closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 50 of 57

Thread: Humanity, sometimes I despair

  1. #1
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Mid Glamorgan
    Posts
    5,472

    Humanity, sometimes I despair

    I offered a 240L new (but cracked plastic frame) Fluval fish tank for free on a local Facebook market place and I was inundated with people asking for it.
    Trying to do the right thing, I offered it to the first person who messaged me for it. He picked it up this morning and a few hours later he has it up for sale.
    I don’t think he even took it out of the box.



  2. #2
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205
    Absolute wnkr! Did you offer it on the forum here?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Journeyman Hattori Hanzo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Leeds, UK
    Posts
    193
    Leave a message on his sales post stating he received it for free.

  4. #4
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205
    Quote Originally Posted by Hattori Hanzo View Post
    Leave a message on his sales post stating he received it for free.
    Message him and say if he doesn’t have a use for it to bring it back

  5. #5
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Mid Glamorgan
    Posts
    5,472
    Quote Originally Posted by Anygreg View Post
    Absolute wnkr! Did you offer it on the forum here?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    No. I advertised it locally and said in the add that I’d never filled it with water so I didn’t know if it would leak or not.
    I wouldn’t want a member on here travelling a good distance to collect it only for it actually be leaking.

  6. #6
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Mid Glamorgan
    Posts
    5,472
    Quote Originally Posted by Hattori Hanzo View Post
    Leave a message on his sales post stating he received it for free.
    A couple of people who saw his add realised he’d had it off me for free and mentioned it on his add before I was aware of it.
    He’s since pulled the ad.

  7. #7
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    East Sussex
    Posts
    15,912
    Let it go; you didn’t want it so gave it away to get rid.

    Alright, it’s a shifty thing to do but we know from here, to some, a couple of quid is worth more than their reputation.

    Life really is too short!

  8. #8
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Norf Yorks
    Posts
    42,913
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    Let it go; you didn’t want it so gave it away to get rid.

    Alright, it’s a shifty thing to do but we know from here, to some, a couple of quid is worth more than their reputation.

    Life really is too short!
    This, 100%.
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  9. #9
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Mid Glamorgan
    Posts
    5,472
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    Let it go; you didn’t want it so gave it away to get rid.

    Alright, it’s a shifty thing to do but we know from here, to some, a couple of quid is worth more than their reputation.

    Life really is too short!
    I’m not going to pursue it, just a little saddened by it.

  10. #10
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    Let it go; you didn’t want it so gave it away to get rid.

    Alright, it’s a shifty thing to do but we know from here, to some, a couple of quid is worth more than their reputation.

    Life really is too short!
    It just a pity it didn’t go to somebody that actually wanted it and would of used it. None of this surprises me judging on how some have behaved over the past year or so

  11. #11
    Craftsman enndriz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Newcastle UK
    Posts
    519
    It’s a tough one - on one hand could be some chancer that has taken advantage of your good nature to turn a quick profit. On the other, could be someone genuinely so desperate that they will do anything to make a few quid to feed the kids. Sounds a weird thing to say, but hopefully it’s the latter


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    London
    Posts
    592
    The guy is living the dream!

    Today, collecting free fish tanks to make £30.

    Tomorrow, important meetings in Zurich? High Finance? Warren Buffet?


    Actually, tomorrow will probably be clambering through the bins most likely for this entrepeneur. You become what you are.

  13. #13
    Grand Master learningtofly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Everywhere & nowhere, baby
    Posts
    37,528
    Quote Originally Posted by Roberto View Post
    The guy is living the dream!

    Today, collecting free fish tanks to make £30.

    Tomorrow, important meetings in Zurich? High Finance? Warren Buffet?


    Actually, tomorrow will probably be clambering through the bins most likely for this entrepeneur. You become what you are.
    I wonder if you’ve ever struggled financially, perhaps not knowing if you can even put food on your family’s table. Not only quick to judge, but very unkind with your comments which, to my mind, lacked humanity.

  14. #14
    Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Location
    Chelmsford, Essex
    Posts
    1,168
    It's annoying when you think you're doing something nice and then it appears that someone takes advantage of that. Maybe if he is in need of money you have still done something to help someone out and they can at least feel like they have earnt the money rather than taken a more obvious handout.

    Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Master Marios's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Cyprus
    Posts
    4,807
    My take: forget about it. You did something good, nothing changes that.

  16. #16
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205

    Humanity, sometimes I despair

    There’s still a chance that he’s making money because he saw the opportunity? Or maybe he’s a crack head in need of a fix? Or whatever other fantasy anyone wants to dream up. Fact is he took advantage of the situation. If he was in dire need of financial support he could of mentioned It when collecting ? I presume he owns and drives a car as this would be difficult to carry or get on the bus??
    Last edited by Anygreg; 4th April 2021 at 19:34.

  17. #17
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    London
    Posts
    592
    Quote Originally Posted by learningtofly View Post
    I wonder if you’ve ever struggled financially, perhaps not knowing if you can even put food on your family’s table. Not only quick to judge, but very unkind with your comments which, to my mind, lacked humanity.
    Yes, I have stuggled very badly financially as it happens, but something like this is still something I wouldn't do it because it is a rubbish thing to do.

    The guy has internet access, presumably would have took it away in some sort of transport, not on a hand cart.

    Sadly life is packed full of chancers, perhaps you've been lucky and haven't been exposed to that.

  18. #18
    I’ve given loads of stuff away free and assumed a fair percentage of it was sold on. I have normally given things away for free because I couldn’t be bothered with selling to the time wasters rather than some selfless act.

  19. #19
    Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    southampton
    Posts
    1,196
    One mans junk is another mans nice little earner. Don’t see a problem here unless you specified you will carry out some kind of vetting process.

  20. #20
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    Quote Originally Posted by jaytip View Post
    I’m not going to pursue it, just a little saddened by it.
    Don't blame you. No good deed goes unpunished.

  21. #21
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Mid Glamorgan
    Posts
    5,472
    Quote Originally Posted by thestore View Post
    I’ve given loads of stuff away free and assumed a fair percentage of it was sold on. I have normally given things away for free because I couldn’t be bothered with selling to the time wasters rather than some selfless act.
    Mine wasn’t some selfless act. I actually said in the ad that if there are no takers, it’s going to the tip. It’s the fact that I told the guy as I was helping him take it to his car that I had been inundated with messages asking if it’s still available, and yet he still took it KNOWING he was going to try and flog it.

  22. #22
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Mainly UK
    Posts
    17,281
    We used to get quite a lot of requests for items from people who we were pretty sure had little use for them when we advertised stuff for free every time we relocated. Some just said that they would take everything, which wasn't the idea at all. After the first couple of times we started to request a modest charity donation per item to a VMG page, which did the trick and most donations ended up being more than the minimum asked for. We shifted our stuff, the 'buyer' got a good deal and the worthy causes received a boost, win-win-win.
    Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH

  23. #23
    Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Unknown
    Posts
    5,719
    Blog Entries
    1
    This has happened to me ... I took the view that the recipient probably was not that wealthy and was doing something enterprising to make a few quid ... better than anything negative.

    Everyone wins. You get rid of an item with no bother, someone who can be bothered makes a few quid and ultimately an item finds a new owner and avoids landfill.

    Recently gave away a Canon digital camera, had loads of messages.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by jaytip View Post
    Mine wasn’t some selfless act. I actually said in the ad that if there are no takers, it’s going to the tip. It’s the fact that I told the guy as I was helping him take it to his car that I had been inundated with messages asking if it’s still available, and yet he still took it KNOWING he was going to try and flog it.
    He was probably thinking bonus this will sell easy! Everything has a value even your rubbish,
    If you had taken it to the tip they would still “recycle” (sell) it anyway and you would have had to drive it there to them.

  25. #25
    Master
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Cheshire, UK
    Posts
    5,144
    You did well anyway!

    No act of kindess however small is ever wasted - Aesop

  26. #26
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Wigan, Lancs
    Posts
    732
    And now on eBay , current bid £50.


    item number 294102621957.
    294102621957

  27. #27
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205
    Quote Originally Posted by Harleyrider View Post
    And now on eBay , current bid £50.


    item number 294102621957.
    294102621957
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLUVAL-RO...E/294102621957

    Yep, guys on the bones of his ass, we should all commend him on his resilience and smart thinking in these tough times. A model citizen, just surviving and trying to make ends meet.

    I’m hoping for a either a non paying buyer, or better still lost/damaged in transit shipping and no insurance because he’s allegedly so strapped for cash he can’t afford it. Oh the irony.

  28. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Anygreg View Post
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLUVAL-RO...E/294102621957

    Yep, guys on the bones of his ass, we should all commend him on his resilience and smart thinking in these tough times. A model citizen, just surviving and trying to make ends meet.

    I’m hoping for a either a non paying buyer, or better still lost/damaged in transit shipping and no insurance because he’s allegedly so strapped for cash he can’t afford it. Oh the irony.
    Ohhh the humanity, have you never struggled to put meat on the table?
    We should all be clubbing together finding this unfortunate gentleman’s details and helping him out. Nowadays we should all be very conscious of people who do this kind of thing, it’s a clear indication that he must be on his uppers and not at all a skanky t***er.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  29. #29
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Mountsorrel uk
    Posts
    1,905
    My workmates wife had this she was selling a posh pushchair on face book and had some woman message her with a sob story she had a toddler on benefits no money etc, next day had it back on for 3 times the price she payed for it mates misses complained about it and she said it was hers she could do what she wanted with it Facebook is full of scumbags

  30. #30
    Master Anygreg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Cheshire, England
    Posts
    1,205
    Quote Originally Posted by Michael 38 View Post
    My workmates wife had this she was selling a posh pushchair on face book and had some woman message her with a sob story she had a toddler on benefits no money etc, next day had it back on for 3 times the price she payed for it mates misses complained about it and she said it was hers she could do what she wanted with it Facebook is full of scumbags
    Yes but, erm, think of the environment, global warming erm, think of the children, brexit? Erm na, got nothing your right scum bag lol

  31. #31
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Cartagena, Spain
    Posts
    24,806
    Never filled with water and in it's box, valuable object to someone and judging by the amount of Ads' for Apps and what have you making it easy and ebay of course, for desperate people to buy/sell their own and other peoples used stuff...it appears to be where we, or at least some are nowadays...a nation of virtual shopkeepers, and stock is vital.
    Last edited by Passenger; 5th April 2021 at 11:56.

  32. #32
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    East Sussex
    Posts
    15,912
    Personally, I don’t give a damn what someone does with something I’ve either sold or given away. If I’ve sold it, I’ve got the money I wanted (or near enough), if I’ve given it away then it’s saved me a trip to the tip.

    That said, it was mildly annoying a while back when three consecutive watches I sold on SC appeared on SC again soon after at higher prices.

  33. #33
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Cartagena, Spain
    Posts
    24,806
    SC's a microcosm.

  34. #34
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    London
    Posts
    592
    Quote Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers View Post
    Ohhh the humanity, have you never struggled to put meat on the table?
    We should all be clubbing together finding this unfortunate gentleman’s details and helping him out. Nowadays we should all be very conscious of people who do this kind of thing, it’s a clear indication that he must be on his uppers and not at all a skanky t***er.
    Perhaps we could club together for aquarium stuff? Looks like that's what he sells, according to his ebay feedback.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Curta View Post
    We used to get quite a lot of requests for items from people who we were pretty sure had little use for them when we advertised stuff for free every time we relocated. Some just said that they would take everything, which wasn't the idea at all. After the first couple of times we started to request a modest charity donation per item to a VMG page, which did the trick and most donations ended up being more than the minimum asked for. We shifted our stuff, the 'buyer' got a good deal and the worthy causes received a boost, win-win-win.
    A most elegant solution - like that.

  35. #35
    Is that on facebook.

    join the facebook group and report him to the admins and they might either ban him, remove the advert or reply on the advert etc

    thats what i would do anyway.

  36. #36
    Craftsman enndriz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Newcastle UK
    Posts
    519

    Humanity, sometimes I despair

    There was a PSA posted here last week for a seiko SPB079 blue bezel MM200 on sale at H Samuel for £399. I tried to get one but it sold out in a flash, so checked eBay to see if any others available, and only found a couple of used ones for £500+.

    Fast forward to today and there are now suddenly 3 brand new ones on eBay, bought from un named UK dealers over the last couple of days, listed for between £575-650. Coincidence? (BTW I’m not suggesting it was anyone from here).

    It’s just frustrating that so many good deals these days hoovered up by the scalpers. Similar to when an LE is released, you know for a fact it will sell out immediately only to appear on the bay with huge markup days later (also see Eddie’s watches). Pretty depressing stuff


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  37. #37
    Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    M62 corridor
    Posts
    4,711
    Quote Originally Posted by enndriz View Post
    (BTW I’m not suggesting it was anyone from here).
    No? I'm sure there are plenty of members on here who would do that sort of thing in a flash!

    As to the OP, I am not surprised. Part of me would share his annoyance but then again he was happy to get rid so move on.

  38. #38
    Grand Master mart broad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Essex
    Posts
    12,033
    Blog Entries
    5
    Seriously just move on and take as a positive you saved a journey to the tip
    I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

  39. #39
    Grand Master ryanb741's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    19,615
    Why dont we all bid it up to £500 and then cancel the bids around 30 mins from the end?

    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

  40. #40
    Master village's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Any further south and i would have wet feet
    Posts
    9,959
    I don’t see why it’s a big issue.
    OP gives something away to save the hassle of going to the tip to throw it in a skip. Bloke takes it.
    Who cares if he is selling it or living in it or storing pigmy hippos in it???

  41. #41
    Master mjrennie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Manc exiled in Coventry
    Posts
    1,344
    Rag and Bone. Similar principle.

  42. #42
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Near the sea
    Posts
    7,122
    It’s called Retail Arbitrage, low end admittedly getting a free fish tank and selling on, but the likes of buying a Seiko from a UK shop and selling on at profit is how some people make a living..

  43. #43
    Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Mountsorrel uk
    Posts
    1,905
    I had a similar experience last year I put my hi fi set up on Facebook to sell as a job lot as I didn’t fancy selling it separately on eBay an oldish chap came round saying he really wanted to get back in to hi fi and thought the system would sound great and he would really make use of it, 2 days later it was on eBay he was trying to sell the speakers for nearly as much as he paid me for the whole lot along with other hi fi stuff obviously a dealer now I wasn’t that bothered as it saved me a lot of ball ache but I don’t know why he lied to me about it ?

  44. #44
    Master Christian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    9,876
    Quote Originally Posted by enndriz View Post
    There was a PSA posted here last week for a seiko SPB079 blue bezel MM200 on sale at H Samuel for £399. I tried to get one but it sold out in a flash, so checked eBay to see if any others available, and only found a couple of used ones for £500+.

    Fast forward to today and there are now suddenly 3 brand new ones on eBay, bought from un named UK dealers over the last couple of days, listed for between £575-650. Coincidence? (BTW I’m not suggesting it was anyone from here).

    It’s just frustrating that so many good deals these days hoovered up by the scalpers. Similar to when an LE is released, you know for a fact it will sell out immediately only to appear on the bay with huge markup days later (also see Eddie’s watches). Pretty depressing stuff


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I noted a similar thing with a watch I had seen in a high street jewellers sale recently. This is definitely becoming more commonplace. I think there are quite a lot of Del Boy traders who see this as a worthwhile business model...be ready when sales happen, pounce and buy all the stock then resell on eBay. I find this pretty unscrupulous behaviour....it's scalping just like when you get the people that buy up the stocks of newly released PS5s to sell individually on eBay at a markup.

    Fishtank guy...I think it's a bit much and naive for people to be inventing an imaginary backstory for him that he is desperate, living hand-to-mouth and this is his sole means of providing food for himself. He's just another Del Boy who collects unwanted items and sells them for what he can get. No different to the people that come and collect your scrap metal for free. He probably considers the transaction was in your benefit as he got rid of your unwanted item for free.

    Modern day rag-and-bone-man isn't it?

  45. #45
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Cartagena, Spain
    Posts
    24,806
    Quote Originally Posted by murkeywaters View Post
    It’s called Retail Arbitrage, low end admittedly getting a free fish tank and selling on, but the likes of buying a Seiko from a UK shop and selling on at profit is how some people make a living..
    Retail Arbitrage, thanks hadn't heard that before, sounds posher than rag and bone or Trotters indie trading Co.

  46. #46
    Master IAmATeaf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    NW London
    Posts
    4,757
    I’ve had this happen twice. Advertised my old settees on FB, free collected, 2 guys collected, next day they were on sale for £50. Same with a TV I wanted shot of.

    Didn’t really bother me as in all honesty I just wanted to get rid of the items and personally couldn’t be arsed with trying to sell them.

  47. #47
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Near the sea
    Posts
    7,122
    Quote Originally Posted by Passenger View Post
    Retail Arbitrage, thanks hadn't heard that before, sounds posher than rag and bone or Trotters indie trading Co.
    Loads of videos on it, ironically a fair bit of it ends up on Amazon, it actually looks quite hard work sourcing the goods, repackaging, printing correct barcodes, packaging and sending through Amazon or selling yourself on eBay, add in you have to turnover quite a bit of stock to make a half decent living, personally I would rather do this than scrounge on benefits!


  48. #48
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    I have an aunt who does this stuff - or did, not sure if she's still up to it. She would trawl sites like Freecycle and car boots, pick up stuff and then list it all over eBay and the like. I think she even set up a business to do it.

    The reality was her house was an absolute bomb site full of other people's junk tat and people were embarrassed for her when they saw it. Just a sad old goose. I wouldn't invest too much time into counting their potential money, they're just sad and 99% of the time achieve F all.

  49. #49
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Cartagena, Spain
    Posts
    24,806
    Quote Originally Posted by murkeywaters View Post
    Loads of videos on it, ironically a fair bit of it ends up on Amazon, it actually looks quite hard work sourcing the goods, repackaging, printing correct barcodes, packaging and sending through Amazon or selling yourself on eBay, add in you have to turnover quite a bit of stock to make a half decent living, personally I would rather do this than scrounge on benefits!

    Thanks, wow Christos livin' the dream. Sign of the times I guess.

  50. #50
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Near the sea
    Posts
    7,122
    Quote Originally Posted by Passenger View Post
    Thanks, wow Christos livin' the dream. Sign of the times I guess.
    It is sign of the times, everyone wants their own shill and being employed is not trendy or insta worthy, I couldn't be arsed with it but if its a road to a better life then good on them.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information