Once upon a time, there was a barbaric sport known as “ferret legging,” covered in some detail by Outside magazine in 1983. The gist of it is this: Participants, exclusively men, don baggy white trousers—sans underwear—with drawstrings at the waist and ankles. An agitated ferret is dropped into the waist of the pants, the drawstring is cinched closed, and the clock begins. The “player” then stands motionless, arms at his side, enduring the agony of the ferret’s attempts at escape. Most contestants last minutes, but the all-time record is held by Reg Mellor, who endured 5 hours and 26 minutes of ferret-fueled ferocity.

So, what does ferret legging have to do with selling car parts online? Recently, I turned to a social-media-based classified ad section to sell a set of worn, but hardly worn out all-terrain radial tires. I’d priced them reasonably ($250 for the set, about a quarter of what they’d sell for new), and provided photos of a depth gauge dial, showing the exact amount of tread remaining on each tire. I’d shot multiple photos of the treads, showing that wear is even—within 3/32 of an inch—across the set, and that there were no alignment issues. Based upon the early responses, I thought the sale would be a slam-dunk. I was wrong.

Meeting people from the internet always turns out great.