AvSat44 Posted March 21, 2024 Posted March 21, 2024 I had recently been discussing the amount of equipment that I had collected over many years with a friend who had the same problem. We agreed that a lot of what we had just wasn't being used or ever would. He is very good at selling off gear that has sat in the corner for a while and just has a good focus on the equipment he is listening to and how he might improve it while I have just kept collecting (hoarding). I am now hell bent on moving a lot of gear on and up until a while ago had items listed variously on Stereonet, eBay, Marketplace and Gumtree. My Gumtree account was hacked so I shut that out all together as Gumtree required a new email address. eBay was just so damn expensive for the seller so I limited that to electronic components only. Marketplace is driving me crazy with the number of ghosters that respond to my listings. I've had a couple of ghosters and other issues (probably my fault) with Stereonet and I guess I'll move some more items on to this as it seems far more stable/genuine. It is Gumtree, however, that surprised me though. I decided last week to set up an additional email address and reinstate my Gumtree account. I then listed 2 items to see what would happen. All good so far you might say. But wait! Over the past week I have had nine, yes 9, responses to those 2 listings and Gumtree had blocked every single one of them because they were bad news. So much for that little exercise. I'll leave them there until they expire and that will be the end of that. Marketplace isn't much better. They don't block anyone so unless you are savvy, you can get pinged there. I think that I average one legitimate response in every twenty that I get. Even some of the "FOR SALE" adverts are dodgy! I should point out here that I am not a dealer or flipper of equipment. I love buying and restoring vintage gear (especially turntables and speakers) and that's why I've ended up with so much gear. I just couldn't bear to part with it. Is it just my luck or is it a sign of the times? I never had problems like these back in the day with the (paper) Trading Post. It was quite exciting going down to the newsagent early on Thursday mornings, pulling out the audio section and throwing the rest away . Any views on this?
audiofeline Posted March 21, 2024 Posted March 21, 2024 "Gumtree had blocked every single one of them [9 responses to adverts] because they were bad news" What do you mean by this? (I haven't sold much on Gumtree)
muon* Posted March 21, 2024 Posted March 21, 2024 I had some suspect inquiries on gumtree that I reported to them, and it wasn't straight away but after they looked at them those accounts got blocked.
Al.M Posted March 21, 2024 Posted March 21, 2024 (edited) I have heard of people with such problems on gumtree and get a few occasionally myself when advertising. In my experience they are easy to deal with: 1. Ignore them 2. report them 3. if deal proceeds make sure due diligence is done for both parties whatever it takes, call them and suss it out, get pictures of ID, use PayPal, if local meet them, make sure they have good seller review history etc. The suspicious ones are easy to pick out and you got be bit tough and savvy. However, I have had 3 bad experiences in 15 years loosing money and never hearing from them on two occasions, reported to Police but no action. A third one internationally, I tracked their name and forum identity down, threatened to call them out publicly on all the forums they existed on and shame them, which flushed them out after 12 months to refund. On the flip side there are lot of seemingly honest sellers and buyers who for various reasons are either hopeless responders, absent minded, don’t check their messages, inexperienced or don’t know anything about how to transact that are the reason for issues. Edited March 21, 2024 by Al.M
075Congo Posted March 21, 2024 Posted March 21, 2024 I avoid listing audio gear on both Gumtree and Ebay at all costs. For an audience that "behaves" selling here on the StereoNET Classifieds and on the Aussie Audio Mart is the way to go. It will be even better when the International impact of our Classifieds reaches a higher level. The Americans are certainly starting to eyeball our components and are prepared to pay International Shipping costs as well. The exchange rate of the Aussie $ and the NZ Dollar as well is a big incentive to them. The biggest problem for me is the cost of local and International postage. A lot of buyers are now requesting Express Postage and if that's an incentive to buy ....so be it. I am wondering about the process being a "pain".....if it is then change the way you operate or don't get involved. Cheers
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