It's been a frustrating experience.
There are so many people out there that don't know how to communicate respectfully. Or, more likely, they know how and simply cannot be arsed.
I did have two very pleasant exchanges, and I thank those folks not only for their business but for conducting themselves like human beings.
I clicked through my Deleted Messages box from the last week, though, and found a lot more of this kind of thing:
"interested"
Emailed him back, no reply.
Lots of these no-replies, actually, usually with more than one word in their message. But not always.
"60"
I assumed they meant "$60". This was in reply to an ad for a $300 item. When I politely declined I received the reply
"fuckn keep it asshle"
Well, thanks for at least replying, I guess.
"your crazy I canget that for 100 at a panw shop"
Be my guest, assuming you can find the "panw shop".
"...I will take can you meet me at Tim's across fro Canadian Tire Arthur St.around 1:30?"
This message sent at 1:02 PM. It's a 25 minute drive. For a $10 item. I regretfully RSVP'd on this one as he didn't leave me nearly enough time to bake him some cookies as a Thank You gift.
Five separate individuals made arrangements to visit for the purposes of buying items, which ranged from $15 guitar accessories to a used car, and never bothered to show up.
I want to do this right but it's becoming increasingly difficult to not lash out at these people. I really don't want to make anyone feel bad but, holy shit, the lack of courtesy is mind-blowing and more than a little depressing. It's not just the disrespectful tone and, it's a lack of respect for another person's time, too. So, is this indicative of anything? I have some ideas.
- Many Kijiji browsers are simply jerks.
- Many people in Thunder Bay are simply jerks.
- Many people are simply jerks.
- The anonymity that online marketplaces afford allow people to be jerks and not be called on it.
Musicians are tough to deal with. Not all musicians, of course, but I've never seen a social group more consistently guilty of having Cadillac Tastes and Hyundai Budgets. And what is with these guys always wanting to trade? It's always crap, too, that they want to trade. They have no problem instructing you on the various deficiencies of the item you're selling yet have no problem offering you what I can only describe as junk. If they actually listened to the lectures they give on why you're asking too much for an item they'd talk themselves out of wanting the damn thing. Yes, I realize it's a tactic, but it's the clumsiest application of this tactic that you're likely to encounter...and most of these guys do it. How stupid do you have to be to think that other people are more stupid than you?
I want to note, also, that when I was in BC we did a LOT of online marketplace transactions. Mostly buying, as we were outfitting an apartment from scratch, but some sales, too. Perhaps one in twenty of these exchanges were icky, and we always received a reply and those were almost always typed in sentences. With actual words. Spelled correctly. Sideways from that, though, I'll note that Kijiji is not very popular in Vancouver...Craiglist is King, there, which I found odd because Kijiji is so much...prettier and easier to use. Anyway, remember that - all the best stuff in Vancouver is on Craigslist.
I used to think that Facebook Marketplace pages were pretty bad, and they are. Most FB users, I think, are more careful about how they present themselves as FB does not provide the anonymity that Kijiji and Craigslist provide. Most, of them, anyway; there are still some awful people on FB, so consumed with getting what they want that they become oblivious to how horrible they're being. Or, to backtrack, maybe they just don't give a shit what people think about them, as long as they get what they want. These Kijiji people, though... the jerks are outnumbering the nice people about 6:1 by my estimation, and it's depressing the hell out of me.
Rant over. I probably have a number of one-and-two-word emails to respond to.
$1300? No, I meant $13!
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