Weird ebay requests

Posted 10th May 2023

Anyone had odd ebay requests?

- someone wanted item for free.
- someone wanted an item for £10, it was already on £15 on bids with few days left.
- someone wants item cheap because "their child isn't well and has few weeks to live", it's kind of a toy I guess.

Anyone else?

36 Comments

sorted by

Mr.Plow
10th May
Not so much eBay but I find the annoying requests come on gumtree, things I advertise on there are larger items for collection like a bike or a tv, despite putting in capital letters collection only from (my town/postcode area) I always get will you deliver to me/how much to post it....arrgh
louiselouise
10th May
I got someone the other day on Gumtree: "Will you deliver locally?" (it's set to collection only).

As it's a small item I thought, fair enough, I can get boyf to hop on his motorbike and send it.

The guy replied with his postcode - 53 miles away!
The2Time
10th May
Definitely some weird people on there. My partner listed some knee high boots and got a message asking if they smelt of sweat.

My partner replied along the lines of absolutely not.

To which they replied ''I don't want them then''
Attic45
10th May
We had the same with some football boots. I ended the auction and relisted it for £20 more and added in about how much they smelt and stank of feet and they sold within the hour.

Gave me an idea for a website but seems there is already one around doing pretty well.
abigsmurf
10th May
Never turn on "or best offer". You just get spammed by people who send lowball offers to every auction.
AMaky Author
10th May
you can set the minimum amount for the offers. (edited)
This.Is.Dog
10th May
"Will you meet me half way, my train comes into..." is a favourite.

No, I won't spend an hour travelling each way to hand you a £10 bike tyre. That's not even minimum wage when I factor in the cost of travel!

In my experience most people on eBay are great. Facebook marketplace is nuts though, "I know your phone is listed for £150 but I only have £40 will you accept?"

It's good because I get great deals on Facebook because most people fed up with stupid questions.
louiselouise
10th May
I had someone ask me to meet them halfway at a train station. Not so bad near a city, I'm in the Scottish Highlands and trains back here come every two hours or so!
leeanne123
10th May
I'm currently selling a phone, had a message the other day asking if i would take 150 now for it (starting bid is 160). Told them i wont end it early, auction will run until finish on sat.. got a reply asking if they paid today can i ship it out today..
Willy_Wonka
10th May
I asked someone if they would sell me something £50 cheaper than the buy it now price & they said yes. Even though they only just listed it & had no offers.

Don't you just love Ebay?
This.Is.Dog
11th May
I always ask too. If it's overpriced it's always worth asking.
badgerfoo
11th May
In the old days of mobile phones - "can you sell me your brand new Nokia N95 for £35 as my child is terminally ill and it's always been her dream to have one" - whilst selling other high end Nokia's from the exact same account
stedaman
10th May
Most people are fine,
Some people clearly shouldn't have an Ebay account.
aLV426
11th May
As a buyer, after I won the auction, paid in full, the seller reached out and asked for an extra £20 P&P to post to Northern Ireland, despite the listing clearly stating delivery to UK. I refused, he lodged a "non-payment" with ebay and won!

As for gumtree, I sold concert tickets, the guy came to the door to pay in cash and they looked me in the eye and asked how would he know if they where real. To which I replied he had the advantage as he knew where I lived and I had no way to check if his cash was real! (edited)
aLV426
11th May
I have the best one of all now that I recall - I was bequeathed a Steinway (a good 30+ years ago now), didn't have space for it so it was delivered to my parents house who promptly sold it. I was there when the lady came to collect and she complained that it was out of tune (erm, no it really wasn't). My dad said she either pays the agreed price or she can walk away. What I didn't know was that the agreed price was £20 quid!
It was a vintage Steinway with real ivory keys - you simply can't buy them today, but consider what any piano would cost now, I think complaining about paying £20 was a rather petty and a serious dent on my inheritance!
Willy_Wonka
11th May
I hope you have now divorced your parents & got a good settlement out of it
Easy.Action.Baby
11th May
I sold something for £20 on eBay a few months ago and buyer messaged to say they didn’t have all the money and was that ok. Err no. Cancelled auction and listed again.
AMaky Author
11th May
I had that too, lady won an auction on bids then offered to pay 25% less that final bid she made
bozo007
11th May
Looks like Gumtree stupidity has expanded to eBay.