Kennedy News And MediaEveryone knows you should be careful when buying and selling things online – you may open yourself up to potential scammers, or you may have to deal with people who spout unwanted and ill-informed opinions.
This was the situation a mum in Wales found herself when she put a ‘reborn’ doll up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and received a torrent of abuse for her creative marketing.
Jade Crowley from Port Talbot got the sharp/wrong end of the stick from a furious online shopper who mistook her post for a real baby.
Kennedy News And MediaPretty life-like if you ask me, and with the stories we deal with on a daily basis it wouldn’t be a stretch too far to think that was an advert for a real baby. But, y’know, it would be a stretch of the imagination. Because that would just be too much.
Not too much for an online shopper named Rose, though.
Rose got in touch to share her thoughts, texting Jade:
Is this still available? You want to be fucking ashamed of yourself wanting to sell this gorgeous baby girl if you didn’t want her then you should’ve kept your fucking legs shut people like you should have their jaffas sewn up so you cant have no more you’re a disgusting piece of trash.
Kennedy News And MediaAnd you ought to be ashamed of your grasp of the English language, Rose.
Anyhoo, Jade posted this hilarious misunderstanding to Facebook where it ratcheted up more than 8,000 likes, comments and shares.
Jade, from Port Talbot, Wales, said:
She thought I was selling my actual child on Facebook.
I was surprised. Come on, I know they’re very life-like and the description wasn’t the best, but who would sell a baby on Facebook Marketplace?
My boyfriend James was on the phone to me at the time and when I told him he was laughing and was then speechless.
People said they could never look at a Jaffa Cake the same again after the comment that Rose used.
I can’t wait to tell my daughter when she’s older about the day someone thought I was trying to sell her on Facebook.
Kennedy News And MediaJade posted in a reborn dolls group asking for advice on how much to charge for baby Lavender – who was the same size and weight as a newborn – before listing it on Facebook Marketplace.
She explained the possible reason for the misunderstanding:
I reached out on Facebook to see if some professionals could give me a rough idea how much I would I would get for her.
I had people message me and help me out with the pricing.
My initial advert didn’t state it was a reborn doll, hence why she didn’t know, but no normal person would sell a child.
I changed the advert after all the comments and message from Rose and I added the price she was worth.
Kennedy News And MediaWith the doll still unsold, Jade added, ‘Some people must think she’s a doll from a shop and not worth much, but there are collectors out there who know their value.’
And you can’t put a price on good marketing like this.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.