What's a Good Response to 'Is the item still available'?

Several months ago Facebook Marketplace introduced 'quick response buttons': "Is this item still available?", "Yes it is", and "No it's not". How do you respond to 'is it still available'? If I say 'yes, it is' what good does that do? I'm certainly not going to provide my name and address based on an automated question. Any ideas welcome.

I get that on kijiji too. I always respond with simply"yes"and let the buyer continue the conversation or if it's cheap something like "Yes, when do you want to come get it".

That being said when I want to buy something I also usually ask if something is available and when are they free for me to see it because I agree only asking if something is still available it stupid.

I usually respond with yes it is and message me your contact info. I normally also spell out portions of my phone # in the listing

I generally respond by hitting the delete button. Especially if I added "if the listing is up, it's available" to the post.

This

People are idiots, no getting around that.

If someone asks, rather than just giving the generic answer, I'll type something out. "yup, I still have it" -- "yeah, its still for sale" --- etc, etc.

For whatever reason, I have better success selling when I do this rather than giving the generic answer.

on facebook there is a generic reply of yes it's available or no it not available just above the reply line. click on either bubble and it reply's and auto sends..

the is this available is a generic question that pops up when you hit the message bubble in your listing. basically a 1 click effort for the person sending the question. it's perfectly normal.
the part of facebook marketplace that bothers me is the brain surgeons who reply interested in the listing. you now have to click on his name and message them directly so it's 3 times the effort to respond to them that way than if they messaged you interested in the item or just hit the is this item available.

I hate the automated answers as much as the next guy. But I'm not ignorant enough to give a smartass answer. After all, this is a potential buyer who is just using a tool of convenience.

And sure, I've seen those "if the ad is up its still for sale" ... and not gotten any response !! So, if I'm interested in something I ask a relevant question and I don't expect any smartass answers from someone who basically wants my money !!

I had to deal with this for over 2 years when I had my RV up for sale. I just had to get over it and respond with "yes it is". The next step is they would supply their phone number and expect me to call them. It dragged on as I kept lowering the price trying to find the market. I had the lowest price of all the other same units advertised.

Couple of weeks ago I inquired about a 4 post lift and the guy responded with "it sold a couple of days ago".
A week later he tagged the ad as "sold".
Idiot.

The problem is you don't know if people are trying to gather active emails so you don't want to respond to the "is it still available". But then you also have the people that are not courteous enough to remove an item within at least 24 hours of selling. I never ask "is it still available". I just ask whatever I want to ask about the item assuming it's still available.

I figure about 50% of the "Is this still available?" questions are people that looked and accidentally hit the button. I ALWAYS ask a specific question so the seller knows it's not a mistake or a bot.

On the smart@ss remarks: I had my '04 Durango advertised last summer with an accurate description of it's shortcomings, at a reasonable price for it's condition. Got one of the "I'll give you (1/2 of the asking price) in cash today" messages. I replied: SURE! Bring your own wheels, tires, battery, and gas along with the cash!. He ended up buying it the same day for what I wanted to get (15% under ask). I said in the ad the frame was rusted out over the trailer hitch, and he wouldn't look underneath to see it, just wanted to see that the DVD system and a/c worked...

And have only encountered 1 flake so far, but have sold almost everything listed using them or C/L.

I've also noticed that as soon as I say we'll meet in 'xx' shopping center parking lot the buyer disappears. Makes me think they were actually fishing for home addresses.

my usual response is. that's a nice down payment. when will you have the rest of the cash to buy? and i only take cash for the sale.

Yes looking thru ads on Marketplace on my phone I have hit the "Is this still available?" button and never even know it until I get a Direct Message back

BUT if I am interested in something and I send out the "Is this still available?" I expect a response back , because of so many ads that the item has sold and they never took the ad down

And there is no e-mail involved , Its all in a locked down Direct Message system

i rarely if ever meet at my house to sell something online.

If anyone told me to meet in a parking lot, etc. the deal would be off. If I sell, you come to my house. If I buy, I go to yours. I have noticed that most people bring a second person with them - ever since a very high profile murder case a number of years ago.

this can go ether way. you meet at your house they have a partner they can easily rob and kill you at your house as easily as a parking lot.
or a stranger visiting a unknown location they can worry about being robed and killed there. this is why most people bring a friend.

i usually meet in a public place with lots of people going by, near my house. for me it's a local gas station.
a LOT of people are very comfortable with this arrangement over meeting at a strangers home..

I'm more comfortable meeting at someones house then in a parking lot where I could be swarmed but unless it's a normal neighborhood with lots of neighbors around I always make sure someone knows where went so that there's a starting point if I never come back

What amazes me, not so much anymore actually, is how many people post ads then you reply to it they never respond or say they are away.. then why bother posting the new ad? I have someone now wanting to buy something from me but wait a week for them to have money. I said OK but it's still for sale in the meantime and I'll let you know if someone else is interested and it gets them upset. Sorry but if you can't even give me a down payment to hold it I'm not going to risk loosing a sale from someone else when you disappear.

I've had some buyers come to my house or my pole barn for large items, or met off-site. The local PD encourages people to use their well-lit, camera-equipped parking lot for transactions. If a seller gives me a location, I always check it out online. Never had anyone want to meet at a location that seemed suspicious.

Facebook at least gives you the ability to check out someone by checking their profile. I've found things I wanted at a good price, but not even contacted them because their profile screams SCAM (brand new account, no friends, no info, no location, etc).

Had one guy ask what I had in my pole barn. I went into a long explanation of the alarm system that sprays pepper spray as soon as the alarm is activated... He was there with his dad who was laughing his a$$ off and told him that if the place was ever broken into he could expect a visit from the sheriff...

I've been looking for a 85 or so swb truck and a guy on FB had one with supposedly low miles. The photos looked pretty good and the price was inline for what the truck was represented as. I made the hour and a half drive with my trailer to his business to check it out. It was a perfumed pig that was supposed to only have 30k miles, I found a oil change sticker that showed more miles than the odometer. When I pointed it out he started getting huffy and in a round about way said I was calling him a liar. I politely declined and we walked to my truck, as we talked I got in and buckled up and started the truck. Then he then says I have a gun, I told him that I too had one and in fact my hand was already on it. He was fumbling around for his words and finally said I don't shoot it much though, my reply was that I shoot mine a lot. He had a strange look on his face for a few seconds then took a drag off his cigarette and thanked me for coming to look, then walked off and I made my way home.

I don't know if he was lying about the gun but I wasn't.

I'm in Canada - the risk of being robbed and killed is somewhat less than in the U.S.

Probably similar to 95% of the US, and most of us are smart enough not to go into the other 5%...

I don’t sell any parts on those sites mentioned. Yeah, I’m an old eBay seller (22 plus years) & still prefer that method. Though, I’m not a fan of eBay managed payments or the fees. I’ll give up on eBay in a few years & hopefully everything will be sold off by then.

There is no term, it is either yes or no. Farcebook marketplace gives the term "is it still available" in each ad, so many people are just too lazy to communicate and just hit the box...

I hate the auto responses but do try to be civil, I just answer "yes, any questions about the ______ I can answer for you?"

I always check the profile before inviting them over, no friends, new account or a bunch of "drugs are awesome!!!" type posts we meet at a parking lot, preferably near the police station. If they been on there for years with family pics, good amount of friends (butt not too many as that can also be a red flag) then we can probably meet at the house or my work as that is actually much more convenient. My house is secluded and my wife and 9 kids are there by their selves a lot so I don't need a bunch of strangers knowing where it is. Telling people to meet me at work seems to put them at much more ease than anything else honestly butt I know a lot of people can't have random guests at their place of work so I tend to be flexible and look at each case individually.

I have the problem that no matter how I respond I get no response. I saw a router for sale and said hey I want it, where and how can I get with you to pick it up? Told him where I was and gave him my number. Nothing.. Nada .... Crickets....
The guy continued to list it for a few more days and apparently sold it to somebody else.

What do you have to say to get a response.

It's so bad I don't even bother trying to buy stuff online anymore.

and we don't get eaten by bears ...

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and we don't get eaten by bears ...
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Now THERE is a real display of ignorance !!

and we don't get eaten by bears ...
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Now THERE is a real display of ignorance !!
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You have no sense of humor. But then again you are ... Oh never mind... have a good day.

It's easier to just reply "yes" than it is to get flustered or annoyed about it and move on.

Best case, person buys it.
Worst case, they never follow-up or don't buy it, so what?


Plenty of people leave ads up for weeks after a sale. If the item/car/truck/boat has been posted for over a week, I'm going to ask if you still have it.

I always put "will not respond to generic statements like "is this item still available"" in the last line of my ad.

I've found the people who don't take the time or thought to compose a polite, proper sentence will not buy your item anyway.