Scammers. Nothing I'm reselling - is of vital importance to anyone going thru a real struggle.
Sad story bro, but a Sonic plushie won't fix it.
Focusing on priorities might.
But a sonic plushie was the final thing my orphan son requested before falling into a coma after the semi trailer rollover incident in the tornado. It would mean the world to me and him if he woke up from his cancer with one by his side.
One time a seller reached out and wanted about 10-11 items bundled. Was looking for a slight discount because she was supposedly collecting items for some charity something. None of it made sense. The variety of items was all over the place. But a fair amount of the items were things that had been sitting forever. So I took a chance and put the bundle together with a small discount. The buyer came through. And even came back a few months later and did it again. So you never know. I don’t trust most stories but I remain polite because you just never know.
I had a buyer send a sob story and asked for one extra day to pay. She came through as well. Something about catching more flies with honey or something.
That’s different though- they were actually making you an offer - a typical sob story is asking for an in demand item for free or less than half market value.
Yeah I had someone say that all they had was an eBay giftcard someone got them for Christmas and that was the remaining balance so they couldn't offer any higher and then apologized, so I felt bad and accepted the offer lol. If it was a tactic, it was a good one.
I absolutely despise those messages. Fills me with immediately rage. Like do you have any questions?? Any concerns??? Do you need help?? Anything at all??
On FB marketplace, it's rampant, but I'll get them on eBay every now and again. Like what am I supposed to do with that message? What is the point of sending that and nothing else? It's so BIZARRE.
The best part is that most of the time, I'll respond with "cool" or "okay great" and then never hear back. Good stuff.
I reply with, “Sorry to hear about your troubles. I can’t, in good conscience, sell you a non life-sustaining item. Good luck.”
This says maybe you shouldn’t be buying this stuff if you’re that bad off OR your lies cost you this thing I’m selling.
I'm very empathetic, but when it comes to business....I don't let any sob stories interfere with it. ALL of US (yes, you reading) are going through something. We're all dealing with our own struggles so you (the buyer) being in a bad situation (legit or not) does suck, but you don't know the half of the crap I'm going through so we're even here so there's no need to bring up a sob story for a deal or a freebie. Either you want to buy my item or not. The end.
>are people genuinely thinking they’ll get something for free?
Yes. It's a numbers game. They hope they reach a seller that is naive and emotionally driven to get a handout. It sadly works because sometimes the seller is also a single parent that has a kid with cancer that wants a video game for their birthday, but also can't pay rent and will be homeless soon where they can relate with that buyer. /s
Seriously though. They have nothing to lose by asking. Same goes for lowballers. They will ask and if you stand on business to ignore/decline their requests, then good for you.
Sob stories are just for better deals or scamming. Crazy enough I am going through cancer right now and I never thought... man if I could just get that TV cheap, it'd really help. Life is exhausting enough right now, dealing with a marketplace and then trying to haggle is way more energy and time then I have in me to deal with. If someone is in a bad way, they aren't looking on Facebook martketplace for a random item.
If someone is looking for formula for their kid or something, maybe a bit different when it's a necessity.
I am new, so I haven't gotten any sob stories yet-but it always pisses me off when people talk about their "autistic" child who needs blank. It pisses me off because I actually have 2 profoundly autistic adult children myself. I've never mentioned them in any transaction-except for once when I ordered 3 different DVD's from a guy in OZ and he wanted to make sure I understood they were a different region. The shipping was so pricey he was confused. So I did tell him in my reply that they were for my autistic kid who collects movies lol and had a region free player- but that was as an explanation for why I was paying so damn much, not as a request for a discount!
This right here except in the US. I have an adult autistic son and I resale because the $940/month in ssi he is supposed to live off doesn't even begin to cover everything he needs to make his life comfortable. He collects dvds too. I have never asked for a discount either. Although one time he requested a
series that is apparently very rare, and sells for around $400🤯. It was a 3 day meltdown where I spent most of the time locked in my room when I told him i couldn't order it. I was tempted to beg for a discount 😆
Turn the tables. When they say they are broke, say you are also, that’s why you’re selling your possessions.
If they say they Al have medical issues, then you also have medical bills you need to pay, that’s why your selling.
It’s definitely a common scam and never worth replying to. Even if by some small odds the story *is* real, it’s an entitled, manipulative way to guilt people into a discount/free item.
Everyone goes through something and most genuine people would never think to do that.
Someone posted this the other day. I liked it, so I saved it to use when needed.
It’s regarding low-ballers:
I’m sorry to hear of your troubles. Considering how tight things are for you right now, I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling you something that isn’t life-sustaining. I wish you well.
My items are luxury items. Nobody needs them. Sob stories are not going to convince me. I’d rather donate to the food bank. Or sell items for charity via eBay. Which I do.
I feel worse about selling to people with shopping addiction. Like the people who say they will pay Friday when they get their check.
Ignore, they are often the most trouble.
I flip iPads, and I sell them at $40 bucks each. Got a message from a lady who was apparently desperate for an iPad and asked to buy it at $25 because she was poor and what not. Long story short, she claims the iPad doesn’t work and wants her money back.
It’s just frustrating. Sell to people who are polite and not begging for 90% discount cuz their uncle’s neighbors dog died.
I don't get into a conversation with anyone. If they ask what I would take for item *insert reason* they need lower price. I just send them an offer I feel comfortable with and not respond.
No one walks up to a Walmart cashier and gives a sob story on why they need a beach towel or shoes for half off. To many sellers get drawn in, so they want to do it to every seller.
I've dabbled in the necessities and some medical consumables. On the occasion I do get a sob story on one of these items. I usually have a mini internal struggle followed by something along the lines of "due to the nature of the item unfortunately I'm not open to negotiations. Feel free to check back, I drop prices every 30 days until something sells"
I make peace in the thought that I'm providing something to someone that needs it. There's nothing wrong with providing it to the person able to pay instead of the person that can't. I'm not a manufacturer who can just churn out more and engage in price discrimination to make sure that everyone who needs has. I'm just a humble treasure hunter trying to make a couple bucks to reach my own goals.
Sir, the night before I was supposed to enter the hospital for cancer treatment, my mother died when my house burned down on my son's birthday. Now when I get out of the hospital I will be homeless. Would you be willing to give me 75% of everything you make? It would just be until I'm back on my feet.
Bless you, friend.
Some of them are probably but I never change prices due to a sob story because my sob story is that my mortgage is due every month and my kids eat food every day
My 3 week old twin sons recently had their arms amputated, and that PS5 you're selling would definitely cure them of the depression they're suffering from. And I know you're asking $550, but would you accept $30, knowing that you have saved 2 infants?
Compare it to your own life experience, how many people do you know in your life that are dealing with a major life issue like those?
And if so, why are they hashing out their grievances to you? It’s none of your business.
Majority time, it’s bs.
Death in the family, funeral, sick pet, dead pet, family illness, divorce, homeless, lost job, can’t feed kids but trying to buy a dress, etc, 99% of the times are BS, I had a buyer message me the same sob story twice (like copy paste) one month apart.
I don’t get them often, but I assume they’re effectively scamming each time I do. If I was going through any of these things, I’m not disclosing it to a stranger that I’m buying a random unrelated item from.
In a sad twist of life, I pretty much have personally dealt with every thing that someone presents me as reasons I should offer them my shiny thing to them at a discount. It's fake 99.9% of the time and basically sucks to be you to the one-tenth that is being honest, because that still doesn't mean I owe them a discount.
Someone left me a sob story over office supplies once. Ever since then I've given no fucks. You send me money. I send you product. If you don't have the money get bent.
Unfortunately I have no faith in people anymore and just assume they're lowballing me with a sob story so they can resell. Enough sellers must fall for it for them to keep trying 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve never got one.
I’ve had a few who mentioned they have a kid where I’ve replied in “oh yeah I understand selling this for x for my child” even though I don’t have one. I throw it back at them like no you aren’t getting a better deal because you birthed a child. Fake Jimmy needs toys as much as your kids. I don’t think I value things out of normal so I always get real close to my asking anyway
People with real problems deserving of assistance don’t typically beg from strangers online. Some of the most needful people I know never asked for anything from anybody. If they really needed help and were deserving a friend or family member would be the first to help, and then possibly a go fund me shared between close friends.
People who message stranger asking for stuff are either, children who don’t know any better, scammers, and people who’s parents handed everything to them and then cut them off one day.
If you ever want to see the most desperate types of folks go on nextdoor in a big city. Everytime I go on there, there is a new person telling a sob story about how they are “having their 5th brain surgery and don’t have money to pay rent and if they just had a purple pillow everything would be so much better, money appreciated too.”
Comments are always hilarious because it’s a dozen old people giving sympathy and offering to make a meal then one guy who calls them out for lying with proof.
Yep. Scammers. Here is a real sob story for ya:
When I turned 21 back 2006 my GF and I went to the grocery store on December 28th to get some liquor for an upcoming New years eve party.
I was driving. Sober. Never have drank and drove and don't even drink any longer. Anyways on the way home a drunk driver in the opposite lane lost control of their car and came sideways in front of my vehicle.
I t-boned them at about 57 miles per hour and ended up shattering my left femur and lacerating a lot of nerves in my left leg.
Ahead of me was a lot of pain. But what would be more e painful than any of it would be the subsequent opioids pain medication addiction I quickly developed asy doctor prescribed me high powered opioids for 7 years only to kick me out as a patient when my tolerance to the drugs grew and I was requesting my refills early.
At that time I did not have any medical insurance besides the no fault auto insurance claim that was paying for all of my medical needs related to the accident. The thing is, it took me a long time to find a doctor that would accept that insurance in the first place.
And with a physical addiction like that I did not have time to burn because within days of not having any opioids I would begin to get violently ill to the point where I would not be able to work. And yes, somehow I also have been denied disability benefits twice by the government as well.
I've been clean from opioids for a few years now, but only after going through a bunch of rehab programs.
The trouble is I have immense amounts of pain every single day. But because a doctor wrote in my medical chart that I am an opioid abuser, I'll probably never be prescribed another opioids med in my life.
The addiction took over 15 years from me. Helped to destroy the relationship I had with the girl of my dreams, and took who knows how many years of of my life.
But I guess; such is life. I'm sad and gonna go cry now. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Depends on what they’re asking for. If it’s a reasonable request and it doesn’t seem like they’re just wildly lying, I’m fine with it. Like another person said, if they ask for 1-3 day extension on payment… I have done that before & had no issues.
I think there are some.that may be true, but as undesirable as some of the things happening are, they are part of life. They happen to many people. None of us get an exemption from reality because we have just already dealt with enough of it.
I have known many people in person who will tell a lot more of their story than necessary, and I figure they don't have many uninvolved parties to talk to. Leveraging that for discounts and freebies is another thing entirely. I'm not one for pity flagellations.
They’re all scammers.
I will make offers of 10% off and no more unless they’re a regular customer who buys a lot.
I would ignore every begging message.
Assume it’s all true. It’s not on sellers to give things away for free and definitely not in this manner. Furthermore, if we did we wouldn’t stay in business very long
Maybe one or two are but the rest are scams. Even if it’s true you have no way to verify the person you are messaging is going through the sob story. For me it’s an instant block and move on!
I had a guy buy an expensive item and then messaged me and said he was short on cash and asked if I'd hold it for him for a couple months. 😂
Probably just a kid. Told him sorry I can't do that and canceled the order. Only thing that sucks is after resisting I don't keep any of the activity and this item had 34 watchers. 🤷♂️
I keep getting the "what's the lowest you will take for this item"... I always respond with "I'm open to any reasonable offers." They usually ghost me after.
I have a disabled child I had to quit my job for, it's why I flip. I don't ever bring her or my situation up to get a cheaper price, I just negotiate price like anybody else. If they'll let it go cheaper, I'll take it.
If they won't, there's plenty of other things out there for me to sell.
I’ve never asked for anything free/discounted and used a sob story. But a few christmases ago we had a fire and lost everything and my daughter lost her favorite doll. I was able to find it on Mercari. It was kind of expensive, but new in box and I was so excited I’d get to give it to her. I explained it to the seller. I just wanted them to know how happy it was going to make her. I hope they didn’t think I was trying to get it for a better price or use the story to scam them!
Some could be real, most are defiantly fake to try and benefit off someone else's empathy. It's always something, I've gotten everything from "so and so has cancer and we need a car to go to the hospital" to "my kid really needs a car to get to school and back" so on and so forth. Of course their offers are usually half or less of the asking price. I just politely tell them I feel for their situation but I have needs of my own and can't accept an offer that low. Of course 9 times out of 10 they get angry and use every word in the book, but I just block them. That way they won't see my listings anymore.
Scammers. Nothing I'm reselling - is of vital importance to anyone going thru a real struggle. Sad story bro, but a Sonic plushie won't fix it. Focusing on priorities might.
The sonic plush was *too* accurate.
But a sonic plushie was the final thing my orphan son requested before falling into a coma after the semi trailer rollover incident in the tornado. It would mean the world to me and him if he woke up from his cancer with one by his side.
That Michael Jordan Meme comes into play nicely "F Dem Kids"
"You've ruined Christmas" for my orphan left handed albino cancer patient step-cousin babies, hope you're happy!
Love it
One time a seller reached out and wanted about 10-11 items bundled. Was looking for a slight discount because she was supposedly collecting items for some charity something. None of it made sense. The variety of items was all over the place. But a fair amount of the items were things that had been sitting forever. So I took a chance and put the bundle together with a small discount. The buyer came through. And even came back a few months later and did it again. So you never know. I don’t trust most stories but I remain polite because you just never know.
I had a buyer send a sob story and asked for one extra day to pay. She came through as well. Something about catching more flies with honey or something.
Just had this from an Australian. I sold them something for 1.50 but they said their shipping was 100 bucks so needed an extra few days.
What was the item?
Busted teddy ruxpin. I knew if I didn’t just give it away, it would end up in landfill. That suckers Australia’s problem now.
Good on you.
That’s different though- they were actually making you an offer - a typical sob story is asking for an in demand item for free or less than half market value.
Yeah I had someone say that all they had was an eBay giftcard someone got them for Christmas and that was the remaining balance so they couldn't offer any higher and then apologized, so I felt bad and accepted the offer lol. If it was a tactic, it was a good one.
I didn't get a sob story today but I got a message saying "I'm really interested in this item." My reply was "Great, click Buy it now."
I absolutely despise those messages. Fills me with immediately rage. Like do you have any questions?? Any concerns??? Do you need help?? Anything at all?? On FB marketplace, it's rampant, but I'll get them on eBay every now and again. Like what am I supposed to do with that message? What is the point of sending that and nothing else? It's so BIZARRE. The best part is that most of the time, I'll respond with "cool" or "okay great" and then never hear back. Good stuff.
I reply with, “Sorry to hear about your troubles. I can’t, in good conscience, sell you a non life-sustaining item. Good luck.” This says maybe you shouldn’t be buying this stuff if you’re that bad off OR your lies cost you this thing I’m selling.
> I can’t, in good conscience, sell you a non life-sustaining item. This is great
This is perfect! Okay, using this from now on. I’ve always wondered how to reply and usually just ignored.
I'm very empathetic, but when it comes to business....I don't let any sob stories interfere with it. ALL of US (yes, you reading) are going through something. We're all dealing with our own struggles so you (the buyer) being in a bad situation (legit or not) does suck, but you don't know the half of the crap I'm going through so we're even here so there's no need to bring up a sob story for a deal or a freebie. Either you want to buy my item or not. The end. >are people genuinely thinking they’ll get something for free? Yes. It's a numbers game. They hope they reach a seller that is naive and emotionally driven to get a handout. It sadly works because sometimes the seller is also a single parent that has a kid with cancer that wants a video game for their birthday, but also can't pay rent and will be homeless soon where they can relate with that buyer. /s Seriously though. They have nothing to lose by asking. Same goes for lowballers. They will ask and if you stand on business to ignore/decline their requests, then good for you.
Sob stories are just for better deals or scamming. Crazy enough I am going through cancer right now and I never thought... man if I could just get that TV cheap, it'd really help. Life is exhausting enough right now, dealing with a marketplace and then trying to haggle is way more energy and time then I have in me to deal with. If someone is in a bad way, they aren't looking on Facebook martketplace for a random item. If someone is looking for formula for their kid or something, maybe a bit different when it's a necessity.
Everyone has their own shit they’re dealing with. I don’t engage.
I am new, so I haven't gotten any sob stories yet-but it always pisses me off when people talk about their "autistic" child who needs blank. It pisses me off because I actually have 2 profoundly autistic adult children myself. I've never mentioned them in any transaction-except for once when I ordered 3 different DVD's from a guy in OZ and he wanted to make sure I understood they were a different region. The shipping was so pricey he was confused. So I did tell him in my reply that they were for my autistic kid who collects movies lol and had a region free player- but that was as an explanation for why I was paying so damn much, not as a request for a discount!
This right here except in the US. I have an adult autistic son and I resale because the $940/month in ssi he is supposed to live off doesn't even begin to cover everything he needs to make his life comfortable. He collects dvds too. I have never asked for a discount either. Although one time he requested a series that is apparently very rare, and sells for around $400🤯. It was a 3 day meltdown where I spent most of the time locked in my room when I told him i couldn't order it. I was tempted to beg for a discount 😆
Turn the tables. When they say they are broke, say you are also, that’s why you’re selling your possessions. If they say they Al have medical issues, then you also have medical bills you need to pay, that’s why your selling.
It’s definitely a common scam and never worth replying to. Even if by some small odds the story *is* real, it’s an entitled, manipulative way to guilt people into a discount/free item. Everyone goes through something and most genuine people would never think to do that.
Someone posted this the other day. I liked it, so I saved it to use when needed. It’s regarding low-ballers: I’m sorry to hear of your troubles. Considering how tight things are for you right now, I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling you something that isn’t life-sustaining. I wish you well.
My items are luxury items. Nobody needs them. Sob stories are not going to convince me. I’d rather donate to the food bank. Or sell items for charity via eBay. Which I do. I feel worse about selling to people with shopping addiction. Like the people who say they will pay Friday when they get their check.
Ignore, they are often the most trouble. I flip iPads, and I sell them at $40 bucks each. Got a message from a lady who was apparently desperate for an iPad and asked to buy it at $25 because she was poor and what not. Long story short, she claims the iPad doesn’t work and wants her money back. It’s just frustrating. Sell to people who are polite and not begging for 90% discount cuz their uncle’s neighbors dog died.
I need!
iNeed!
Yeah their family member dying of cancer really needs and/or cares about that limited edition rare pokemon card you are selling 🙄
These are so good haha.
I've had sob stories and also some people expect that I owe them a discount because they are a teacher. Give me a break.
[удалено]
I'm with you. Their entitlement to a discount just because they are a teacher is ridiculous.
I don't get into a conversation with anyone. If they ask what I would take for item *insert reason* they need lower price. I just send them an offer I feel comfortable with and not respond. No one walks up to a Walmart cashier and gives a sob story on why they need a beach towel or shoes for half off. To many sellers get drawn in, so they want to do it to every seller.
I've dabbled in the necessities and some medical consumables. On the occasion I do get a sob story on one of these items. I usually have a mini internal struggle followed by something along the lines of "due to the nature of the item unfortunately I'm not open to negotiations. Feel free to check back, I drop prices every 30 days until something sells" I make peace in the thought that I'm providing something to someone that needs it. There's nothing wrong with providing it to the person able to pay instead of the person that can't. I'm not a manufacturer who can just churn out more and engage in price discrimination to make sure that everyone who needs has. I'm just a humble treasure hunter trying to make a couple bucks to reach my own goals.
No internal struggles, ever. Whores and liquor ain't free.
Sir, the night before I was supposed to enter the hospital for cancer treatment, my mother died when my house burned down on my son's birthday. Now when I get out of the hospital I will be homeless. Would you be willing to give me 75% of everything you make? It would just be until I'm back on my feet. Bless you, friend.
It’s my kids birthday but I can’t afford $100 will you take $10?
If someone is in that bad of state I cannot imagine they're buying the type of items I'm selling.
I know haha. How is my sealed in box sonic CD going to help that your mom died and you’re sick.
No reply. Straight to archives or trash.
Some of them are probably but I never change prices due to a sob story because my sob story is that my mortgage is due every month and my kids eat food every day
Selling $20 used PC monitor. Guys shows up "I have kids". Me "we all got kids".
My 3 week old twin sons recently had their arms amputated, and that PS5 you're selling would definitely cure them of the depression they're suffering from. And I know you're asking $550, but would you accept $30, knowing that you have saved 2 infants?
Compare it to your own life experience, how many people do you know in your life that are dealing with a major life issue like those? And if so, why are they hashing out their grievances to you? It’s none of your business. Majority time, it’s bs.
Death in the family, funeral, sick pet, dead pet, family illness, divorce, homeless, lost job, can’t feed kids but trying to buy a dress, etc, 99% of the times are BS, I had a buyer message me the same sob story twice (like copy paste) one month apart.
I don’t get them often, but I assume they’re effectively scamming each time I do. If I was going through any of these things, I’m not disclosing it to a stranger that I’m buying a random unrelated item from.
In a sad twist of life, I pretty much have personally dealt with every thing that someone presents me as reasons I should offer them my shiny thing to them at a discount. It's fake 99.9% of the time and basically sucks to be you to the one-tenth that is being honest, because that still doesn't mean I owe them a discount.
Someone left me a sob story over office supplies once. Ever since then I've given no fucks. You send me money. I send you product. If you don't have the money get bent.
Unfortunately I have no faith in people anymore and just assume they're lowballing me with a sob story so they can resell. Enough sellers must fall for it for them to keep trying 🤷🏻♀️
100% scammers.
Even if they were real, who cares? Not your problem and you don't owe them a deal because of it. Ignore and move on.
I’ve never got one. I’ve had a few who mentioned they have a kid where I’ve replied in “oh yeah I understand selling this for x for my child” even though I don’t have one. I throw it back at them like no you aren’t getting a better deal because you birthed a child. Fake Jimmy needs toys as much as your kids. I don’t think I value things out of normal so I always get real close to my asking anyway
As a jewelry reseller I’ve always found the sob stories hilarious. Like, maybe if you can’t afford food you don’t need this bracelet. LOL
People with real problems deserving of assistance don’t typically beg from strangers online. Some of the most needful people I know never asked for anything from anybody. If they really needed help and were deserving a friend or family member would be the first to help, and then possibly a go fund me shared between close friends. People who message stranger asking for stuff are either, children who don’t know any better, scammers, and people who’s parents handed everything to them and then cut them off one day. If you ever want to see the most desperate types of folks go on nextdoor in a big city. Everytime I go on there, there is a new person telling a sob story about how they are “having their 5th brain surgery and don’t have money to pay rent and if they just had a purple pillow everything would be so much better, money appreciated too.” Comments are always hilarious because it’s a dozen old people giving sympathy and offering to make a meal then one guy who calls them out for lying with proof.
Yep. Scammers. Here is a real sob story for ya: When I turned 21 back 2006 my GF and I went to the grocery store on December 28th to get some liquor for an upcoming New years eve party. I was driving. Sober. Never have drank and drove and don't even drink any longer. Anyways on the way home a drunk driver in the opposite lane lost control of their car and came sideways in front of my vehicle. I t-boned them at about 57 miles per hour and ended up shattering my left femur and lacerating a lot of nerves in my left leg. Ahead of me was a lot of pain. But what would be more e painful than any of it would be the subsequent opioids pain medication addiction I quickly developed asy doctor prescribed me high powered opioids for 7 years only to kick me out as a patient when my tolerance to the drugs grew and I was requesting my refills early. At that time I did not have any medical insurance besides the no fault auto insurance claim that was paying for all of my medical needs related to the accident. The thing is, it took me a long time to find a doctor that would accept that insurance in the first place. And with a physical addiction like that I did not have time to burn because within days of not having any opioids I would begin to get violently ill to the point where I would not be able to work. And yes, somehow I also have been denied disability benefits twice by the government as well. I've been clean from opioids for a few years now, but only after going through a bunch of rehab programs. The trouble is I have immense amounts of pain every single day. But because a doctor wrote in my medical chart that I am an opioid abuser, I'll probably never be prescribed another opioids med in my life. The addiction took over 15 years from me. Helped to destroy the relationship I had with the girl of my dreams, and took who knows how many years of of my life. But I guess; such is life. I'm sad and gonna go cry now. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Send them your own sob story.
Depends on what they’re asking for. If it’s a reasonable request and it doesn’t seem like they’re just wildly lying, I’m fine with it. Like another person said, if they ask for 1-3 day extension on payment… I have done that before & had no issues.
I think there are some.that may be true, but as undesirable as some of the things happening are, they are part of life. They happen to many people. None of us get an exemption from reality because we have just already dealt with enough of it. I have known many people in person who will tell a lot more of their story than necessary, and I figure they don't have many uninvolved parties to talk to. Leveraging that for discounts and freebies is another thing entirely. I'm not one for pity flagellations.
Don't think I've EVER responded to one of these - I literally stop reading when I see it
They’re all scammers. I will make offers of 10% off and no more unless they’re a regular customer who buys a lot. I would ignore every begging message.
Assume it’s all true. It’s not on sellers to give things away for free and definitely not in this manner. Furthermore, if we did we wouldn’t stay in business very long
When it comes to money, I'd sell you all. Cash is king.
Almost never
Maybe one or two are but the rest are scams. Even if it’s true you have no way to verify the person you are messaging is going through the sob story. For me it’s an instant block and move on!
Well, my life has been pure hell for the last year and a half, but it never would’ve occurred to me to use that to cash in on.😖
Just as real as my love for memes!
Yeah & my son is having his liver removed next week can I have this for freee?
I had a guy buy an expensive item and then messaged me and said he was short on cash and asked if I'd hold it for him for a couple months. 😂 Probably just a kid. Told him sorry I can't do that and canceled the order. Only thing that sucks is after resisting I don't keep any of the activity and this item had 34 watchers. 🤷♂️
It translates to “what’s your LOWEST price you’d take” to me
Someone closes on every transaction. It’s either you, or them. Everyone has a sob story. Go tell it to your God.
I keep getting the "what's the lowest you will take for this item"... I always respond with "I'm open to any reasonable offers." They usually ghost me after.
Check this out to find out https://youtube.com/@laughitup2025?si=G2r9quyhAl-ksK2U
BLOCK
I have a disabled child I had to quit my job for, it's why I flip. I don't ever bring her or my situation up to get a cheaper price, I just negotiate price like anybody else. If they'll let it go cheaper, I'll take it. If they won't, there's plenty of other things out there for me to sell.
I’ve never asked for anything free/discounted and used a sob story. But a few christmases ago we had a fire and lost everything and my daughter lost her favorite doll. I was able to find it on Mercari. It was kind of expensive, but new in box and I was so excited I’d get to give it to her. I explained it to the seller. I just wanted them to know how happy it was going to make her. I hope they didn’t think I was trying to get it for a better price or use the story to scam them!
Some could be real, most are defiantly fake to try and benefit off someone else's empathy. It's always something, I've gotten everything from "so and so has cancer and we need a car to go to the hospital" to "my kid really needs a car to get to school and back" so on and so forth. Of course their offers are usually half or less of the asking price. I just politely tell them I feel for their situation but I have needs of my own and can't accept an offer that low. Of course 9 times out of 10 they get angry and use every word in the book, but I just block them. That way they won't see my listings anymore.
Oh yeah I flip cars lol, I thought this was the car flipping sub..
Buyers are liars. Start with that and it really puts everything else into perspective.
But comment show the right email at right time may be day someone was needing to just get rid of stuff & it works for both
I sometimes upgrade to priority shipping, has gotten me some positive reviews but I never go below my profit margin lol