In the time of one click buying, I think people on here and other selling groups make an impulse decision then change their minds,

No flakier than "Nextdoor". On a Tuesday, I offered a Victorian chair for $20. Had about 20 people that wanted it....but....they had to wait until Friday when they got paid. Or back in town on Monday. I just said the 1st person who got here with $20 got it. :0) Then the lady was on her way and got lost. Said she's been to my street, just came down from there and couldn't find MY house. I said "Come back up, I'm at the top of the hill, I'll hang out and wait for you....flag you down." She says...we don't know where your street is? Uh...didn't you just say you were just here.....? Couldn't find my house? People are soooooooooooooooooooo flakey!

sounds just as non committal as craigslist people...

I had trouble giving away a working refrigerator one time. About the fifth person, who was older, showed right up when she said she would. It was going into her garage as a second fridge. She made some side money baking cakes and her husband was tired of their fridge always being too full! The thing is, the first four people all begged me to hold it for them as they were broke and kind of desperate, then they all were no show/no call. Go figure.

I have always said on my nextdoor items that it's first person that shows up with the money. Every person has shown up.

So much easier than when I try to give stuff away....EVERYBODY wants it. EVERYBODY promises to show up.

So I wait in for the time they say they'll be there. No show. Email them. They don't bother to reply.

Inform next in line. No show. Email them. They don't bother to reply

And so it goes.

(sorry for yelling, here) AT LEAST HAVE THE COMMON DECENCY TO EMAIL AND TELL ME YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR MIND!!!!!

Clearly this post hit a nerve...

We had great luck selling the old dining set on the local Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade page. I had two responders that wanted to see it in person. The first responder actually bought it after coming back to look again with her dad. I've gotten a few things also with fortunately no drama or fuss.

I really do think that I must live a charmed life.

I've given up on all online sales (except Amazon, of course LOL). I couldn't even get people to come pick up FREE items. I would ask what time they plan on coming, and no response. One lady asked me to deliver some free books to her. She cried me a river. Turns out, she did this to everyone and there was nothing wrong with her. She just didn't want to drive across town for free things. Excuse me? I'm not driving across town to bring you free things... I may have a yard sale this summer. I seriously need to declutter. What I don't sell, I'll donate to a charity store.

Debby, same thing happened to me.

She wanted me to deliver a free cd. Downtown. Said she would pay me 20.00.

Can't figure some people out.

So, I do donate now, although Goodwill won't take furniture....

I'm resurrecting this year-old post because I listed an item on Facebook Marketplace this evening and the same thing happened to me: Six people responded immediately. I messaged the first one an hour ago, and he hasn't replied. How long are we supposed to give someone before they get back to us?

And what's the next step? If someone says they're interested, do I try to set up the sale--i.e., make a date for them to pick it up?

I sold a TV on FB Marketplace last year, but the only person who expressed interest was the one who bought it.

Alisande -- If he was on FB this evening to indicate interest, he should have stayed on FB and checked periodically to see if you replied. I'd give him one more hour and then move on to the next person.

The next step is to private message the next person in line and first ask when they can come get the item. If they don't respond in a reasonable period of time or say something like they can't get it until "Friday", move on and repeat with the next in line. Eventually, you'll get someone to say they can pick it up tomorrow. To that person, (assuming you're doing a porch pick-up), give them your address and where they should leave the money (under your welcome mat, etc). If you want to meet them somewhere instead, give them a couple days/times/locations to choose from. If no reply in a reasonable period of time or if their choice of day/time/location is not convenient to you, move on to the next person (and so on).

Tell No. 1 that you'll give them an hour (or what time frame you choose, maybe depending some on distance, time of day, etc.) head start, then you contact No. 2, etc., with the same story, and you've had xx number of replies, so if folks are serious, they'd best not wait to feed oats to the horse that they plan to ride over (with cart in tow, of course).

As some have said - the first who arrives with the cash gets the goods.

ole joyful

A new irritation when using the Marketplace, is that the site doesn't allow interested buyers to see/find the listing again after they click to message the seller that they're interested. I've had so many people ask for details about the item that I specifically mentioned in the listing. I stated to one of those potential buyers that everything she's asking about is in the listing text. She responded that she couldn't find it again! Bad, bad system Facebook!

I had no idea FB did that, Jewel! I've gotten questions about my other items listed for sale, and thought people were just lazy or stupid. LOL

If someone messages me and asks if it's available (like two minutes after I posted the listing), does that count as expressing interest? Or should I simply say yes, but others are interested, and then move on?

Thanks so much for your help!

I have the least success with Marketplace. Sooo many people ask if I deliver.......to Toronto and area!!! Hell no.

Alisande -- If they ask it's available, reply "Yes. When could you pick it up?"

Good idea, Jewel--thanks!

Kathy, that's a wonderful story!

It makes me INSANE with the "is this still available?" messages I get. If it wasn't, I would pull the post. And when I really, "yes it is! :)" RARELY does anyone respond to it. Why push that button asking if I have it if you don't want to respond to my response??? Why don't people READ the descriptions? I always post what area of the city I live in. They'll ask, "what area do you live in?" I have some travel mugs that look like camera lenses. The "package" also comes with shot cups and a timer. They all look like camera lenses. $50 for all. It even says they're travel cups + more! Can't tell you how many idiots think I'm selling TWO Canon 24 - 105 lenses plus a 70 - 200 f2.8 for a total of $50! I finally had to add "READ DESCRIPTION" in the title of the ad. The messages finally stopped.....

Debby, that's funny! Although if you weren't laughing I understand.

Progress report: Someone is coming (or says he is) today after work. He sounds sincere. We shall see. The others are still eager--although one offered me $15 to deliver it, a 130-mile round trip. Good luck with that. :-)

Debby, on fb marketplace, the response 'is it still available' is automatically sent by fb when you click on the item.

As far a the number of people responding, I think it is a 'placeholder' response while people think about whether they really want the item. If it is a good deal and they don't respond, they lose out. If they say they want it they can always back out. It is annoying, but to them, logical.

I also hate when I ask about an item and get absolutely no response from the seller. Nothing. I end up hanging around so that I can respond and pick up quickly and get nothing but silence. So frustrating!

I've got a beautiful Swarovski gold-plated bangle bracelet for sale. I have so many people asking if it's real gold and how many carats. Duh, if it were real gold, there'd be a few more zeroes behind it. SMH

A new irritation when using the Marketplace, is that the site doesn't allow interested buyers to see/find the listing again after they click to message the seller that they're interested.

Click on the message which is saved to your message box automatically. The listing will be there on top of the individual message and a click will open it.

I did get so many "responses" without any further communication that I wondered if people were clicking "like" just to bookmark the post but the app sent me a notification of interest. However, I was lucky in that the people who did reply and wanted the items actually did show up.

The "auto response" that FBMP has is a royal pain. Do not click anything unless you are really interested in it. It shouldn't be used for ANY other reason. I see a lot of stuff on MP and will not ask the seller about it unless I know I can come see it. Ever. I did manage to buy a beautiful red sectional for my basement a few years ago. It was on a FB buy/sell group. It was $500. I saw about 200 "next" under it so I didn't bother to try to buy it with that many people interested. Soon it was sold. Two weeks later, I just happened to be on the same buy/sell group and the lady said it was back up for sale, the buyer didn't show up, only this time she put it up for $400. She didn't even have the ad up for 10 seconds and I posted I wanted it. So did one other person. The seller said to inbox her for details. I did right away. The other lady missed out, she wasn't quick enough. Within and hour, my son and husband were here with my beautiful almost new sectional. It's downstairs in the family room where I do most of my colouring and crocheting. I've fallen asleep on it several times because it's just comfy. lol

Well, both items were picked up yesterday. Yay! The people were nice, and it all worked out well. Now I have to see what else I want to get rid of. :-)

Glad you got your comfy sectional, Debby!