You would be shocked by how many people do not take down their ads after they have sold something.
That said, any opener should expand beyond just asking if the item is still available.
It's my opener. I'm not writing paragraphs to be to told it sold weeks ago
Offer a price, or agree to the price and suggest where to meet. 1-2 sentences.
Half of the inquiries are just scams so everyone gets an equally generic response.
Meanwhile, you ask a question or two about it (size, smoke free home, anything else not answered in the ad) or even say "When is a good time to look at/pick this up? Will pay cash."
Crickets. Online classifieds are a lot more frustrating than they used to be.
Not sure if they already sold it (and still left the ad up) or if it is a scam and they don't reply because my offer (see in person, handle pickup myself).
because my offer (see in person, handle pickup myself).
It's been a long time since I've used any sort of online classifieds, and this line confused me. Do people expect stuff mailed nowadays or something? The last time I bought something through a local online seller was during Covid, and even then, with facemasks and sanitizers, I met up with the seller in-person (in a populated public location.)
Or is it still normal to personally pick up items that you inspect in-person with legit vendors, it's just scammers that expect something different?
It got weird after COVID. Of the stuff I sold, a lot of people would ask if I could deliver. Even for small items, and far more often than they would before the pandemic. Of the stuff I buy, people would ask if I wanted it delivered. I understood for large items like couches. It made no sense for stuff like DVDs. (Porch pick up or neutral location for me always.)
So I just offer it right out the gate now. If they're "selling" something and it's a scam, it filters them out. If I'm buying something, it lets them know I'm not going to ask them to jump through hoops.
Is that john Oliver trying to find more rat erotica?
I’m trying to buy something from Craigslist rn and the amount of times ive reached out with this to only be either ghosted, told its sold, or told someone else is coming but I can have it if they flake is probably like 12 or 13?
So yeah gonna continue starting with this line
If a buyer opens with a suggestion on a place to meet and another opens with 'is it available', who is going to get messaged back? I can tell you who I would message.
I still offer to meet and stuff, I don’t just say “is it available” with no other text
Based on a small handful of replies I do get it appears that many sellers don’t know how to delete their ads
In my experience, 90% of the time the “is it available” folk are tire kickers..
What online classifieds do people use that aren't fb marketplace?
