So..Trying to sell the MGB GT on Kijiji. Good news is there seems to be interest from real people.
But I hve had maybe 6 responses like the one below.
Seems way too generic. I answered the first one without giving it much though, but then noticed that others had pretty much the same blank query that did not even mention the item for sale.
Anyone know what game might be afoot? Is it just e-mail capture, me being paranoid or something nefarious that I should worry about?
99.9% chance of Scam. Probably only wants your phone number to spam you. Or the old "I'll send you extra money, please...."
Dr. Hess said:99.9% chance of Scam. Probably only wants your phone number to spam you. Or the old "I'll send you extra money, please...."
Yup on the only wants your phone number to scam you. I posted a car for sale on CL (95 LeBaron Convertible) the other day, I got 2 fairly soon asking to be called. My ads specifically say initial contact(s) wil be via CL email.
Scam. "your vehicle" or "this item" means it's a generic robo response.
The next email will be something like "I'm deployed in Kerblapistan so my agent would pick up the item. I will send you certified cashier check for [a value greater than your asking price]..."
Of course, having said that above, my years in sales tells me that I should follow a lead. There is a slim chance that they were just busy at work, or using voice-to-text and didn't phrase it the way they wanted and the next email might be, "yeah, this is Jack and I think I live down the street from you, let's talk."
Then if I get the spam email next, I report it.
Some sites have a "I'm interested in this vehicle" form that they can use to send an email to the seller. Maybe they didn't bother to fill in their name or anything because they're on mobile and typing sucks on a phone, so they just left the standard message in there.
Like this:
I would treat these inquiries with caution, but not necessarily rule them out as potential real people interested in buying.
... And, there is no harm in following up. The worst that will happen is you get a spamtastic email. The only danger is if you accept the scam deal. email is harmless.
The phrasing says its a spambot. No one says "I am interested in this vehicle". Ever. A real person will say something like " Interested in the MGB GT" or the like...replying will only increase the amount of spam you get.
Phrasing is pretty much the same as the spam/scam emails some of us have been getting for ads we posted on this forum.
Set up a google voice phone number and have them call you. I've done that before, it even takes texts too.
If you're not selling ASAP to pay off an angry mobster, there's no reason to respond to Spam-looking emails.
If someone is human and interested in what you're selling, they will let you know.
Send them all back the message "Which car are you interested in and what would you like to know?" and see what comes back.
Even if they are real buyers, In my experience it's impossible to do good deals with people who write emails like that.
I've never been deployed to Kerblapistan but I hear it's shady.
I'd rather sift through scam messages then having someone give me a deposit on my M3, stringing me along on a final purchase date, telling me he's flying in to buy the car, giving me a flight itinerary, then never showing up and causing me to miss part of my daughter bday party.
I’m not interested in buying your BGT, although my father would love to have it, I’m interested in your opinion of the spline-drive Panasports or Minitors on the car. Are they worth the $$$ for a car that’s just a “driver” or should I stick with the wires.
Looking forward to hearing your impression.
Make an appointment to come see it or..... my are usually short frank and involve sailor type language. This type of reply weeds out tire kickers and spammers fast.... but could scare off a buyer too. I hate selling things nowadays. In some cases, I just throw it out. It's less hassle.
Good luck and enjoy your tire kicker interactions. Make them fun for you.
Gee, I'm sorry. I can only accept cashier's checks of Feb 30th of odd years.
I think I am going to pass on the generic inquiries.
I have had some real people express interest so it should be interesting to see what comes of the sales effort. If nothing else it has forced me to do the deferred maintenance on the car so it could be driven if I were so inclined.
Pete
Most of the generic questions on Kijiji are time wasters who are vaguely curious if your item is still for sale. Not all of them are complete BS, some are just a bit initially lazy.
You could try selling on facebook marketplace as well. It has really taken off and nearly displaced Kijiji as the dominant place to list used items (in case anyone is wondering, Craigslist never really took off in Canada, ebay's kijiji is the top dog here). The downside is I find you receive even more time waster responses than on Kijiji. I suspect this is due to the ease of sending a questions/message. The CASC forum can be a decent place to list as well and you get almost exclusively serious people.
NOHOME said:So..Trying to sell the MGB GT on Kijiji. Good news is there seems to be interest from real people.
But I hve had maybe 6 responses like the one below.
Seems way too generic. I answered the first one without giving it much though, but then noticed that others had pretty much the same blank query that did not even mention the item for sale.
Anyone know what game might be afoot? Is it just e-mail capture, me being paranoid or something nefarious that I should worry about?
That's the default on kijiji, just like the default on Facebook is "is this still available". Look at your ad, it's right there.
How much did you want? I'll pm you
slowbird said:Some sites have a "I'm interested in this vehicle" form that they can use to send an email to the seller. Maybe they didn't bother to fill in their name or anything because they're on mobile and typing sucks on a phone, so they just left the standard message in there.
Like this:
I would treat these inquiries with caution, but not necessarily rule them out as potential real people interested in buying.
this is the same on FB marketplace. You can just hit a button and it automatically asks "is this item still available?" - you can fill in whatever personal message you want, but most people just hit the button.
Snrub said:You could try selling on facebook marketplace as well. It has really taken off and nearly displaced Kijiji as the dominant place to list used items (in case anyone is wondering,
I read this thread and was like "WTH is Kijijiji??" I honestly have never even heard of it. And I buy/sell quite a bit of stuff (previously on CL, now probably a lot more via FB Marketplace. Is it a regional thing?
I sell on CL a lot and those types of generic replies pop up within minutes of listing weird random items. They're usually looking to get your phone # or a valid email address, just ignore them.
In reply to irish44j :
It's popular up here in Canada, probably more so in some provinces more than others. It's actually owned by Ebay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijiji
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