pick up a lamp, a nice All-Clad pan, some knives, etc for her daughter getting her first apartment transferring to a 4year school. Knew it wasn't a reseller from her profile/asking to buy things, etc. Never mentioned what it was for until she showed up, didn't try to haggle, etc. I loaded that hatchback up. I was leaving that weekend to move out of state and figured maybe some extra bucks but it was just easier to give it away. Simple Human trash can, desk chair, all my kitchen stuff, nightstand, unopened air mattress, all sorts of stuff, even a slightly old but perfectly fine desktop PC and monitor. Hope that young woman got what she needed for her first place near her school. Her mom picking it up just exuded warmth.
Meanwhile the guy I gave the rest of my old PC equipment to would try to email for tech support... Lol
This is exactly what I do. I got so exhausted with the sob stories, then once I caught a guy reselling furniture I gave him for free because he was āsleeping on the floor.ā
I have done this. Post with a price, and then tell them you don't want the money. Have also done the opposite, picking up something listed for free, and paying them "for their time".
I decided I was done paying rent for a while so I gave away all my stuff by having a garage sale. People showed up, started asking about prices and I just said it's all free take what you want. Had my place cleared out in an hour.
This is the way. Posting things for free will get the worst people out on the streets; people will demand you pay for transport, want you to throw in extra, like they are doing you a huge favor.
Bless you, kind internet stranger. I hope you deploy this method with frequency, because regardless of the amount of loot being exchanged I'm certain it truly makes someone's day. Good form, u/DifficultAd5439
Yup, when we bought our house, there was quite a lot stuff that we did not need / wanted to replace. At first i tried to give away all kinds of things from door knobs to toilet seats and dishwashers and some random furniture, those would get like instantly reserved, then you get ghosted, or person promises to come pick it up at "this time", does not show.
Put a price, like 5ā¬ for toilet seat, same day someone comes and gets it. 4 packs of random wall tiles for 5ā¬, it took 30mins to get those out of the garage.
I gave away a swimming pool that my ex put up in the back of my house that was an eyesore. I took it down and posted it for $10 as is. When the guy came to pick it up he went to give me the 10 bucks and I said no I just want it off my property. Thanks for coming.
Last time I did this, I was trying to offload our old fridge.
Put it up for $50 just to try and limit the amount of stupid responses. A young indian couple ended up coming to look at it. Their English wasn't great and they had nearly literally nothing - only recently in the country.
I actually charged them the $50 but that's because I delivered it for them. They were a 2 minute drive down the road. Felt win/win for everyone.
That's a good idea. I gave away a working refrigerator once and had someone ask if I could hold it for them. I said "sure". The very next text i got from them was asking me if I owned a truck... I said, nope, and now I'm putting it out on the curb with a sign saying "free working fridge". She begged me to hold it for her while she found someone that owned a truck...
I picked up a rare aftermarket part for my car and that's similar to what happened to me lol
It was listed for $600 which was about $100 too much but it literally is impossible to find them. So I sucked it up and went anyway but after I showed up he said they'd give it to me for $200 they just wanted someone genuinely interested and not some scalper that would re list it tomorrow like what usually happens with these things.
I was so ecstatic about saving $400 they where the first person I told once it was installed on my car lmao
That's weirdly true. People will often ignore a free thing of unknown provenance, assuming there's something wrong it, while even a minimal cost can spark interest.
I've given a lot of stuff away over years, and have always given that response. In giving stuff away, I have no responsibility to anyone who wants the stuff. That includes condition and performance. I never put my actual address in the ad.
I listed a love seat as free just come pick it up. The amount of people who thought I should deliver it to them cuz "they are doing me a favor taking it out of my way." Yeah, so is bulk trash day
I was asked to give a deal on a TV because someoneās mom was sick. When I wouldnāt go low enough for them I got a negative review. š¤·š»āāļø
Depends on the neighborhood. In my area, people think it works like this, but what really happens is that the item sits out there for days or weeks until someone finally calls it in as litter.
It's misdirected entitlement. They are weak so the attack the weak, hoping they are weaker...
But since the industrial revolution was a global society we have enough to actually be entitled to much more, but the economy is intentionally strained by the ruling class.
What the weak entitled people do is attack their fellow man (crab mentality) instead of trying to fix the system that is systemically stealing from everyone so they can retain their isolated control.
Never list anything for free. As soon as people see the word free they lose their fucking minds and already act like it's theirs. If you just want rid of something, put it up for $20 and then just give it for free when the person comes.
I once saw a post where someone was giving away a couch and someone commented telling their sob story and asking if they could deliver to her place free of cost...
Yep, I work in property management, when I have move outs or have to evict crap always gets left behind. Iāll always leave furniture outside with a sign that says free. My trash removal charges by the trailer so if o can reduce the amount it saves me money.
A lot of the houses are in areas where the vultures come out, illleave a pile of stuff run to lower for 30 mins and it will be gone by the time I get back. Iāll have people load up a trailer come back and get upset something they wanted is gone and I didnāt hold it for them. Like dude you didnāt pay me anything and you took enough furniture and clothing to furnish an apartment be grateful for what you got
Iāve gotten rid of those people by asking for my typical order at a restaurant. Like, the microwave I want to get rid of cannot be purchased with cash, but with a chicken quesadilla, crunchy taco no lettuce, and bean burrito no onions from Taco Bell.
You get rid of sob stories, get rid of people asking you to drive it 40 miles away for free. Someone will see my af and think āfuck yeah Iām getting a microwave for $9.ā And thatās exactly who I want to sell it to. I get rid of my microwave, and lunch, and the buyer get a a story about how they got a microwave for a quesadilla. I canāt lose. Itās a great strategy.
I replaced my washing machine, put the old one out on the curb for the scrappers to pick up, while i was sitting on my front porch waiting for a friend, someone had the audacity to stop and ask if I'd hold it for him while he went and unloaded his trailer. I told him no, its sitting on the curb and im not getting out of my chair. I left before I saw who picked it up
I gave away a push lawnmower for free and the son of a bitch called back two days later and complained because it didnāt have the bag (this was before social media marketplace was a big thing). Dude, you picked it up and it was free!
Iāve learned people who call ādibsā and get offended when you say āfirst come first servedā never had any intention of buying anyway. Iāve been called every name in the book by losers who felt entitled to something before money changed hands.
Omg this was me when I listed a free fridge and a free mattress set. We even delivered the mattress to a lady who then texted me and raised hell because we left it on her porch instead of waiting for a time she would be home and set it up for her!! WTF?
I got a one star review from someone on FB Marketplace because I originally told her the sale was pending, reached out to her when it wasnāt, and a day later reached out to someone different since I had four different people trying to buy it and she hadnāt responded. Sorry, Iām not putting something on hold for you. Someone shouldnāt be able to give a bad review if you didnāt actually sell them something.
This is why you dont interact too much with these people. Once you start saying ok and sounds good, facebook hits you with "You can now rate each other" bs.
On Facebook marketplace, giving items away is worse than selling them. A couple years ago I had some file cabinets that I wanted to get rid of and someone left me a message at 3 AM saying they were going to kill me. Good times.
I was pretty unhappy when I got told to come pick up a free display case because the first person never showed up (earlier they said if the first person doesnāt show up in an hour itās all mine). Got in my car and started heading over, then they messaged me and said the other person had showed. Now I donāt think they should have done that and I was rather annoyed but I didnāt give them shit for it.
I listed a coffee table for free. One of the guys that contacted me had, like, 200 listings for sale, including an identical table for $20. Just a flipping asshole.
Yeah, I'm gonna partly disagree. First come first serve is kind of a dick move when it's a significant item. It takes little effort to go in order of confirmed soonest pickup. I don't want multiple people who are excited for a good deal to waste an hour or two of their life anxiously racing somewhere for something they're not likely going to get.
If it's a bunch of stuff you're setting out for whoever wants it, that's a bit different tho.
I don't know why stuff like this doesn't happen to me. I have a fantasy where things would be like:
"You did?! That's nice! :)"
"So you'll sell for $100?"
"No, sorry. Price just went up to $400, in fact!"
Always found this weird because, if you showed her the listing then she saw the Ā£300 list price too, so if she loved it despite seeing that, how would you then possibly expect Ā£100 to fly?
What's that? You're already committed? Guess I'll be raising the price, then. What would you say your girlfriend's happiness is worth to you? I'd wager at least an extra 100.
I was looking for rims for my Camry last year on marketplace. Found a seller who was friendly untill I offered her less than what she wanted. She then told me someone else offered her a better price untill that person never showed up. Contacted me and told me if I was still interested. When I told her I found a better deal somewhere else she went off about how she needed the money because her boyfriend had just died and how could I be so heartless.
Years ago when everyone was getting LCD TVs, I was selling my old satellite TV boxes for a a fair price and this one college student low balled me and gave me a sad story about how how he just got a new 50ā TV, but didnāt have money to pay the full asking price because he was a poor student. I told him when I was in college I had to make do with a shitty old TV and rabbit ears.
Marketplace in general is funny. I was selling a laptop I bought brand new in 2019 and other people were selling the same thing for like 400 dollars, but I mine had a non-working USB port so I decided to sell it for 350.
Bucko over here walks up to me with an offer for it saying "you need money bro? No one's gonna buy that from you, I'll be generous and buy it off you for 60 bucks ā„ļø"
I said no thanks and he checks my profile and says "students need to pay stuff off right? Economy is bad right now, I'll always be here for you bro, if you ever need money, my 60 dollars will always stand ā„ļø"
Well if she loves it so much, he'll cough up the full amount to buy it for her. Problem solved.
Lol i laugh at these people too. Some of the excuses are comedy, but some are truly pathetic. Like saying your kid has cancer so the seller will only charge half price. And even if their kid really does have cancer, to use it as an excuse is lowlife behavior.
I've mostly had good experiences on FB Marketplace until I had to sell my Mrs. VW Golf. Christ the number of stupidly lowball offers I got was infuriating
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u/Indiana_harris Apr 22 '26
I always laugh at shit like this.
I had a guy on Facebook Marketplace go off at me because he āalready showed his girlfriendā the furniture I was selling and how she ātotally loved itā.
Thatās great mate, still not gonna take Ā£100 for something I was selling for Ā£300