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That $250 espresso machine I bought off Facebook Marketplace was a total scam
I saw a listing for a Breville Barista Express for $250 and jumped on it last Saturday... the guy said it just needed a descale. Got it home, ran some water through it, and the pump sounded like a dying cat. Took it apart to find the boiler was completely clogged with scale and the group head gasket was torn. Spent another $60 on parts and 4 hours of my Sunday before I realized the main board was fried too. Have any of you ever actually fixed a Marketplace find, or am I just naive?
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flores.tessa14d ago
People always think they're getting a steal on Marketplace when really they're just buying someone else's headache. I see it all the time with furniture too, like that "real leather" couch that's actually vinyl peeling off after a month. The whole "just needs a descale" line is a classic move, they know most people won't bother checking. It's wild how we'll believe something small like that to justify a huge discount. I've learned the hard way that if something sounds too good to be true, it's because the seller already did the math and decided it wasn't worth fixing themselves.
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Got a similar deal on a "gently used" KitchenAid mixer once. The seller swore it just needed a new gear, turns out it was held together by hope and old bread crumbs. @flores.tessa is right about the "just needs" line being the biggest red flag on Marketplace. At this point I think sellers just post whatever broken appliance they have and pray someone like us shows up with cash and no common sense. I ended up spending more on parts than a brand new mixer would have cost, and now it sits in my garage as a monument to my terrible decision making. Honestly the only steal I've ever gotten on Marketplace was a free box of mismatched tupperware lids, and even those had a crack in them.
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