for how long I should wait for someone to confirm they want it. Had a couple of people say they want stuff a couple of days ago but then dont hear anything back and when I check you can see they have made other posts so I have assumed they no longer want it but should I wait longer?! Its not high price stuff I am selling!

Give them a reasonable time to pay [24hrs?] & then feel free to sell it to someone else

The first person to actually give you the money gets it. Everyone else is just an interested onlooker.

i put a load of stuff up last Monday. some people paid for it straight away whilst others waited for 3 days.

As said above i would give it to the first person that actually gives me money even if it is not the first person to reply to an ad.

It also depends on the amount of interest in the item.

The first person to actually give you the money gets it. Everyone else is just an interested onlooker. +1

It's difficult to simply say the first one to pay gets it – you may end up with more than one payment
IMO – if someone says they want something, you've got to give them a small amount of time to cough up

1st one to pay ??
you might get 5 people sending you money through paypal all at once 😯

yup, uplink is right, 1st dibs gets it, give him a chance to pay.
if not move to 2nd dibs etc..

First to confirm they definately want it by e-mail, usualy with an agreed timeframe for payment (cheque in the post, paypal when they'r home from work etc).

Depends if I recognise the name or not, if its someone I know/have delt with before often its in the post before they payments cleared!

1st dibs gets it
but anyone who uses 'dibs' is probably under 7 years old, thus unlikely to have much cash.

you might get 5 people sending you money through paypal all at once

Hey, it's a tough old world and you make five times what you wanted 😉

Obviously you say to anyone who says they want it or asks for dibs, "great, transfer me the money and it's yours".

actually I is ate, and gits loads of wonga of da ode man 🙂

Yeah i dont agree with the whole dibs thing, unless it says they definitely want it and how/when theyre paying. Anything else is just window shopping,(which i havent a problem with, we all do it from time to time).

Definitely not secure until cash has landed, no offence but I've been messed about enough times by people that definitely want it only to disappear without a trace.

If 5 people PayPal me money at the 'same' time, they will appear in a list in the actual time they paid order, so the bottom four can be refunded. The above protocol may be deviated from if someone expresses an interest and there is good reason to give them priority, such as if they live around the corner from me etc.

yup, uplink is right, 1st dibs gets it, give him a chance to pay.
if not move to 2nd dibs etc..

+1

No fannying around with this dibs lark. The first one to show me the money gets it. Been messed around far too much in the past to be bothered.

if by some chance 2 people send the money, the slower gets the refund and an apology, but thats life.

interested to see this topic as I was wondering the same.

Last week I responded very quickly to an advert, both on here & also to the email in the userID. I was the only person who responded on here.
I never heard anything back until I saw the sale item was now reported as sold…
Seller indicated in original advert he wanted paypal but I had no idea if his reported email adress was linked to his paypal account.

Now I have no idea what went on in the background in this instance but it sounds like some of the posters are suggesting a paypal race is the only answer!
If that's the case so be it but then perhaps it is polite to describe it as such. It seems a shame that there are so many 'buyers' who are screwing things up by not following through with their promises.

No "dibs", but if someone says they definitely want it then I'll give them a day or so to pay.

I don't want a several people paying money into my account for the same item, and when it's the other way round I won't pay until I know it's mine.

No offence, but I wouldn't really want to deal with anyone who worked like that anyway.

No "dibs", but if someone says they definitely want it then I'll give them a day or so to pay.

I don't want a several people paying money into my account for the same item, and when it's the other way round I won't pay until I know it's mine.

No offence, but I wouldn't really want to deal with anyone who worked like that anyway.

Ditto^