CraigsList vs. Facebook Marketplace

[Hay Dude]

Biggest problem I see with FB marketplace is guys trying to sell cranes, bulldozers, etc under the category “outdoor power equipment”.

I mean, can’t they create some more sensible categories for us knuckle draggers to sell our bigger equipment?

Or is FMB cater only to the Harvard Law School crowd?

 

[etpm]

I dunno about Facebook Marketplace because I don't have anything to do with Facebook. But my wife uses Facebook "Buy Nothing" and it is a really neat and helpful feature. In case you don't know folks post stuff to give away and then somehow decide whom to give it to from the number of folks who respond to the posting. It is not barter. It is just a way to give stuff away and maybe find something you want. And then maybe even get the item if you are chosen. We have given away a bunch of stuff, none of it being trashy or low quality. We have also gotten a few things, also none of them trashy. So far we have given away much more stuff than we have received. This is good. Last week we gave away a maple table with two leaves, a really high quality piece of furniture that we no longer needed. And the person we gave it to really needed it. We also gave away a dryer that I had just rebuilt to a young woman with a couple kids who had a washer but no dryer. So even though I avoid Facebook like the plague it at least has one useful feature. We are getting older and need to divest ourselves of some of the stuff we have collected over the years. Buy Nothing helps us to do this.
Eric

 

[4570Man]

Biggest problem I see with FB marketplace is guys trying to sell cranes, bulldozers, etc under the category “outdoor power equipment”.

I mean, can’t they create some more sensible categories for us knuckle draggers to sell our bigger equipment?

Or is FMB cater only to the Harvard Law School crowd?

The search function on market place works pretty reliably. I’m not sure why there even are categories. Marketplace is the only selling platform I use. I’ve bought and sold numerous pieces of equipment there. I sell hundreds of low dollar listings there.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

haven't looked at CL in years, would never buy there due to the scams.

 

[taem]

I use both and have successfully bought and sold with few scammers. That said, FBM does not have a "farm and garden" section, forcing you to use categories that don't really fit. Also, FB doesn't let you post animals for sale, such as the beef cattle I sell, although there are groups that you can post in that don't get banned. Both have their uses.

 

[LD1]

First, I wouldnt automatically assume the "is it available" response as scam. Yes, sometimes they are.

Problem is its the automated message that gets sent if you click the wrong button while scrolling. I have been guilty of doing that. As well as "liking" posts in which I dont intend to. Its easy to do things like that on mobile device.

But yea, FB gets alot more activity. Honestly, what I hate are all the sponsored ads. About 2 out of every 4 things (when on mobile) are sponsored ads. And sadly, most of the sponsored ads for equipment are the scams you can spot a mile away. Like equipment priced 1/2 or 1/3 of what a fair market value would be.

While I do like market place search and radius function....I wish there was a way to sort the results better. OR actually search what I am looking for, and not just show me a couple of relevant things and a whole lot of things I am not interested in.

Like recently when searching for a gooseneck (as in looking for a trailer, but I dont put trailer in the search because it will search all ads with EITHER the word "gooseneck" OR "trailer"). But yet I still get results for bumper pull car and equipment trailers. Even though the word gooseneck appears no where in the ad or title.

My other annoyance with FB is all the local "for sale" sites. Literally dozens of local sale sites in my area. People need to quit creating these stupid pages and just freaking use marketplace.

 

[caver]

<snip>My other annoyance with FB is all the local "for sale" sites. Literally dozens of local sale sites in my area. People need to quit creating these stupid pages and just freaking use marketplace.

Agreed.
I was on two area FBMP groups for buying and selling music gear. One became more popular and was mostly filled with listings of a few area music gear flippers. I eventually unfollowed both groups.

 

[MattB4]

I miss the local paper classifieds called Little Nickel or Big Nickle that was delivered outside stores. Yes it cost a bit to advertise in them but there was almost no scams.

I am not interested in stuff like Facebook. It is sad to see Craig's List fail since they were the closest thing to a local area classified paper. It just seems they have never put much effort into adapting to the changing environment nor did they continue to add more localities to make them better serve more areas. In my location they only have a distant city that makes driving distance for interested people too much to do for lower cost items. Closer cities they have no selection for.

 

[5030]

People need to quit creating these stupid pages and just freaking use marketplace.

Lots of people today are both ignorant and stupid and sneaky as you found out. Out here if I want to 'dispose' of unneeded or unwanted items I just put them at the edge of the road and they vanish real quick. When I replaced the seat on my open station M9 with an air ride upholstered but weather proof Cordura seat, the OEM vinyl seat as well as the terrible suspension went to the edge of the road and by the time I got back to the shop, it was gone and it was heavy to boot. Didn't even hear the taker take it. That is unusual in as much as most of the 'dumpster divers' have no mufflers.

 

[4570Man]

First, I wouldnt automatically assume the "is it available" response as scam. Yes, sometimes they are.

.

The vast majority of people send that first. I used to get annoyed now I just reply Yes. I’ve sold a lot of stuff to people that started with “Is this available?” Sure fire indicators of a scam are wanting you to send a “security code to verify you’re a real person”. Wanting you to send a deposit to secure your spot, selling something drastically under market value, wanting you to contact them by email or offering to ship something for much less than it would actually cost.