This week’s I Must Confess prompt has come at what I think is called good timing, though I’d rather not be able to write about it.
What Drives Me Crazy
What drives me crazy is selling second hand things online. When Ben’s grandad moved into a nursing home, he gave us his fridge/freezer. Previously, we had an all fridge and an all freezer. Well, after working out that the fridge/freezer combo size worked well for us, we decided to sell the all fridge and the all freezer.
In theory.
You see, I still own them.
Heaps of people have been interested in buying them. It just seems that every single fucking person in the world has no follow through. Or can’t show up when they say they will. (Seriously, I gave this one person nearly a week but they were aaahhhh I can’t talk about them they just make me want to scream they wanted to be fucking hand held and coddled into picking the damn freezer up.)
Or they wanted it delivered. Um, I said pick up only for many reasons, the main one being that THEY DON’T FUCKING FIT IN MY FUCKING CAR YOU FUCKING MORONS. Plus I can’t move things with a busted ankle and Ben can’t move things because chronic illnesses and physical restrictions. It seems like people just assume you’re a removalist with a ute and/or trailer but just don’t want to deliver.
One person said they needed delivery because they are a youth and they need the freezer to keep their food cold. Well, firstly, duh. Yes, that’s why I had a freezer too. Secondly, I get that it sucks when you’re young/a student/poor/whatever and can’t collect (presumably this person didn’t have a car from the way they wrote) but a) that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t deliver and b) I didn’t get a car OR license until my mid-20s so you know what I did? I went without and learned how to get buy. Yes, even if that meant buying little bits at a time and walking 2km each way to a grocery shop. It sucked.
How bloody hard is it to buy something? To show up when you say you will? To say “sorry, I’m not interested anymore” or “sorry, I can’t make it?”
We’re all busy, and I say all of this as a self confessed lazy person… but I still let people know and don’t mess them around because I know I would hate someone to do it to me.
For now, I’ve gotten massively pissed off at the entire thing and taken all of my ads off of the internet.
Why is it so hard to sell good quality whitegoods? Is everything so consumable these days that no one respects things if they aren’t new? Are people really this rude and annoying? Do you want a fridge or freezer?
I tried selling my daughter’s violins on Gumtree. One sold in the end but OMG. One women arrived. Had to have it but didn’t have any money on her. Could she take it and transfer funds. Ummm… NO.
Haha WOW. “Oh yeah, I’d love for you to steal my shit”… It’s crazy that it’s so hard to conduct a basic transaction.
I just listed a whole lot of stuff on gumtree to sell and we are not having much luck either.
It’s very frustrating. Maybe the site has had its day. I mean the site technically works fine, it’s just the people buying who make me scream.
I’ve had good success with Gum tree and also no success. It’s a bit hit and miss I find.
Yeah I’m going to try it again because I think timing is everything. Sometimes you’ll get a good batch of people online.
or they want to negotiate the price you set. every. bluddy. time.
Ugh yes, some guy showed up for a $120 mower once and claimed he only had $100 on him.
You forgot to mention all the scammy phone calls you get too when advertising online. First share house I moved into we were so broke all we had was an esky for the first couple of months. Seriously. Lucky it was winter!
I never put my phone number online – too likely to snap at them haha. At least with emails I can ignore them easier.
This is the reason I’ve never been bothered trying to sell stuff on Gumtree or Evilbay. The small amount of money I may make doesn’t seem worth the hassle of stuffing around with people.
I hope it helped to get that off your chest.
Half the time I end up giving stuff away because it’s just easier…but aahh you’d think I could sell decent whitegoods.
Oh dear. Not good. I have had moderate success with Ebay and some FB groups in Sydney when we were selling up and the grandkids’ things needed to be sold or given away. I have also found some charities (give aways!) quite rude about what they are prepared to take. We are glad to have most of what we need now and don’t intend to do any more of this selling/giving away anytime soon.
I used to have more success a few years ago. I’ve also found that many charities are a bit picky on what they take, I understand it to a degree but expecting new things like some do is kinda ridiculous.
I hate selling things and would rather give them away than have the hassle of dealing with people. I’m still getting over selling my last car over 2 years ago now – that was a drama in itself! Good luck with it all, I hope you find some people with cash, backbone and follow through really soon!
I’ve generally gotten to that point too – silly me (clearly) thought that maybe essential items such as whitegoods would be an exception. The thought of giving away a decent and fairly new fridge bugs me though – I’m just going to keep them for now.