The problem with reselling items online is that you never know who will show up at your door... Or when.Credit:iStock
Two teenage girls were accused of attacking a man with a knife this year during a Marketplace meet-up for a phone. The attack,which left the victim with cuts to the head,had been planned,the teens having used a Facebook account under a different name to set up the sale.
Then there’s the pet scammers,who reel in hapless victims by posting photos and detailed descriptions of exceptionally cute animals that are still weeks away from being able to move to their forever homes. After a deposit of hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars,the post and its creator quickly disappear. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,Australians lost more than $2.5 million to pet scams in 2021 across platforms such as Marketplace,Gumtree and the Trading Post.
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One needs to spend only five minutes on Facebook Marketplace Horror Stories to fully appreciate the full scope of just how awful and poorly socialised some humans are. Why do we bother with it?
Even posting an item is hard work. You’ve got to take photos,write a detailed description of the item,fill out a form that feels longer than a centenarian’s life history,and mention your sale price and pick up location many times over because somehow these essential details are always missed.
Then comes liaising with interested parties. Taking many forms,these are the time-wasters who ask completely irrelevant or questions you’ve already answered about your listing. They’ll low-ball you to the point of comedy and occasionally become aggressive if you choose to politely reject what they feel is a reasonable price.
Past that,there’s the “interested” parties,who promise they’re seriously interested and not time-wasters. They tell you they’re coming to collect the item and beg you to turn down other offers,ask for your address and then leave you on read,never to be heard from again. These ghosters of Marketplace would be annoying but harmless enough if they didn’t know where you live. But because they do,you’re left with a crippling fear that they could show up at any moment to rob you or kill you in your sleep.