8 ms·

Facebook marketplace has been a boon for buy/sell to me and my family. Kijiji and craigslist are very sketchy, but with FB marketplace, you can see who the pers

by jbob2000 9y ago

Facebook marketplace has been a boon for buy/sell to me and my family. Kijiji and craigslist are very sketchy, but with FB marketplace, you can see who the person actually is. It makes us feel much more safe when we go to meet the person. I see FB dating as having similar success. I can see you and your connections and validate that you aren't going to kill or rape me when we meet up for coffee (or if you're male; I can see that you are a real person and not a bot).

reaperducer 9y ago
> Facebook marketplace has been a boon for buy/sell to me and my family Interesting. In my area, Facebook Marketplace is almost all stolen/burgled/shoplifted goods. People even call it "Fencebook." Want a brand new, unopened PS/4 for $25? Fencebook to the rescue!
- throwaway613834 9y ago
  ...huh. How do you tell stolen goods from legitimate ones? Obviously the price can't be the only factor since they could just try to sell it closer to a realistic price.
  - reaperducer 9y ago
    It's not hard, once you know what to look for. Basic pawn shop training.
    - throwaway613834 9y ago
      Erm... I wasn't asking if it's difficult, I was asking what do you look for? Why in the world would a set of things to look for be a subject to conceal? Edit: never mind, just realized you're worried I or someone else is trying to sell stolen goods and will abuse such a list that way, sigh...
      - cwillu 8y ago
        Because thrift store criminals spend _so_ much time reading deeply nested comment threads on hackernews...
      - bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        maybe the response would take 20 minutes to write.
        mseebach 8y ago
        Then spend the 20 minutes, or don't. Writing "the answer to your question exists" isn't a meaningful contribution.
        bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        are you mad at me suggesting that they didn't write it down because they thought it would take them too long to write? At any rate they didn't just say the information exists, they also said it was basic pawn shop training, so I googled "pawn shop detect stolen goods" the top answer was from quora https://www.quora.com/How-do-pawnbrokers-verify-that-the-item-pawned-is-not-stolen https://www.quora.com/How-do-pawnbrokers-verify-that-the-ite... and there was something from a blog of somebody called the blog nerd which is a little difficult reading because of all the SEO keyword optimization he seems to have done https://www.pawnnerd.com/how-do-pawn-shops-track-stolen-items/ https://www.pawnnerd.com/how-do-pawn-shops-track-stolen-item... there seemed to be a reasonable number of other informative links.
        bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        oops, the pawn nerd not the blog nerd.
  - mseebach 8y ago
    If you're buying something expensive, require an original invoice and check that the serial number matches. If someone is apprehensive about that, somehow they lost the invoice for the brand new unopened PS4 they bought last week, or similar, just drop it. If they're selling close to the original price, just get it from a shop instead, that way you'll get warranty etc too (there's generally no warranty on goods with "lost" invoices). In general, look out for suspicious behaviour. Are they willing to meet with you at their home or office? Do they readily share their phone number? Do they have many excuses (one of the most common tells for liers are an excess of over-thought out excuses) for not doing things transparently? If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true.
    - throwaway613834 8y ago
      Thanks! The trouble is all of these can fail for what I would consider legitimate reasons. Requiring a receipt fails if they just open it, maybe even use it a bit (or not), and wait a few months before selling it, since nowadays people seem to genuinely go through some stuff (e.g. phones) pretty quickly and not necessarily keep or have receipts, especially if they themselves bought it second-hand. Meeting at my home or office is not something I would ever feel comfortable doing, and is generally recommended against when purchasing online. Sharing phone numbers is something I'd only do when the decision to purchase has gone through and we're actively trying to meet up (obvious privacy concerns), etc.
      - mseebach 8y ago
        It's not an exhaustive, binary checklist, they are signals to watch out for. They are basically surrogates for trust. If you're selling something that looks like it might have been stolen, you have to come up with a compelling reason to trust you. Meeting at your office and sharing a business card might be such a reason. If the only thing you're comfortable with is meeting in a deserted parking lot late at night, and only communicating over a throwaway anonymous email account, the counterpart is right to suspect something is fishy. On the other hand, if you have an original invoice from the Apple store, then it might be OK. Sure, there are legitimate reasons for not getting any of these right, but if they get all of them wrong, be very careful.
- bruceb 8y ago
  Some of those are not stolen, they are just scams for users to send money someone for say an iphone X and then they get the item sent to them, which of course doesn't happen.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  In my area, Facebook is (and was even before the Marketplace) routinely used to sell clothes very cheaply - usually because the seller is buying wholesale and then selling it without paying taxes. You can get them even cheaper if the seller is a person from a rich family who doesn't care much for a profit, but uses this as their pastime.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
ben_jones 9y ago
Aren't the majority of rapes perpetrated by people the victim knew previously?
- noobermin 8y ago
  I don't think rape is the only thing people fear when meeting strangers. Unpleasant experiences or stalking creeps might be something to look out for.
bradlys 9y ago
Where do you live? I'm curious because I've used Craigslist all across the west coast in the USA and I've never found myself worried. I've used it for bigger ($XXXX) and small purchases ($X). Brand new and very used. Most people I've met are very friendly and decently honest. Flakey is usually my biggest complaint with Craigslist people.
- joering2 9y ago
  Agree; this comes to mind: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486616/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486616/
- jbob2000 9y ago
  Toronto, Canada. A somewhat major news item recently was that a guy was killed trying to sell his truck on Craigslist. These stories have popped on and off the news for a while now. Other than that, the pseudo anonymity makes people uncomfortable with craigslist. At least, that’s the sentiment I’ve gotten from a few people who’ve used it. Contrasting that with the feedback I’ve heard about marketplace, people just feel safer when you can creep a buyer’s profile before they show up at your house.
askafriend 9y ago
Nextdoor’s new For Sale section is the best of these services imo since everyone is address-verified. I get a lot of spam from FB Marketplace but even with the spam, it’s miles better than Craigslist/OfferUp/etc.

reaperducer 9y ago

> Facebook marketplace has been a boon for buy/sell to me and my family Interesting. In my area, Facebook Marketplace is almost all stolen/burgled/shoplifted goods. People even call it "Fencebook." Want a brand new, unopened PS/4 for $25? Fencebook to the rescue!

throwaway613834 9y ago
...huh. How do you tell stolen goods from legitimate ones? Obviously the price can't be the only factor since they could just try to sell it closer to a realistic price.
- reaperducer 9y ago
  It's not hard, once you know what to look for. Basic pawn shop training.
  - throwaway613834 9y ago
    Erm... I wasn't asking if it's difficult, I was asking what do you look for? Why in the world would a set of things to look for be a subject to conceal? Edit: never mind, just realized you're worried I or someone else is trying to sell stolen goods and will abuse such a list that way, sigh...
    - cwillu 8y ago
      Because thrift store criminals spend _so_ much time reading deeply nested comment threads on hackernews...
    - bryanrasmussen 8y ago
      maybe the response would take 20 minutes to write.
      - mseebach 8y ago
        Then spend the 20 minutes, or don't. Writing "the answer to your question exists" isn't a meaningful contribution.
        bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        are you mad at me suggesting that they didn't write it down because they thought it would take them too long to write? At any rate they didn't just say the information exists, they also said it was basic pawn shop training, so I googled "pawn shop detect stolen goods" the top answer was from quora https://www.quora.com/How-do-pawnbrokers-verify-that-the-item-pawned-is-not-stolen https://www.quora.com/How-do-pawnbrokers-verify-that-the-ite... and there was something from a blog of somebody called the blog nerd which is a little difficult reading because of all the SEO keyword optimization he seems to have done https://www.pawnnerd.com/how-do-pawn-shops-track-stolen-items/ https://www.pawnnerd.com/how-do-pawn-shops-track-stolen-item... there seemed to be a reasonable number of other informative links.
        bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        oops, the pawn nerd not the blog nerd.
- mseebach 8y ago
  If you're buying something expensive, require an original invoice and check that the serial number matches. If someone is apprehensive about that, somehow they lost the invoice for the brand new unopened PS4 they bought last week, or similar, just drop it. If they're selling close to the original price, just get it from a shop instead, that way you'll get warranty etc too (there's generally no warranty on goods with "lost" invoices). In general, look out for suspicious behaviour. Are they willing to meet with you at their home or office? Do they readily share their phone number? Do they have many excuses (one of the most common tells for liers are an excess of over-thought out excuses) for not doing things transparently? If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true.
  - throwaway613834 8y ago
    Thanks! The trouble is all of these can fail for what I would consider legitimate reasons. Requiring a receipt fails if they just open it, maybe even use it a bit (or not), and wait a few months before selling it, since nowadays people seem to genuinely go through some stuff (e.g. phones) pretty quickly and not necessarily keep or have receipts, especially if they themselves bought it second-hand. Meeting at my home or office is not something I would ever feel comfortable doing, and is generally recommended against when purchasing online. Sharing phone numbers is something I'd only do when the decision to purchase has gone through and we're actively trying to meet up (obvious privacy concerns), etc.
    - mseebach 8y ago
      It's not an exhaustive, binary checklist, they are signals to watch out for. They are basically surrogates for trust. If you're selling something that looks like it might have been stolen, you have to come up with a compelling reason to trust you. Meeting at your office and sharing a business card might be such a reason. If the only thing you're comfortable with is meeting in a deserted parking lot late at night, and only communicating over a throwaway anonymous email account, the counterpart is right to suspect something is fishy. On the other hand, if you have an original invoice from the Apple store, then it might be OK. Sure, there are legitimate reasons for not getting any of these right, but if they get all of them wrong, be very careful.
bruceb 8y ago
Some of those are not stolen, they are just scams for users to send money someone for say an iphone X and then they get the item sent to them, which of course doesn't happen.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
In my area, Facebook is (and was even before the Marketplace) routinely used to sell clothes very cheaply - usually because the seller is buying wholesale and then selling it without paying taxes. You can get them even cheaper if the seller is a person from a rich family who doesn't care much for a profit, but uses this as their pastime.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

ben_jones 9y ago

Aren't the majority of rapes perpetrated by people the victim knew previously?

noobermin 8y ago
I don't think rape is the only thing people fear when meeting strangers. Unpleasant experiences or stalking creeps might be something to look out for.

bradlys 9y ago

Where do you live? I'm curious because I've used Craigslist all across the west coast in the USA and I've never found myself worried. I've used it for bigger ($XXXX) and small purchases ($X). Brand new and very used. Most people I've met are very friendly and decently honest. Flakey is usually my biggest complaint with Craigslist people.

joering2 9y ago
Agree; this comes to mind: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486616/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486616/
jbob2000 9y ago
Toronto, Canada. A somewhat major news item recently was that a guy was killed trying to sell his truck on Craigslist. These stories have popped on and off the news for a while now. Other than that, the pseudo anonymity makes people uncomfortable with craigslist. At least, that’s the sentiment I’ve gotten from a few people who’ve used it. Contrasting that with the feedback I’ve heard about marketplace, people just feel safer when you can creep a buyer’s profile before they show up at your house.

askafriend 9y ago

Nextdoor’s new For Sale section is the best of these services imo since everyone is address-verified. I get a lot of spam from FB Marketplace but even with the spam, it’s miles better than Craigslist/OfferUp/etc.