Leboncoin.fr

[Chancer]

I have read of several of you buying from this excellent resource but do any of you have experience of selling items?

I have an item on sale at the moment and am very surprised at the responses that I have had, I know that the taux de literacy is quite low in my area but some of the enquiries are making me wonder if I have become a to55er magnet [8-)]

The phone enquiries whilst very polite usually ask me a stream of questions the aswers to which are clearly stated in the ad (perhaps they cannot read) several people have made me an offer (without viewing) which I have accepted only for them to thank me very much and say that they will think about it, consult their comptable etc, the item is quite banal we are not taking about capital investment here. I never hear from them again.

In hindsight I regret having given my address when asked to some of these people, I now ask callers to make a rendez-vous before I will give them my address, now they need to think about this first before (not!) calling me back for an appointment despite having made an offer which was accepted.

I have had one visitor who seemed equally confused and kept asking me if the clearly brand new item had been used, he finally made an offer which I accepted and again went off to reflechir never to be seen again.

The best are the E-mails that I have received, always one liners and rarely making any sense at all, I have printed a few of them here for your consideration,

bonjour ma ******** vien de me lacher.je suis
preneur de la votre a 100 euros cordialement.

I should coco pal! The item is up for €200 and sells for €375! - You have to admire his confidence though.

bonjour votre ********** et toujour a vendre

I assume that this is a badly phrased and punctuated question (the et instead of est was how it was written)

bonsoir la ********** est vendue merci

Well thats news to me!

There are several others that do make sense and some even have a salutation at the end but not one has any punctuation or even starts with a capital letter.

Until now I havn't really had the occasion to read anything written by other French people other than my friends at A.V.F. who are all young profesionals and I never see any mistakes in their messages, in fact I am always self conscious of my French when I comunicate to them.

Am I being old fashioned? Why am I so concerned about my written French?

P.S. I am painfully aware that there must be typos in this message as indeed there have been in all of my recent postings, this may seem hypocritical but I have once again lost the use of my left eye (not for good I hope) and can't really read what I am typing with my long sighted right eye.

P.P.S. I have bought several things from Leboncoin and have met some really nice people in doing so.

 

[Thebiga]

We have sold loads of stuff, most of it baby, children stuff as ours grow out of it etc. Toys etc.

We have had a few where it clearly states everything on the add but they still ask the same question. Some ask can you post it where we have said 'pick up only' some want to meet half way from where they live.

I'm afraid that some are so bad that they do not get a reply, But as said we are selling stuff pretty well.

[AnOther]

Perhaps the levels of literacy and comprehension explain why the French seem much keener on the likes of Leboncoin and Kijiji then eBay.

That and the fact that many still do not possess the plastic required to sign up with eBay.

[Claude]

I think this lack of literacy is universal these days. I too once thought that the natives were rather good at French (even the little kids can speak it!!!) but last year I was was involved in buying a car from someone in Avignon and I had to read the emails aloud before I could understand them as everything was spelled phonetically.

[bubbles]

While talking about Leboncoin, can anyone advise on the do's and don'ts for safe selling?

Am ashamed to admit I couldn't understand the advice given on the website itself!

[dave21478]

Leboncoin is a fantastic resource for buying and selling and frankly I am surprised that it remains free to use. Charging for adverts would certainly reduce traffic but the sheer volume of ads placed daily and the lack of decent nationwide competition would rake in an absolute fortune.

As for selling on here, Its one of the experiences that makes me despair for the future of the human race. I initially thought, Like Chancer, that I or the items I sold weres just a magnet for imbeciles, but it seems to be almost universal.

I have only ever sold cars and tools on it, and have had the same farce with every single item. I currently have an old van at a giveaway price as I just need it gone asap.

"What colour is it?" one fud asked. I didnt realise computer monitors were available in black and white? he obviously never spotted the three large photos. Its quite clrearly red. He seemed surprised by this.

I have stopped answering the phone and am using the answering machine to screen the calls. Its averaging around 3 or 4 calls per day from idiots who ask various questions that are answered in the advert, or who offer me an insulting low price. Haggling is fine, but they should at least have the decency to view the item before making an offer.  Im just not bothering to reply to about half of them. Yes, I might loose the sale, but most people who I have called back have asked the same procession of stupid questions punctuated by long silences then hung up to "think about it". Tonight I will be deleting the advert and placing a new one with a very explicit, easy to understand wording and I will see if that fairs any better.

As for tips for selling? Dont ever give out your address freely. The last thing I want is these morons turning up at my house for a poke around. If they want to come and see it, they are welcome to, but by appointment only.

[Chancer]

Oh you made me laugh Dave, how true your words are.

I have now taken to sending sarcastic replies to the E-mails saying things like est-ce que vous essayez de me poser une question?, I accepted yet another offer tonight, by rights I have sold the thing 10 times over now.

The guy then e-mailed to say he would be coming at 8.30 tomorrow morning (when I am normally tucked up in bed) and could he have my address? Gawd knows why he didnt phone again, he seemed quite lucid before, anyway I have just read his message and e-mailed him my address and asked huim to phone first to confirm.

I wont be setting my alarm and if the doorbell rings will decide then whether I can be ar5ed.

[AnOther]

Nice to see you back Dave, I don't think that I am alone in saying that I have missed your witty and incisive observations on the human condition and it's many failings [;-)]

What colour is the van by the way [blink]

[Chancer]

I second that, dont let a minority of grumpy people/disbelievers stop you from posting Dave.

I hope is not the minivan that you have to get rid of pronto.

What colour did you say it was again?

I am the buyer of your van at half the price you are asking, tell me again how much were you asking? [;-)]

It is a van isnt it?

Update:

I just sold the item to a young, dynamic and decisive chap who came when he said and phoned first as requested, he too is building/renovating properties on the side (he is a financial advisor) and looks to be a usefull contact.

The best thing was he saw immediately that it was a very good price (for France) and whipped out the cash pronto, no tyre kicking wingeing or moaning.

I also sold him 20 rolls of insulation which avoids placing another ad in leboncoin.

[hotel-tolbiac]

I, myself, stopped to use it a long time ago after spending hours on the website for nothing !

even if you're the first one to contact the seller, they usually end up selling the item to the best offer and no matter if he agreed to sell it you

Moreover there are more and more scams !

it's a shame because a few month ago you would fing great deal :/

[dave21478]

No, its not the Mini. Some "friends" and I use that term loosely, they are now ex-friends, gave me their van as a thank-you for the help I have given them in the past. A generous gift, you would think? However the van is actually older than I am, and while it is capable of moving under its own steam, it is about an knackered as a vehicle can get.

Their gift wasnt quite so simple though. they expected me to CT it, insure it, pay the carte gris and keep this van running all at my expense and let them borrow it whenever they needed it. There was just no way this was going to happen, and they have since left France permanantly, leaving the van here cluttering up my garden. I took it for CT. The test centre is about 40kms away and I had doubts about making it. The engine is ok (ish) though, its just the rest thats shot. The list of failures on the CT filled up the entire right section of the form. They have left a Certificate de Cession filled out with their details and the dates etc blank so I just intend to sell it.

Another tip for using LeBonCoin...if buying something get the sellers full address and a landline number. Twice now, I have arranged to buy something and when I asked the seller for their address, they have told me their house is complicated to find and they would meet me somewhere public. Now, this I can understand - I am also wary about having randoms turn up at my house, and since in both cases it was for low value items, I went along with it only for them not to turn up and not to answer the phone. (Mobile numbers) The first guy just forgot, and I ended up meeting him a few days later and buying it no problems, the second guy was just never heard from again.

[Benjamin]

My recent experience of Le B C has been very positive. However small value items seem to fly off the shelf but more expensive quality items are very slow.

I think a lot of the people are what I call the "Poundland" shoppers.

[Chancer]

Ah well I must be doing something right as that is where I buy my stock [;-)]

Gong back to the literacy and general comportment of most of my (non) punters and having seen a title of another thread "Letter of motivation" I would just love to see how some of these people present themselves to potential employers when their chômage finally runs out.

I wonder if any of them have been put on the web?

[dave21478]

Don't even think about it, as its quite depressing. My latest plan to make millions and retire at 40 is a seasonal restaurant. We are set to open in a few weeks and are accepting applications for staff. We need a few waiters/waitresses and a second cook. I know for a fact that my spoken French is fairly good but written French is very poor unless I have access to a computer to help me, but since I have only been here 4 years and its not my native language, then I reckon I'm doing ok. However, the state of some of the CV`s I have received from native French people is abysmal. Applications have come from a variety of ages and backgrounds, ranging from 17 year old kids to adults and even my amateur eye can spot that the majority of them have plenty of fundamental spelling and grammer mistakes.

[Pommier]

I think Leboncoin is fantastic! We've sold lots of things (including a house - and we had dozens of viewers plus quite a few offers). There are of course quite a lot of loonies who reply to the ads; we had a woman who claimed that she'd buy our house without viewing it, plus there are those who offer derisory amounts - but they just get an instant 'NON'

I've got to say though that the Leboncoin buyers/sellers are on the whole less loony than the AngoInfo ones!

[AnOther]

[quote user="dave21478"]My latest plan to make millions and retire at 40 is a seasonal restaurant[/quote]Does that mean that you are doing more than just 'thinking of giving up the gites' and that we can look forward to a new thread entitled, 'I'm thinking of giving up the restaurant' [Www]

[Chancer]

I am really pleased to hear that you have not been sitting idle during your absence from the forum Dave, I expected nothing less of you.

Please keep the comments and observations coming, I suspect that you will have far more material from this venture and I plead with you not to be put off posting by those who have riled you in the past.

They may want to scoff at you about making millions but at least you are trying by hard work and in a foreign country rather than taking early retirement on a pension and/or simply profitting from the UK house price boom.

Good luck to you [:)]

[Nimportequoi]

Leboncoin is good for getting gite bookings too.

[Frenchie]

I love leboncoin.fr , bought and sold items , and found my house on it.

[Evianers]

We have tried to sell items on Leboncoin without success, but have bought some super things: hereabouts everything is noticeably more expensive than in many other areas of France. However, we were very lucky to obtain a teak table and six chairs [albeit some of them having been repaired, and not a matching set] for the princely sum of €50 for the whole lot.

There is a new website for those living in the Haute Savoie called "Mabootik" which is in similar vein.