Gumtree and tossers

mikeyrob73

So today had a random message about a listing in gumtree 
“hi what’s your address” 
my reply you don’t need my address , we haven’t even talked about the item for sale
” what’s your email address” 
all rung Alarm bells so I immediately reported it to gumtree 

their response is below 


Hello Mike, 

Thank you for your email and reporting this to us. 

I've had a close look at the person's account, and you were right to forward this on to us. There are clear signs of suspicious behavior. I suggest you don't contact this person from this point forward.

I've escalated all info I'm happy to confirm that appropriate action has been taken on this user's account. 

Thank you once again for forwarding the info - we work hard on trying to prevent this kind of activity on the site. The more examples we have, the more we can work on prevention, so this has really helped us.

Have a quick read through our safety tips if you haven't done so already. It always helps to see more info and examples of what to look out for when buying and selling online: https://help.gumtree.com/s/safety

Don't hesitate to get back to us if you have any more questions or if you have more information you'd like to share with us. 

Regards,
Eva
Gumtree Customer Service Team
www.gumtree.com

Hattigol

Money's on the way from my Nigerian uncle...

Ddigger

Nothing wrong with Gumtree, tossers I can do without.

I have reported a couple of people just as you did and Gumtree were on it right away.

phil_b

Not tossers just plain old criminals

Dominic

They could be criminals AND tossers 
Gumtree is a quagmire of them
I see Gumtree like this ;
Somebody puts you in a room blindfold and you realise it's full of nothing but Horseshit
The pessimist says "there's nothing in here but shit "
The optimist says.........."there must be a horse in here somewhere "

You need to filter/disregard the crap because there are good and genuine buyers in there

mikeyrob73

Tbf I was impressed with the speed gumtree Responded 

munckee

I’ve never had any issues with selling on gumtree. I’ve concluded there are less tossers where I live than on average.  

SUNBATHER

I'm trying to sell some guitar gear and camera gear on there right now and in both ads I very clearly say "collection only". I've lost count of the number of times people have messaged me and got chatting about it and then said "so I live in xyz will you post it and I'll bank transfer your money?" Then they get angry when I say no. 

However, I've sold and traded a number of guitars on gumtree and I've been happy every time. Like others said, you put an ad up and it brings the freaks out the woodwork but some of them are great people looking to get a good deal like you. 

rogd

I bought my Larrivee on Gumtree from a decent fellah near me. I've also sold one or two things and in my experience you can sniff out the wankers and just tell them to eff off.

goldtop

Apart from the scammers, it's the low-ballers who bug me. Gumtree is full of them. Today's first joker offered £4000 for my car; advertised at £6250 (fair price for the super-low mileage, and I'm prepared for haggling).

The second joker offered £5500 (close enough to start a haggle), but wanted to turn up tonight with cash, no bank transfer. Spidey senses tingling...

Bod

I'm done with selling on Gumtree. I guess I'm in an area that has a surplus of tossers.  Responses are generally rude, and from people that want something for nothing.  I accidentally listed my mobile number once and received a direct call from someone that didn't even say hello and just launched into "I'll give you xxxx".  I just hung up.

A listing of mine for a £300 65" TV resulted in multiple stupid, unreasonable lowball offers, most of which wanted me to deliver it despite the ad very clearly stating collection only.  One person even sent me a message saying "Plz im begging u . I dont have more" - so adjust your expectations then you entitled prick.

Bod

Also, I've reported a few ads for selling what was clearly pirated software, Ableton Live Suite for £10 for example, and the ad stayed up.  I've sold a few things successfully over the years, but it's so much worse than it used to be

zepp76

Yep, I’ve not long joined gumtree and the cranks have come out of the woodwork. Offering a third of what is already a good price because it doesn’t have a warranty. I politely suggested he buy from a store brand new if he wanted that and not a used sales site.

DB1

I’ve had one this week when I listed a guitar. Two messages within a few seconds from the same person - ‘where did you live?’ and ‘is this item available to collect today?’

I didn’t bother replying. That used to be my overriding view of Gumtree ‘buyers’ until recently.

Then I listed a Godin which hadn’t had any interest on here and sold it within half an hour of the listing. In the last few weeks, I sold a Gibson Lucille and an ES330 to a private buyer, and a Fender Blues Junior to a lovely chap who ended up paying more than my asking price as I was apparently very helpful!

It’s hit and miss, of course, but I sold three out of the four for more than I advertised on the forum, and the other one wasn’t advertised on here.

I guess, with Gumtree and similar, you have to be prepared to to put your hand down the bog a few times before you find a Mars Bar.

zepp76

How do I check people’s feed back on there please? It states on their site to just tap their name at the top of the message but nothing happens. I’m using the app on my phone. A chap said to check his very good feedback as he has been using gumtree for years but I can’t do anything.

chillidoggy

I've bought and sold on Gumtree before, with mixed results. Usually, people are sensible but I do get the odd wanker trying it on. In general I think most of us here are pretty savvy, and the bullshit radar picks them up.

I've had far more luck selling gear on Gumtree than I have on here, where low-ball offers seem to be the norm. I don't get wound up by it, or see it as an insult, though. It's just people trying it on in the hope they might get lucky.

thebreeze

goldtop said:

Apart from the scammers, it's the low-ballers who bug me. Gumtree is full of them. Today's first joker offered £4000 for my car; advertised at £6250 (fair price for the super-low mileage, and I'm prepared for haggling).

The second joker offered £5500 (close enough to start a haggle), but wanted to turn up tonight with cash, no bank transfer. Spidey senses tingling...

I'm a bit naive obviously, what's wrong with cash?

merlin

Lowballs on Gumtree? Surely not! 

Seriously though, the best lowball offer anyone ever made me was on here. It was for for my Trussart Deluxe Steelcaster. He offered me £300. 

12.5% of the asking price. An 87.5% reduction. 

goldtop

zepp76 said:

How do I check people’s feed back on there please? It states on their site to just tap their name at the top of the message but nothing happens. I’m using the app on my phone. A chap said to check his very good feedback as he has been using gumtree for years but I can’t do anything.

You can only do it for those people who actually have some feedback. Their name in the Messages screen is not grey text - it's blue because it's a clickable link. Click that to see what sorts of things they've been rated well/badly on.

Unfortunately, lots of people have no info at all.

goldtop

thebreeze said:

goldtop said:

Apart from the scammers, it's the low-ballers who bug me. Gumtree is full of them. Today's first joker offered £4000 for my car; advertised at £6250 (fair price for the super-low mileage, and I'm prepared for haggling).

The second joker offered £5500 (close enough to start a haggle), but wanted to turn up tonight with cash, no bank transfer. Spidey senses tingling...

I'm a bit naive obviously, what's wrong with cash?

It's a bit tricky counting and checking £5500+ cash. I'd accept that much cash if we met at a bank and I successfully deposited the money via the cashier. Any funny stuff would be spotted.

But if it was counterfeit and he gives a duff name and address for the V5C and drives off, I'd be done for. The question he asked was 'how many keys', which is a good question, but it was the only question he asked. Seemed odd. Then he just wanted to come straight away with cash. As I said it's just "spidey senses".

Have heard nothing since.

Bod

The chap that eventually bought my TV from eBay paid cash on collection and paid two-thirds with £50 notes, which I wasn't particularly comfortable with as I'd heard that fake 50s are common.  I accepted anyway, partly out of stupid politeness, but he'd also got good feedback so I gave him the benefit of doubt.  I wouldn't have taken the risk with a larger sum for sure.

They were fine of course, but I sweated a little when paying them into the Post Office.