If I want to buy/sell parts on FB Marketplace, how important is feedback, profile, and friends?

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ProjectBazza

ProjectBazza

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I set-up a FB account not too long ago for the sole purpose of buying and selling parts on Marketplace during my impending/upcoming retirement, as CL around here is pretty slow. Currently I only have 4 (or maybe 5) "friends", as I set-up the account under my dog's names (true!), and I've only made one purchase.

But I keep running across posts and treads (like the one below, post #1) where people are suspicious of new members because they're either new, or have little/no feedback, and thus they don't want to deal with them. (This all reminds me of the "feedback loop" I was stuck-in as a kid: Employers wouldn't hire someone w/o experience, and I didn't have experience because no one would hire me!)

So how in the hell does one go about getting a better "rating", as it were, if I can't find sellers (or buyers) willing to work with me?

Is it all about the number of "friends" I (or my dogs) have?

www.forabodiesonly.com

Jim Slusser Buyer Beware

Hi, just seeing if anyone knows him or has done any business with him before. I asked for some references or any kind of info since his FB is extra minimal(potential red flag) so I could verify who I was talking. He has some parts for sale so just trying to take some preventive measures. I...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com
 
I use my wife’s Facebook account, since I only use the marketplace function and I really don’t care about the whole sharing my life in Facebook thing. I will tell you that a lot of times people do not respond for whatever reason to an ad that they have up. I don’t know if it’s a scam thing or they’re just being lazy. I do agree that marketplace is much better than craigslist or OfferUp as far as finding good stuff for sale. You just need to treat it as another social media site that has the same type of feedback as all the other for sale sites. Just my two cents worth.
 
middleagecrisis said:
I use my wife’s Facebook account, since I only use the marketplace function and I really don’t care about the whole sharing my life in Facebook thing. I will tell you that a lot of times people do not respond for whatever reason to an ad that they have up. I don’t know if it’s a scam thing or they’re just being lazy. I do agree that marketplace is much better than craigslist or OfferUp as far as finding good stuff for sale. You just need to treat it as another social media site that has the same type of feedback as all the other for sale sites. Just my two cents worth.
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Neither I, nor my wife, ever wanted to have a FB account, as both of us would rather live our lives than document it.

And we'd prefer to keep our privacy (or as much of it as possible these days), thus the name of our dogs on the account, rather than either of ours.

But if I'm going to run into roadblocks that I've caused for myself....
 
I see lots of people using their wife's FB account. If you can't do that you could start your own with no friends, photos, etc.. You have to start somewhere. Its seems like the old places to sell (like Kijiji up here) are not used much anymore except for classic cars.
 
I set up a facebook account for the purpose of marketplace.
No pictures, only info is location and date of birth, and single.
Finally got 1 friend:lol:
I have had no trouble buying or selling.
I have rated other buyers and sellers, but no ones rated me, so no feedback.
The dogs account may raise red flags for me.
 
yup, fakebook is a social cancer

i only have it to buy and sell stuff
i couldnt care less how little or much feedback you got, if you got the part i need, or im selling and your money is green, we in business
 
The only one I have ever used is my wife's, and I get her to create and monitor any for sale ads for me. I was looking through marketplace quite a bit last year when I was searching for a motorcycle to buy, but too many people didn't respond to my inquiries and I found one on Kijiji instead. I should get back on there and continue looking for another car to replace hers as the rust is starting to get pretty bad. I told her I would try to repair it this spring, but it might be beyond my abilities now.
 
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I usually mention my user name here and mention that I’m a member. Lots of members from here are also my friends on FB too, and they usually chime in with a “trusted seller” comment, which I always appreciate. MeMike, 66340Sedan, Roberto DiCarlo, Clif Winslow, a lot of guys will vouch for you there as you build your profile. Some will also poke you around in fun, and if I see you there, I’ll give you a shoutout as well.
 
cosgig said:
I usually mention my user name here and mention that I’m a member. Lots of members from here are also my friends on FB too, and they usually chime in with a “trusted seller” comment, which I always appreciate. MeMike, 66340Sedan, Roberto DiCarlo, Clif Winslow, a lot of guys will vouch for you there as you build your profile. Some will also poke you around in fun, and if I see you there, I’ll give you a shoutout as well.
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Sounds like you've got this down, and have a nice system (?) in-place! (Or is it a network? I don't know!!!)

I haven't logged-in a couple weeks or so, and I guess I really should try to expand my reach and "network" more now, before I retire. But that takes time, and that's a commodity I seem to have less and less of lately.

Thanks for the advice and/or idea!

Jim

Aka: "Claire Belle", named for Dog #1/Claire (in back), and Dog #2/Belle (in front).

IMG_5906.jpg
 
FB Marketplace is a mess now also. I have so many flakes asking about stuff and never doing anything.
Just be careful like anything else and expect a 10% ratio with your sale stuff.
 
@ProjectBazza If you're looking to practice patience with strangers, Marketplace is right for you. It's been mentioned before and I'll echo the sentiment: buyers and sellers both have a tendency to completely ignore inquiries or quit responding. Buyers will give ridiculously low offers, they'll be late or expect you to deliver the item, on and on. It takes a lot of patience.

To address your original question, I wouldn't worry about the lack of reviews or your new profile. I agree that if your item is something I want and the price is right, I'm in.

Just jump right on in, you have to start somewhere.
 
I've been selling on FB for a while now. I have two accounts. One for business and one for family. My kids post family stuff and I keep that separate from my business.
I'm an actual business and show my business card in my pictures. I will say that FB has got real bad with all the scammers. Worse than C/L. Scammers will steal your ad thus my business card that prevents that.
There is an entire group that is ran by scammers. MOPARS CARS & PARTS ONLY SWAP MEET. They always have a ton of really nice stuff real cheap and all of it is a scam. They have stolen my ads that I didn't show my b/card in. Don't ever send any money to anyone in that group. If you call them out they will delete your post and expel you from their privet group. FB has been notified about them and they don't care.
Join a bunch of Mopar groups. There are a lot of good legit groups. Also find local classified groups for your area. I post my ads in 20 different groups at a time.
Anymore I sell way more on FB than I do on the Mopar sites such as here. You will always have some *** clown respond to your ad or post. I just delete their post and then block them then they don't exist anymore.
 

Righty Tighty said:
@ProjectBazza If you're looking to practice patience with strangers, Marketplace is right for you. It's been mentioned before and I'll echo the sentiment: buyers and sellers both have a tendency to completely ignore inquiries or quit responding. Buyers will give ridiculously low offers, they'll be late or expect you to deliver the item, on and on. It takes a lot of patience.

To address your original question, I wouldn't worry about the lack of reviews or your new profile. I agree that if your item is something I want and the price is right, I'm in.

Just jump right on in, you have to start somewhere.
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As a rule of thumb, if I'm selling something and the first response is "will you take 75% or less" that is an automatic block
 
If you're trying to buy something, PM the seller and give him your phone number. If the seller doesn't want to talk to you on the phone, I'd quickly move on. If I can speak to someone on the phone, I can usually assure them that I am a legitimate buyer and will send them money (I use PayPal and cover the fees myself, NO FRIENDS AND FAMILY). If they won't accept PayPal I usually move on unless it's something that I really need.
 
BrianT said:
If you're trying to buy something, PM the seller and give him your phone number. If the seller doesn't want to talk to you on the phone, I'd quickly move on. If I can speak to someone on the phone, I can usually assure them that I am a legitimate buyer and will send them money (I use PayPal and cover the fees myself, NO FRIENDS AND FAMILY). If they won't accept PayPal I usually move on unless it's something that I really need.
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it never ceases to amaze me people allow "friends and family" and then are surprised when they get screwed over

this guy was willing to lie to his bank, of course he is willing to lie to you
 
IMO one must have their own account if they are a consistent and regular seller or buyer on FBMP. Very inconvenient going thru a wife's or kid's account. Setting up your own profile does not mean you must also post pics of yourself, make daily posts, issue updates and post selfies. You will get bombarded with losers but you can block them so they cannot continue their BS.
 
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