My OLX story started in 2014. I had bought my mom a Kindle for her birthday. Shadow, our handsome German shepherd, got a scarf tied around his broadside with the Kindle box underneath. I announced to my mom to call him downstairs, and there he delivered her the gift-wrapped box. Being nearly a septuagenarian, she had her bias ready towards digital reading. Alas, I was left with a kindle I did not have much use for. My desire to read Anna Karenina (a captivating novel) relented to classes, gym, and college.
Lurking around on Facebook, I remembered the TV ad for Olx and their tagline “Olx. Bech de”. So I posted my first ad. Losing some money on the sale made my mom a tad bitter and me even more upset, but the money went into getting her something more suitable. Since my very first ad, I managed to sell a few dozen items over the years. Corresponding with all shades of buyers helped develop a very important skill, patience. Olx’s trading culture is also has a life of its own. People often get scammed, sometimes make new friends, and rarely, but as per one tv commercial, find love.
In the name of OLX Buyer Protection and OLX Scam Awareness, here is a list of the kinds of buyers to be wary of.
1. Phone number guy
All this person demands is your phone number. They might be an interested buyer but stubbornly refuse to text chat. Given the trading/ market culture, Indians expect a bargain. A call with this person might lead to a frustrating negotiation which can easily go down the road of them clawing away unabashedly for a lowered price. A very annoying breed of buyer, avoid giving your number, especially in 2021. Everything is linked to your phone number, if you know where to look, which is not that deep, people can dig up your address, full name, blood group, and everything else you don’t want strangers to know.
2. The re-negotiator
They hit you up, chat a bit, and want to meet for the deal. Something happens during or before the deal and they feel iffy about committing. Now they want to re-negotiate the price. I remember having traveled 5 or more kilometers away from home, only to be ungraciously turned down by the buyer because they wanted the item even cheaper. Consider the nature of your item, and strongly mention “no last moment bargaining”.
3. No you first
When buyers can’t meet you or send someone to collect, they would ask you to ship via a courier of their choice. However, sending a stranger an item without first receiving payment is an astronomical risk, unless you have somehow established their credibility. Olx does not regulate trades. Buyers and sellers must recognize red flags and take care of themselves. A text chat that went on for twenty minutes seemed might end well for both of us. Just at the last minute, they did decide to tell me that they expected the item to be shipped first. We argued for about a few minutes and that was it. There is a simple trick to getting paid first, you just write a good, professional ad, and click great photos. Even unassuming fools can tell a legit seller from a casual seller.
4. Catfishers
Will chat you up, often not that skillfully or sincerely, and abscond with your phone number. The Olx app was very unstable at one point, so you could not tell the difference between catfishers bailing or the app having issues on the buyer’s end.
5. Ask-holes
Yes, no market is free of Askholes. Questions are usually which can be answered by just reading the ad description. Truly, I don’t know what goes on in the mind of the “Olx Askhole”. Every darn detail will be provided, but they persist in asking what is already stated. If I’m selling a computer then the questions should be regarding my usage and under which conditions, not about the performance or technical details which can be read over at the product’s website. The Askhole does not want to do any self-research, just waste a load of time, and buy nothing.
6. The douchebag
Short fused and loud, I’ve never been able to make any trades with these buyers. I primarily sold on Olx and also edited in later that I’m not interested in buying (because I had received offers). One fellow starts a chat, touting something I didn’t solicit, and asks several times the actual value. On pointing out factually, in a neutral, 3rd person tone, that what they quoted is too high and the item is not high demand, the response read, “show me respect ok. Be careful how you talk”. I had to ignore and block this chat.
7. The kid
Has just learned to use OLX. Pretends to be an adult and goes around making ridiculous offers, offending everybody they ping. If dealing in the toys or any category concerning children, ascertain who exactly you are chatting with. Kids may or may not be innocent, but can get you into quite a mess if they are the reckless ones.
7. The foreigner
After all the idiots, redemption. Foreigners don’t always have the culture of bargaining (or believe in one) like us and some tend to be mindful about not offending. No-fuss, no irritation, no harassing till the seller relents, and minimal chat. Not necessarily an actual foreigner, but I would use the term to point out a kind of buyer who sees a price tag, thinks yes, and just buys the darn thing. If he thinks no, then simply moves on.