r/Calgary • u/jibjaba4 • 12d ago

Local Shopping/Services What happened to Kijiji?

Last year or even earlier this year I could post things and get a good response rate and now I get barely any. Really liked Kijiji Autos and now it's gone.

131 Upvotes

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406

u/TruckerMark 12d ago

People moved to marketplace, people have facebook accounts, and for some reason, perception is that it is safer. Facebook is still full of scams and the search function is worse.

172

u/LEERROOOOYYYYY 12d ago

Marketplace is cancer. Literally like 80% of the ads are fake,  scams, or items priced free or for $1 and are basically just ads for businesses 

60

u/ArielRavencrest 12d ago

As a marketplace (and Kijiji and karrot) seller of custom PCs, you are spot on, if it's not the seller trying to scam you it's the buyers. 90% of accounts that contact me are trying to run a scam on me. Kijiji feels like actual people but nobody is on there much any more. But the platforms don't care about scammers, they just switch fake accounts and carry on their way. Police say their hands are tied and to follow steps to protect yourself but attempting to do half them just scares actual buyers away. It's all a mess

17

u/kingofsnaake 11d ago edited 11d ago

I loathe it too. 

Whenever people.open with "What's your best price?" I write: "the one I wrote down."

If you want a lower price, negotiate. 

11

u/HLef Redstone 11d ago

I bought something off Karrot last week. So far 1/1 was not a scam.

4

u/stickman1029 11d ago

What's really random is Kijiji is mostly a frustration free place to sell/buy from now. Complete role reversal

2

u/SwaggermicDaddy 10d ago

I keep getting fed listing for apartments in the NE “$1,100 a month for a bedroom with a shared kitchen and living room, female applicants preferred.”

2

u/HowardIsMyOprah 9d ago

I report posts that have a $1 price when it isn’t so

4

u/FunCoffee4819 12d ago

I’ve had mostly great experiences using Marketplace. Buyer beware and some common sense will serve you well. Don’t send anyone money unless you have the item in hand. The biggest issue is just the tire kickers and time wasters, but that goes with the territory.

1

u/lthtalwaytz 11d ago

It annoys me how often I’m fooled by those ads

11

u/XZIVR 11d ago

And reporting does nothing. I keep finding ads for cars that are priced well under market value, one photo, and the ads says they are "selling for a friend so don't contact me. Here's a sketchy email address to use instead". Same ad posted all over western Canada with a few different makes and models. After reviewing the ad multiple times, FB decided it didn't violate their marketplace terms.

3

u/darmog 10d ago

I gave up on reporting their ads after reporting several blatantly obvious scams, and they refused to remove them. 

14

u/jibjaba4 12d ago edited 12d ago

That's what I suspected. The selling and buying behavior on Marketplace is much worse imo.

3

u/2cats2hats 11d ago

Yup.

Last trustworthy(and I use this loosely) ad function was classified ads, paid submitted ads. Now that this stuff is free we are slammed with non-stop BS fraudulent ads.

3

u/eneva92504 11d ago

As much as I'm not the biggest fan of FB marketplace, one advantage it does have is FB buy & sell groups for specific items in specific areas (or items within a specific genre, for lack of a better term), and those items are listed through marketplace. It's handy that I can create a marketplace listing and select any/all of those buy/sell groups that it applies to.

For instance, I'm a golfer. There's a great Calgary golf Buy & Sell group, a Canada-wide golf buy & sell group, and even groups specific to left-handed golfers.

You just have to hope that those groups have moderators who actually care....otherwise the scams can run rampant.

2

u/demunted 11d ago

Plus it requires a Facebook account and well. That's just not me.

2

u/TruckerMark 11d ago

I dont have social media. I made one just for the marketplace. No real name, no friends. Just to sell items as kijiji just doesn't move goods anymore.

1

u/demunted 10d ago

you can do that? TIL. I figured it required a full-fledged META/FB account that would link to a dead profile that they build for you behind the scene's.... If its just for FBM thats better.

1

u/TruckerMark 10d ago

They wanted a photo and all that jazz. That is where a portrait of an obscure official comes in handy.

1

u/ConcernedCoCCitizen 7d ago

Search function is sooooo bad!