I’m one of those oddballs who’s never joined, but I’m in the market for a new to me bike, and it seems like all the action is on marketplace. Am I screwed, or is there an effective workaround ?
Edit: Not US. There are local alternatives that I know about, but they are worse, please answer question as asked ! Basically I’m thinking of alternative software ala FreeTube, or a way of spoofing facebook to make a dummy account only to be used for this and if so what precautions to take…
Craigslist
Nothing in my city and the crypto element gives off weird black market vibes.
Make a wanted listing for what you desire and crypto in itself is not black market. Crypto in itself is money. It can be used for black market but it can also be used to buy groceries. Another way you could say it is cars give off bank robber vibes.
Edit: some black market baking pans here or perhaps some black market toilet paper?
I’ve never been on there either but I saw someone else post today saying they use an alt account for marketplace so it’s apparently possible. Been considering trying it myself.
In Canada we have Kijiji, which is… not perfect for privacy, but at least it’s not facebook
Craigslist is still superior in the PNW, at least in my experience.
Pinkbike is a great source
Would a virtual machine work for this? Set up a minimal Linux distro with a browser and set the browser to delete cookies on exit, then only use it for Facebook. VMs are not perfectly secure, as I understand it, but I can’t see Facebook tunnelling its way out of one.
Certainly wouldn’t hurt, tunnel out via vpn to swaziland or whatever. I’m still going to be searching locally, but if all they know is I’m looking for bikes and hopefully don’t link it to my shadow profile, I can probably live with that. Still, don’t they require ID and phone number and shit these days ? IDK, I really don’t follow them.
Still, don’t they require ID and phone number and shit these days ?
I’ve got no idea. I haven’t had to do either, but I’ve had my account for years, and pretty much only use it to keep track of birthdays.
I’ve used marketplace a few times for buying and haven’t had to add any extra info, it just connects me with the seller through Messenger. I’m in the UK if that makes any difference.
A bike with a motor, or a bicycle?
If the former, you can always use Cycletrader. For the latter, well, sorry.
bicycle, FWIW, but it’s a more general problem…
Yeah, I don’t have any great options there, sorry.
By the time I’ve gotten around to getting rid of old bicycles, I’m usually selling them for pennies or giving them away, because I ride them right into the ground.
#shopstr is a growing alternative which uses nostr for posting instead of Facebook. Unfortunately not as many people but I always check there first and list there preferentially. You can use any payment method with is but most people use Bitcoin lightning, which has some privacy pros and cons but certainly more private than Facebook.
