Scammers are always your first customers

The idea that I could actually do Sidequest Loot as even a side "thing" started back in December 2024.  Looking for a little extra money for the holidays, I parted with some of my childhood toys and games.  Mostly Transformers and Video Games.

Ebay looked awfully complicated and expensive.  I wasn't sure of many of the others.  I had done some random one-off deals on Kijiji and found that Facebook Marketplace was quite similar.  Neither took any commission on the actual sales and there was no charge to list the items.

Kijiji just felt somehow... dirty.  Can't quite explain it.  Maybe because I was looking for an outlet that felt a little bit less like a garage sale.  Besides that, it seemed that FB carried a much larger potential audience of users and hopefully buyers.

I'll reference the two interchangeably because the process to use them is very much the same.  I listed on both items, a process called cross-posting.  Some dedication to customer service is required to make sure you maintain both but it allows you to capture two audiences.  Create an account, list your items, add some nice photos, set a price and watch the cash come rolling in!  Except for the last part, the rest is entirely true.

There is nothing especially quick about either platform.  You're competing with so many other items being listed that your own listings will get lost in the algorithmic shuffle.  Neither sorts by price.  The more key words that you can provide, the better.  A 90 day turnover can be a reasonable expectation, if you price your item at the market price or a little less.  If you list as many as 20 items, you might get a credible buyer within a couple of days on one of the items.

"Credible" is an interesting choice of descriptor, isn't it? I found that in my early listings about 10% were straight up scam responses.  I was able to learn this without actually falling for the trap.  I'll be honest, I can only hazard a guess that they were an attempt to send a scam etransfer.

It started with one of the most-used, prepopulated inquiries offered by FB: "Is this available?".  The message would come in within a few minutes of the listing being posted (CLUE #1), sometimes within seconds.  If I responded yes and attempted to close the deal, they would let me know that they were out of town at the moment but would be glad to pay me in full right away.  Other variations included "coming to town for business" and similar excuses in advance to not meet you today (CLUE #2).  They also were ready to immediately pay me in full by etransfer and would require my email address.  No negotiation, no questions about the item and complete implied faith in me as a seller (CLUE #3).

When you're new to this kind of thing, desperate for money or are convinced that online markets are the unstoppable wave of the future, nothing might seem wrong with any or all of these steps.  I felt suspicious and learned to start clicking on "About the Buyer".  There, you can see their market reviews in both number and quality.  Often, you might also be able to learn their location.

I found it a touch puzzling in one of these cases where the gentleman with zero reviews was visiting on business from Brazil in a few exciting days and not only felt compelled to search the local online marketplace but also felt that he might be able to escape important meetings to pick up an Insecticon while he was here.  To be fair, only I might do something like that.

Location of the buyer is absolutely key.  These two platforms default to only first provide you with local listings - within about an hour or so drive.  From Brantford, I will see listings as far as Toronto, Niagara Falls, London and just north of Guelph.  If I wanted to look at buying an AUTHENTIC Portuguese version of Megaman 3, it takes a fair amount of effort in FB settings to find one in South America.

The number of reviews of the buyer and the rating go hand-in-hand.  On FB, it is a ranking out of 5 stars.  The same applies for sellers.  Having a perfect average of five is very difficult - it's hard to make everyone happy.  The ones that I identified as potential scammers had one common factor: ZERO reviews.

As time went by, I moved to quickly block such profiles as quickly as I could.  I don't think that it is coincidental that I used to have 10% of potential buyers fit this model exactly and now I haven't seen one in over 3 months.  I know that there is an organized crackdown on fake accounts as this kind of thing shouldn't be happening.

Did I miss out on potential sales? Possibly.  Did I risk sending out any of my information if the deal didn't feel right? Absolutely not.  The items still eventually and legitimately sold - I don't have anything remaining from those initial 17 listings.

We would love to share your Sidequest Story! If you have started a business or side hustle, if you're thinking of doing it or if you have no idea whatsoever of what you want to do, we would love to share your story.  We find that when the buyer knows you better, they are more likely to buy.  We don't mind if you mix in some advertisement, sales pitch (ugh!) or simply supportive thoughts for other Sidequesters going through the same thing.

Email: mysidequest@sidequester.ca and let us know what you want to do!  There is no charge for posting but we will give a final editorial review and might provide some suggestions.  You will be provided with a final draft before we publish.  All submissions will become the property of Sidequest Loot but will not be used without your consent.  We like to provide an author name but can limit this to first name or name of your business, if you wish.