On Monday, I received a Carousell chat message from someone called blurt_apparels_zambrut:
Of course, I was suspicious. What sane person would pay $1,001 for the thing?
But I accepted what the person wrote in good faith. So I replied:
It all seemed to easy. But if you have bought or sold anything on Carousell before, you should know that if you want to confirm buying something, you have to click or tap the MAKE OFFER button. My would-be buyer had not done that.
Using the button allows both buyer and seller to provide feedback on each other on the tranaction.
So I messaged him:
At this point, I still wasn't if the buyer was for real, but I was curious enough to play along to see how far it would go.
What was the worst that could happen? He doesn’t show up and it was all a prank?
His (I assume he's male) Carousell profile seemed legit:
The feedback on him is positive:
And he even has a Facebook page.
So I went to Braddell MRT station on time and this was our chat:
I never heard from him again.
Wow.
So this person went so far as to string me along for five more minutes with one last message before cutting me off.
As much as I half expected it, I felt duped. My faith in humanity was destroyed.
Did he feel justified in pranking me because my $1,001 Carousell listing came across as a joke?
I could easily retaliate against him since his Carousell and Facebook profiles are public.
But I just took it as a lesson learnt.
Next time someone wants to buy from me, I will insist that the person use the MAKE OFFER button.
And I couldn’t believe what happened next.
Within half an hour, someone used the MAKE OFFER button and offered me $800 for the My Melody holder.
The catch is that I had to deliver it to him right away.
At this point, I assumed it was another prank. He may be in cahoots with the first guy since it came so soon after the first prank. It may even be the same guy.
It was as if he knew I wouldn’t fall for it again unless he used the MAKE OFFER button.
I declined the offer.
So he raised his offer. Twice.
Now it really looked like a prank. So I stopped responding to him.
To my amazement, two hours later, he actually sent me an angry message for not responding to him.
And that was the end of that.
What a stressful day.
Someone commented on my Carousell listing: "His intention is not to sell the Melody but to promote his blog via Carousell by linking his blog website in the one & only listing."
That would mean I went through a lot of trouble just to promote this blog.
Look, if anyone is really willing to pay $1,001 for my My Melody, I would be insane to say no.
But after what happened, I just can't trust people any more.
EARLIER: I'm selling my McDonald's My Melody holder on Carousell for $1,001
