Online shopping is all the rage. You can buy everything from diapers and wipes for the baby to a brand-new car for the family all without leaving the comfort of your home. Buying things online is so convenient, you just click a button and in two days to two months, depending on which delivery service you use, you will have some brand-new gadget or gizmo that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without. For those of us that live a long way from anywhere when it comes to big department stores, online shopping has really helped to connect us to the rest of the world. As amazing as being able to shop online is, trying to sell something online must be the biggest pain in the keester that there ever was.

Recently, my wife and I sold a set of portable panels. In the end some good friends of ours bought them and it ended up being a good deal for both of us. Prior to our friends buying them however, I got to put up with the so-called online tire kickers. I first placed a for-sale ad on my social media page. It was free, I’m part of several groups with other farmers and ranchers and I thought what is the harm in trying to sell them this way. Boy was I wrong. The first question I received not 10 minutes after I posted the panels was “Are these still available?” I kindly replied that indeed they were still available, and I was happy to answer any questions about them and would happily show the panels to them in person if they were interested. No reply. Must have been my intimidating figure behind the computer screen that scared them away. At any rate it was time to move on to the next contestant.

The next person in line was full of questions for me. “Why are you selling them, do they hold cows? My grandpa had a farm once, so I know all about cows and I think you are selling these for too much.” This person should have spent more time on grandpa’s farm learning about manners and hard work, then maybe they wouldn’t have been so easily offended when I told them they could hold whatever flavor of animal they wanted to build a pen for, but that it would cost them the price I was asking to find out how well they worked. Somehow, I never received a reply from this individual. Apparently referring to animals as flavors didn’t fit this person’s green peace and iron depleted, meat free diet. Oops, my bad.

After striking out on social media, I decided I would post a classified ad on one of those online ad sites. I had used this site before when we were hiring another hired man. I had good luck at that time and figured selling panels would be just as easy. Wrong again. As opposed to dingy vegetarians and ghosting tire kickers, this time I got to deal with scammers. I thought I had the panels sold, that is until the check showed up in the mail for an amount higher than the agreed upon price and it wasn’t a cashier’s check like I had specified. The longer I questioned the would-be buyer, the more it became clear that he wasn’t interested in my panels as much as he was my banking information. He stopped talking to me after I told him I would be advising the county sheriff of his shenanigans.

I have come to the conclusion that from now on if I need to sell something like equipment, there are a couple really good local auctioneers that have consignment sales twice a year. I’ll let them collect my money for me before I hurt some keyboard warrior’s feelings or ruin some scammers day by not giving into their demands. That’s all for this time, remember to shop small and shop locally to avoid the major headaches and keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire. God bless.

Meinzer is a fourth-generation rancher raised on the southeastern plains of Colorado. He and his family live and ranch in Oshkosh, Neb.