Posted by Since 2025 I’ve been using FB Marketplace to sell off some downsized Etsy store items. And I have sold a couple of things: some neat vintage fabric, vintage kitchen tools, a gorgeous old barometer, a vintage scale, scientific lab glass. Not making a ton of profit still it was cash we used to put gas in our car.
But in the main, selling on FB Marketplace has been a pain in the butt and a time waster. Lots of “Is this still available?” Ghosting. Stupid offers. And this week…well, this week I think I’ve had enough.
Here’s what happened…
Arthur contacted about two 1940s vintage souvenir dolls that I was selling for $10 for the pair. (These were nice but had some condition issues.)
He asked when he could pick them up. I asked what worked for him. He said right away works! Great I gave him my address with city. When he saw the city I lived in he was all surprised and said he couldn’t do that right now. [Too far.] Now when you use FB Marketplace the city where you live shows up under the item. There is NO surprise. So frankly I was surprised that he was surprised…if you get my drift.
I replied if he figured out a time to pick it up to let me know. Thirty minutes later he said he’d worked it out. His daughter who worked in the city just south of me could pick it up on Friday before her shift. Fine. I put the item on “Pending.”
The next day he contacted me for some doll measurements which I took and sent him.
On Friday, two days later, during the time slot he said his daughter would be here he contacted me. Yes, she was on the way, but she would need to do this transaction quickly due to work. Now in my experience these meetups typically take 20 seconds or less so I’m not sure what he was envisioning.
Oh and could I take Venmo. I said I preferred cash. (I do have an inactive Venmo account but was not even 100% sure of my username and would need to rout around my desk to find it and frankly I didn’t want to use Venmo for this transaction.) He wasn’t sure she had cash. I suggested we cancel then.
He doublechecked with her and she didn’t have cash and he commented it was a shame he hadn’t checked this out before. Well, yes, it was. You had three days before the pickup and it never occurred to you to make sure your daughter had $10 or that I took Venmo.
He made no other suggestion for meeting another time with cash so we parted ways amicably enough and in the end I deleted the listing. All this bother for $10. I mean honestly.
Another gal contacted me about six like-new vintage Vera Bradley quilted placements for $20 (two even had their original price tags).
Here’s our conversation:
- Are the placements still available?
- Yes, Stella they are.
- Sorry, I’ll pass.
I was baffled by this conversation. If you weren’t interested why ask? It makes no sense. They only thing I can think of is that she expected me to come back with a lower price?? I don’t know. I deleted this listing too and offered it to my church family through a google group. In less than an hour they were taken and honestly I feel so much better about this transaction. I know that family receiving these are they are the best of people.
All this to say I’m feeling DONE with FB Marketplace. Ready to stop. Just doesn’t seem worth the time/effort, the annoyance and the risk of meeting up with folks for a couple of bucks. So I’m starting to delete my listings. Will I quit entirely? Not sure yet. But it’s likely headed in that direction.
Would love to hear about your FB Marketplace experiences.
Hunting for Vintage 