Woman Tries To Sell Her 2010 Volkswagen Jetta On Facebook Marketplace ‘As A Girl’. It Backfires: ‘If You Let Me Take You Out…’

Selling a used car online should, in theory, be pretty simple: post it, answer some questions, meet up, get paid, hand over the keys. One woman recently learned that it’s not always so straightforward. Trying to sell a vehicle on a platform like Facebook Marketplace may get you inundated with messages from all sorts of buyers, some less serious than others.

But is it the same for every seller? One woman is now convinced that it’s a totally different experience for men. She holds that they don’t have to contend with the lowball offers and insistent messages that women get on the platform.

Now she’s sharing her insight about selling a car in an industry that’s known to make things more difficult (and expensive) for anyone who’s not a dude.

Facebook Marketplace Gone Wrong

In a trending video with more than 377,000 views, content creator Paige (@paigeparadisss) shared the string of messages she got while trying to sell her 2010 Volkswagen Jetta for $1,500.

"Messages I've received trying to sell my car on Facebook Marketplace as a girl," the text overlay reads.

Some buyers opened with an insult and a lowball offer in the same breath. One person's entire first message was "Ugly ahh car," followed by a $350 offer 30 minutes later—less than a quarter of her asking price.

“Just rude,” Paige said.

Another offered, "800 today send location” as if she had to take whatever he offered and be available right then and there.

One parent shopping for their teenager leaned into the sympathy angle, mentioning her son had just turned 16 and had $672 saved from his McDonald's paycheck.

"This one just made me feel bad. I support the hustle, but a girl's gotta make some money too," she wrote.

Several buyers pushed to meet up immediately without much else. One said he lived two and a half hours away in Long Island, New York and asked for her address so he could come right that moment. "Do these people not have lives," she wrote over the screenshot. "No, I'm not sending you my address, and no, you're not coming right now."

Another buyer asked if she spoke Spanish. When she said she only speaks English, they replied "oki" and immediately went right back to messaging in Spanish and asked if she’d use a translator to message him.

Others asked her questions that were clearly in the listing description.

In the caption Paige explained, "To preface, the car has been through it, but she drives and has expensive features. I could part it out for more than $1,000, but I just want it gone. At this point, I might just put a free sign on it, because these people are testing my limits.”

The messages follow a pretty consistent pattern of aggressive lowball offers paired with rudeness, buyers pushing past a price or boundary she'd already stated clearly, demands to meet immediately or hand over her address on the spot, and questions that ignored information already sitting in the listing. 

While it’s hard to know for certain, it’s clear Paige is aware that she might not get this same treatment if it wasn’t for her gender. 

She later added an update sharing that she sold the Volkswagen.

Gallery: 2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI First Drive Review

23

Source: Anthony Alaniz / Motor1

Why Private Sellers Get Lowballed

Buyers often assume a private seller's asking price has more room for negotiation than it actually does, in part because private sellers don't carry dealership overhead and are seen as more willing to deal, Autotrader explains.

A commenter on that Autotrader piece said they tried to sell a 2013 Ford Escape Titanium for $12,000 (well under the $15,000 dealers were asking for similar models) only to field offers as low as $7,000—$8,000 before eventually settling around $9,000.

CarGurus frames private-party negotiations as a two-way street: sellers should know the private-party value of their own car (not just the dealer trade-in number, which tends to run lower), and cash offers from serious buyers are generally worth prioritizing over drawn-out back-and-forth. Private sellers are typically more motivated to close a sale quickly than a dealership juggling a full lot, which can work in a seller's favor with the right buyer, but also makes it easy for less serious buyers to waste that motivation with lowball offers that were never going anywhere.

For anyone trying to sell their vehicle on the private market, it’s important to note that used vehicle values have stayed unusually high since the pandemic-era inventory shortage. Average positive trade-in equity hit a record $13,330 in the second quarter of this year, according to Edmunds data reported by TheStreet.

Mainstream vehicles like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 are holding value in the five figures. That would have been rare before 2020.

Commenters Give Their Take

The comments were full of people offering advice and sharing their own experiences.

“List it for $2,000 and they will offer $1,000 since they think they are getting a good deal by knocking off a thousand for them,” a top comment read.

“I recommend letting the 16 year old save for it if it’s not selling. One more paycheck and he’s there. It’ll teach him what it’s like to work and save and you’ll get full price,” a person said.

“I was with you until you were like ENGLISH ONLY. You could use a translator app. Also, I’m assuming clinicals means you’ll work with people. People speak lots of languages other than English. I hope you can use compassion in your work with them,” another wrote.

“I put in a bed frame post. ‘Does NOT come with the mattress.’ Almost every message was asking if it came with a mattress,” a commenter shared.

Motor1 reached out to Paige via TikTok direct message and comment and to Volkswagen via email. We'll be sure to update this if either responds.