When I got my new drone a few months ago, I decided to sell my old one over Facebook Marketplace. I’ve never liked selling things online, but since it was worth more than $200, I figured I should give it a go.

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I posted it on a Friday at about noon and it didn’t take long to generate interest, since I put a good price on it and it was a well-known make & model. I immediately had a bunch of questions roll in (and some low-ball offers), including people wanting to see the quality of the photos & video it takes. Unfortunately, Facebook compresses pictures, so they didn’t look too great and I spent too much time going back-and-forth with people on its picture specs.

Nonetheless, by about 4pm, I had three people saying that they wanted it and asking for my address. I let all of them know that others had expressed interest too, and Suddenly all three of them said they were “getting in their car and on their way”. Two were coming from almost an hour away, so I decided the best I could do was let them know others were coming and sell it to whomever put cash in my hand first.

While I waited, a couple of them texted to give me their status, like “should be there in 20 minutes”. I just responded that “no one has gotten here, yet” so they they were reminded that they had competition. I looked online at an article for advice and it said not to “offer to hold merchandise” for anyone, because they might not show up or decide they don’t like it when they arrive.

After about 45 minutes, a guy from a close-by town was the first to arrive. I briefly demo’d the drone for him, landed it, and he put cash in my hand. Immediately, I texted the other two prospective buyers to let them know it was too late.

Of course, they both sent bitchy texts back saying about how far they had driven and how close they were. “I was almost to your street. Thanks for ruining my weekend” texted one of them. The other guy said “You should have told me before I drove for an hour and wasted my gas.” I did warn them both that others were coming, but that’s not what they wanted to hear.

That’s the pain of selling things second-hand. If you give someone a good deal (to sell something quickly), it draws a lot of immediate interest and people get mad that they can’t get there fast enough. I don’t know these people and will never see them again, but I hate the tension and crankiness that inevitably comes with these kinds of transactions.

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This weekend, we decided to get rid of my son’s old dorm futon and I didn’t even think about selling it. Too much of a hassle. We just gave it away free to another university parent that had a son starting this fall. Our FIRE finances are good enough that I’m not going to deal with petty prospective buyers if I don’t have to.

What has been your experience with selling stuff online? Do you do it often, or not at all?

FYI … I know some folks will ask …

Old drone was a Holy Stone HS720; New drone is DJI Mavic Air 2

Image Credit: Pixabay