dealing with the 'great british public'

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 14:09
dealing with the 'great british public' - concrete

Well it seems to be official. Certain sections of our population are m****s! As stated previously my lovely old Skoda Superb 1.9Tdi PD130 is going. I was willing to give it to a good home insted of the £150 scrap value I was offered. But no one wanted it. Then SWMBO, the queen of EBay has the idea of placing it for sale. When we checked it out, it seemed that this car in particular proves popular with all sorts of people, despite age or mileage or faults needing attention, making decent cash. So not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth we listed the car. Then ensued what I can only call a virago. One idiot bid £350 then he suddenly bid £4200. He had no feedback and this obviously stopped the bidding process. We managed to get this removed and we re-listed. There was some strange activity and e mail requests for various information including shady offers for cash the next day, which we could not accept anyway as bids had been made. Eventually it went the term and the final bid was £820. Then nothing. No means of contacting the bidder and no contact from them. EBay are next to useless on this issue. Some other 'phone calls asking if it was still for sale and what was our lowest price etc. It all seemed rather strange and there was definitely something fishy going on. The moral of story is, when selling a car, forget EBay, in this regard it seems populated by m****s. Back to the drawing board on this one. But it makes me wonder just what thrill some m****s get doing this sort of activity in the evening and at weekends. The TV really must be bad if this trumps it!!

Cheers Concrete

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 14:34
dealing with the 'great british public' - Wackyracer

I sold one of my cars on Ebay with no fuss at all but, I put it on at a fixed price. The chap tried to haggle me down but, I stood firm on price and the chap came down from up north by train and I met him at the station.

The only call I got from him afterwards was an a question on why the windows and sunroof would no longer open........ he had accidentally pressed the window lock button on the drivers door.

My advice would be to work out what it's worth and stick it on at a fixed price. There are alot of stupid people and chancers on Ebay who spoil it for normal people unfortunately.

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 14:48
dealing with the 'great british public' - RobJP

You always used to be able to restrict bidders on items on ebay - for example only available to bidders with 10 or more positive feedback, block bidders with no feedback or new accounts from bidding.

I always found those tools very useful. Mainly because it filtered out all the other 'tools' !

Edited by RobJP on 01/03/2017 at 14:48

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 15:18
dealing with the 'great british public' - bathtub tom

I've successfully sold cars on ebay before with no problems. The real time wasters seem to inhabit Freegle, I've now given up trying to give stuff away and it all goes to landfill.

Gumtree (and other free ad sites) may be worth trying. Sold my last couple of cars there with no hassle.

You could try offering it for say £500.

Edited by bathtub tom on 01/03/2017 at 15:19

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 15:23
dealing with the 'great british public' - concrete

Thanks Wacky ans Rob. Good comments and advice. SWMBO was amazed at this behaviour only having bought and sold household items and clothing most with 100% feedback. It makes you think what makes some people 'tick'.

Anyway, a mechanic from the nearest village to us just called and is looking for a local runabout. He heard about the car from one of the chaps in our local pub. He says he can fix the faults that exist and cope with any expectant niggles for a cheap fairly reliable 'courtecy car' for his service customers. Ok by me. It also means the 'old girl' will be looked after and go on for more years. He is coming over on Friday and we can talk business then.

Cheers Concrete

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Wed 1 Mar 2017 17:29
dealing with the 'great british public' - SLO76
Had a similar experience on an old Passat 1.9 TDI trade in I was flogging on Gumtree a few months back.

6mth Mot, ran and drove well but looked tatty. Totally honest description and a totally honest old car that had been owned by one family from new. Listed it at £495 with the intention of taking the arm off the first punter with £400 in their hand and thinking it'll be no trouble.

I was inundated with idiots begging me to take two hundred quid for it, had to block several phone numbers who repeatedly called actually begging several times a day and just wouldn't take no for an answer, one was increasingly aggressive about it. Was delighted when an old friend took it.

Certain types of cheap car sadly always attract this type of idiot. Old Honda's, Passat/Octavia/Superb diesels and any sub £1,500 Toyota Avensis. I no longer put my phone number on adverts for cheap end cars, it's email only so that I can ignore the idiots. Hasn't stopped me selling every car I've listed since and with a heap less hassle.
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