kieranblakewriter

Why do people ‘like’ posts on Facebook sale pages?

Why do the same people ‘like’ these items with seemingly no intention of buying them?

Ladies and gentlemen, if you liked it so much then you should have put a bid on it.

Is liking someone else’s sales post a strategy? Do they think that if they like my posts that I’ll like their posts back? Sorry everyone, but I’ve never reciprocated a sale page ‘like’.

Is there a competition on Facebook, that I’m not aware of, which challenges users to attract the most ‘likes’ possible on their individual sale posts? If so, what’s the prize – dinner with Mark Zuckerberg? I wish there was a competition – even though I don’t ‘like’ the idea of dinner with Mr. Zuckerberg – because I attracted ‘likes’ for the bedside tables in the photo…and the swimming goggles, and the rug and the bike rack and the Esky…even the car I sold last year.

Fair enough, people like cars, be they sensible, like the Toyota Vios I used to own, or luxurious, like the BMW I will never own. What I don’t understand, though, is the apparent fascination with the mundane.

People ‘like’ second hand tennis racquets and last decade’s fashion. They ‘like’ second hand baby clothes, used suitcases, washing machines, outdoor furniture, lamps, phones, DVDs, cutlery, crockery…and even bricks.

Why?

Maybe they’re hoarders. Maybe they have houses and garages and storage units full of second hand items which they picked up for a bargain on Facebook, just because it was a bargain. Then again, they don’t seem to buy any of the items (at  least nothing of mine) so why do they like them?

Perhaps they believe in the thrill of the hunt – or that the journey is more important than the destination. They live with the unwavering conviction that they will one day, one day, chase down the perfect treasure at the perfect price and, until they find this holy grail, they refuse to buy any inferior imitation.

I’m trying to imagine these people scrolling through the various Buy, Sell, Swap pages to which they’ve registered, comparing the merits of contrasting pieces of furniture; old lawn mowers which may or may not work, children’s books which may or may not have been read and fitness equipment which may or may not have delivered its owner the perfect bikini body just in time for summer.

I imagine they sit on trains, buses, ferries and Ubers scrolling, swiping and ‘liking’ (or dismissing) the endless supply of pre-loved goods which sustain these pages. I wonder if, also, they’re passing judgement on the items and, consequently, on me.

Clearly there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for liking second hand goods on Facebook pages. I just can’t work it out and maybe that’s why my recent posts haven’t sold yet.

I wonder if Beyonce wants to buy my bedside tables…$AU50 for both!