What is the strangest request you have received from a potential buyer?

[cyberdan]

Now I have to tell you one I just got today.

I am selling a MAC BOOK PRO laptop. It does not power up so I do not know what is wrong with it. I listed it as a parts machine. It is 100% intact. This potential customer sent a message, he wanted me to open up the case remove the keyboard and send him a photo of the back of the keyboard so he could see if it matched his.

I guess if it didn't match then I was going to have to re-assemble the laptop and hope it all goes back nicely and thats if I didn't break anything. Well that would waste an hour or two.

Since I recycle computers I have torn down my share of laptops and I have never been able to just remove screws and everything just comes out. I always have to break something to get to the vitals. (not so with tower PCs, piece of cake)

 

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[palidin20603]

I accepted an offer and sent an invoice. They asked me to cancel because their check didn't come yet. I will be canceling and blocking tonight.

 

[Joe777Cool]

On Craigslist I had a few hundred Eisenhowers for sale, buyer asked me to let him know exactly how many of each year and mint mark I had..... Not exactly crazy, but I was interested in sorting them all out when I was asking 25 cents over face value

 

[cyberdan]

Just sold the mac book for $55, only paid $1
good thing I didn't tear it apart.

 

[clovis97]

I recently had a lot of six higher end passenger train cars listed on ebay, listed for $125 plus shipping.

A guy emailed me about 19 times asking about the cars. His last email request was to ask me to sell him one of the cars out of the lot for $15, but I would need to limit the shipping cost to Canada at $8.

 

[jerseyben]

LOL @ all these. People are ridiculous!

I have had my fair share of encounters like these. Almost too many to count. Enough to make me wonder why I still bother to do this. LOL

 

[jerseyben]

This one is for Dan: I went to a flea market last year. The pickings were slim that day. A guy had old broken cell phone on his table. I asked him how much for each one (there were 3). He said make me an offer. I offered 25 cents each. He was so offended that I actually thought he was going to try to beat me up. I walked away before things got out of hand.

 

[jerseyben]

Different flea market about a year ago: I was cruising the tables looking for coins when I spotted a small box with coins. I asked the girl working the table to see the coins. I picked out 3 and asked how much. $2 for the 3 coins, ok sold. As I handed her the money, she says to me "when you grow up maybe you can become a real serious coin collector". I just stared at her dumbfounded. She couldnt have been much older than me. I have a beard and I wear a wedding ring. Not sure why she mistook me for a little kid? Either way the joke was on her. The 3 coins I bought were all British silver coins worth about $10 in melt.

 

[jerseyben]

2 years ago, I was selling an old Coleman stove on ebay. A guy from Europe emailed me and gave me a lengthy writeup about the stove. Eventually he pointed out that the stove was recalled and very dangerous to use. So I removed the listing and revised the language to clearly say "for display purposes only" and I listed it as "for parts or repair only" and pandered to Coleman stove collectors and advised not to use the stove for cooking. The same guy emails me back and basically scolds me for relisting the stove. He tells me I have to disassemble the stove and render it inoperable before selling it. Remember, this is just some guy from Europe and he wasnt even bidding because I blocked bidding from his country.

In the end the stove sold and that was the end of that.

 

[Joe777Cool]

This one is for Dan: I went to a flea market last year. The pickings were slim that day. A guy had old broken cell phone on his table. I asked him how much for each one (there were 3). He said make me an offer. I offered 25 cents each. He was so offended that I actually thought he was going to try to beat me up. I walked away before things got out of hand.

I love it when people say "make me an offer" and then get upset when you honor their request.

 

[cyberdan]

I offered 25 cents each. He was so offended that I actually thought he was going to try to beat me up.

LoBall Ben of course he got offended He is also probably the one that will cut you off on the freeway and show you his IQ (one middle finger) when you honk.
I may be dollardan on Saturdays but I always pay 50¢ (got 11 today at that price)
If they think they deserve more I politely tell them I only get $1 and leave.
That happened today on three phones. I left and walked across the street to another sale and when I got back to my car that lady came up to me with the phones and took my price.

(with the low cost of gold I only do get around $1 ea)

 

[famous turtle treasures]

I had a pair of combat boots in my store about a year ago. I received a message from a guy starting with " I know this is a little strange" he proceeded to ask me if would send him pictures of my feet, socks off because he felt funny about wearing someone else's boots. Needless to say he didn't get the pictures or the boots because I blocked him.

 

[GibH]

Good to see you're still kicking.

 

[NJ Marty]

Got an offer for .99 cents on a $125 or make offer listing. He had 0 feedback so I figure it is another type of scam. I am still getting a few emails " Do you still have so and so item for sale" when they can clearly see it has sold. I delete all of these messages.

 

[gino22]

Sold a pair of pre owned Hugo Boss shoes for $25 + shipping. Immediately received an offer of $12 shipped, which I declined ( the shoes "look shot", according to the buyer). $25 is ground level for worthwhile profit to be made on these, and since they were in excellent shape, I knew I could get it. Guy keeps incrementing his offer by $1 until he gets tired of wasting my time.

A week later, they sell to someone else for my asking price plus shipping. The guy who had been messaging me asks what the shoes sold for. Ignored him, since the answer is right in front of his face and the deal was already done.

The buyer of the shoes initiated a return a couple days after receiving them, claiming they didn't fit. No problem, painless return, no complaints. I check the shoes, they came back exactly as sent, and I relisted them for the same price. Less interest this time. A little later, the same negotiator starts playing the same game, getting up to $2 below the asking price after many days of unflinching determination. I tell him to go ahead and BIN, and I will deduct the $2.

Several days later, he bites the bullet, and is sure to immediately remind me to deduct the $2. A deal is a deal, so he got his used, deep discount shoes for a whole $2 less than asking price after multiple weeks of negotiation. Good for him.

The shoes ship and tracking shoes they have been received. I don't hear a peep for over a week.

10 days later, he messages me with a picture of damage (maybe 1" worth) to one shoe where the sole was bonded to the body of the shoe. I checked for this, it was not a problem when they were sent out. Admittedly, I did not stress test the shoes by wearing them for over a week before sending them out. Since he offered this valuable service free of charge, I told him he could send them back for a refund. Haven't heard back yet, but I have a feeling the master gamesman has a few more tricks up his sleeve...

 

[Joe777Cool]

Sold a pair of pre owned Hugo Boss shoes for $25 + shipping. Immediately received an offer of $12 shipped, which I declined ( the shoes "look shot", according to the buyer). $25 is ground level for worthwhile profit to be made on these, and since they were in excellent shape, I knew I could get it. Guy keeps incrementing his offer by $1 until he gets tired of wasting my time.

A week later, they sell to someone else for my asking price plus shipping. The guy who had been messaging me asks what the shoes sold for. Ignored him, since the answer is right in front of his face and the deal was already done.

The buyer of the shoes initiated a return a couple days after receiving them, claiming they didn't fit. No problem, painless return, no complaints. I check the shoes, they came back exactly as sent, and I relisted them for the same price. Less interest this time. A little later, the same negotiator starts playing the same game, getting up to $2 below the asking price after many days of unflinching determination. I tell him to go ahead and BIN, and I will deduct the $2.

Several days later, he bites the bullet, and is sure to immediately remind me to deduct the $2. A deal is a deal, so he got his used, deep discount shoes for a whole $2 less than asking price after multiple weeks of negotiation. Good for him.

The shoes ship and tracking shoes they have been received. I don't hear a peep for over a week.

10 days later, he messages me with a picture of damage (maybe 1" worth) to one shoe where the sole was bonded to the body of the shoe. I checked for this, it was not a problem when they were sent out. Admittedly, I did not stress test the shoes by wearing them for over a week before sending them out. Since he offered this valuable service free of charge, I told him he could send them back for a refund. Haven't heard back yet, but I have a feeling the master gamesman has a few more tricks up his sleeve...

I would have never sold to a buyer like this, imo you were asking for trouble!

 

[topdogintampa]

Had similar issue after listing a non-working older late 1970's propane tent heater at $10 and someone emailed me and said the basic same thing about a recall and it needed to be dismantled etc. I reply that I would look into it and remove the listing if needed. Found out that the company did do a recall due to some tragic fires and they were still paying $250 per unit that was sent back! I requested the recall paperwork and 23 days later had my $250 check!

Then I started searching for every unit I could find and after placing some wanted listings on Craigslist and a few other places found 3 more for a few bucks each and my brother even found another at a yard sale in Maine. Another 4 $250 checks within the next 90-100 days! This was last summer and I haven't come across any others since but I am always on the lookout for them. They tend to be found in the northeast states as that is where most of the bad units were sold over the 3-4 years. They are still backing the recall offer to this day.

I did email the person back and after finding out about the recall but it was a NON-working 30+ year old unit and thanked them for pointing out my mistake.

 

[gino22]

I would have never sold to a buyer like this, imo you were asking for trouble!

I'm on your side - ultimately it was my fault for dealing with this person. I honestly considered his last step as being beyond the limits of human endurance, so there was an element of scientific curiosity in my decision to deal with him. If it were a more valuable or desirable item I would not have done it.

In terms of electricity used to power his computer and opportunity cost of the cumulative hour spent trying to knock the price down, remind me to issue the $2 refund, photograph the shoe, upload the photo of the shoe, and perform whatever actions were necessary to bring the shoe to that condition, he would have been better off buying a new pair of discount shoes at retail. If he actually pays to ship them back in order to be refunded, I am going to suspend them in Lucite and keep them on my desk as a reminder of why I've adopted a new "less than $50 is not worth my time" policy.

 

[jerseyben]

I'm on your side - ultimately it was my fault for dealing with this person. I honestly considered his last step as being beyond the limits of human endurance, so there was an element of scientific curiosity in my decision to deal with him. If it were a more valuable or desirable item I would not have done it.

In terms of electricity used to power his computer and opportunity cost of the cumulative hour spent trying to knock the price down, remind me to issue the $2 refund, photograph the shoe, upload the photo of the shoe, and perform whatever actions were necessary to bring the shoe to that condition, he would have been better off buying a new pair of discount shoes at retail. If he actually pays to ship them back in order to be refunded, I am going to suspend them in Lucite and keep them on my desk as a reminder of why I've adopted a new "less than $50 is not worth my time" policy.

Oh man... That's great!

 

[dieselram94]

I had a pair of combat boots in my store about a year ago. I received a message from a guy starting with " I know this is a little strange" he proceeded to ask me if would send him pictures of my feet, socks off because he felt funny about wearing someone else's boots. Needless to say he didn't get the pictures or the boots because I blocked him.

Lol!!

sent from a potato...