no-shows

[teachme]

Others have provided some good ideas to reduce no shows. We sell a decent amount of stuff on CL and due to my rural location I drive to a suburb of a large city to meet which is 40 minutes away.

My usual process is to work out price and meeting time via text. Once that is arranged tell them I will text them the day of meeting before I need to leave (letting them know it is a 40 minute drive) and I will not leave until they respond. Once I get their text and as I'm leaving indicate the make, model and color of the vehicle I'll be driving and ask what they'll be driving and confirm arrival time.

The success rate for this process selling a couple items a month on CL has been high. Have had 1 no show in the last year. Granted I do not sell sub $100 items very often so it could be the buyer is more inclined to show up.

 

[retire-early]

Others have provided some good ideas to reduce no shows. We sell a decent amount of stuff on CL and due to my rural location I drive to a suburb of a large city to meet which is 40 minutes away.

My usual process is to work out price and meeting time via text. Once that is arranged tell them I will text them the day of meeting before I need to leave (letting them know it is a 40 minute drive) and I will not leave until they respond. Once I get their text and as I'm leaving indicate the make, model and color of the vehicle I'll be driving and ask what they'll be driving and confirm arrival time.

The success rate for this process selling a couple items a month on CL has been high. Have had 1 no show in the last year. Granted I do not sell sub $100 items very often so it could be the buyer is more inclined to show up.

I did not do text this most recent time because the item was listed on Facebook Marketplace.
Everything was through Facebook Messenger.
It saved me wasting my time the second time which I believe was in retaliation for my telling No-Show #1 that it "waste of my time".
Too much of a coincidence that No-Show #2 was also interested in the same item. People are vindictive.

 

[teachme]

People are vindictive.

Unfortunately and add a dash of petty in for just the right recipe.

Good news is I've heard Karma has no expiration date.

Best wishes on future sales/purchases.

 

[John Galt III]

What's almost as bad is sellers that don't respond to calls, emails or texts.


I thought about re-posting their add at a much lower price with their contact information.... while that would be funny it wouldn't be right.

As a seller, I get emails all the time asking if something is still available. Seems like a normal question. I tell them yes or no. Once I was unable to delete my ad from Craigslist, after I sold something, so I got a lot of inquiries, and had to inform them it was sold. Some of the customers emailed me back thanking me for informing them the item was sold.

 

[Music Lover]

As a seller, I get emails all the time asking if something is still available. Seems like a normal question. I tell them yes or no. Once I was unable to delete my ad from Craigslist, after I sold something, so I got a lot of inquiries, and had to inform them it was sold. Some of the customers emailed me back thanking me for informing them the item was sold.

"Hi, is this still available" is the default reply on Marketplace so most people just use that. I always put in the ad "If this ad is up the item is available" which reduces that reply some.

 

[retire-early]

As a seller, I get emails all the time asking if something is still available. Seems like a normal question. I tell them yes or no. Once I was unable to delete my ad from Craigslist, after I sold something, so I got a lot of inquiries, and had to inform them it was sold. Some of the customers emailed me back thanking me for informing them the item was sold.

I don't know about Craigslist because I don't use their app.
But it is extremely easy to do on Facebook to ask if something is available. It is just one click.
I have had people ask about availability and disappear.
On Craigslist website, you have to copy and paste a long URL of the seller's email address because the address is hidden and write an actual email. It is a more convoluted process.