Road Cycling - Would you buy this? Ebay text for my bike. Rate it.

I am selling my bike this week, and drew up this text for Ebay, give it a read and please tell me where i can improve it.


"You are bidding for a 2003 Bianchi Gold Race 600 Triple road-racing bicycle.

Spec:

FIR NET 2000 32 spoke black 700c rims with silver sidewall
Miche Silver Hubs
Bianchi chrome spokes
Miche QR skewers and levers
Vittoria Rubino Intrepid 700c tyres
ITM Racing super 330 Atomica 44 bars
VP stem
Campagnolo XENON Hoods
Campagnolo XENON shifters
Campagnolo XENON triple front mech
Campagnolo XENON 9 speed rear mech
Miche 9 speed Cassette
Bianchi cranks
Bianchi triple chainset
Bianchi brakes
Bianchi CR-MO double butted fork (Dark Blue)
Bianchi 7000series alloy hand made Reparto Corse frame (Dark blue/Light blue with white tribal graphics).
San Marco ODS saddle
Bianchi seat post
Bianchi seat collar
Bianchi Bottom bracket
VP headset

Condition:

The bike is in excellent condition, the frame is in great condition with sharp bright paintwork. Has a few scratches (seatstay, and headtube) from normal wear and tear, but are not noticeable and do not affect the performance of the bike. The rear cassette is as new, still shines, and all teeth are intact and in proper shape. Bars are perfect, but the stem has a small chip in the paint from standing bike upside down for maintenance. Chainset is also very good, all teeth intact here too and are exceptionally clean. Both shifters are great, providing confident up and downshifts cleanly and efficiently. The brake/gear levers are slightly scratched from a clipless pedal incident, but are still comfortable to hold and use, and perform flawlessly. Small rip in saddle, from said incident, which has been sewn up. Paint slightly worn from the seatpost due to normal use. Rims are as new, with plenty of stopping power, brake pads and tyres are originals which came on bike, and are still performing very well. The bike is overall perfectly sound aesthetically and mechanically, I am proud of how well this bike has stood up to 8months of weekly riding and it still has plenty more miles in it.

Mileage:

The bike was purchased June of 2003 and has seen 8 months of use, and since then has been garaged ever since. It has travelled over 2500 miles from purchase date, on stock parts. Never treated badly, always babied. Washed, degreased and maintained weekly by me with proper tools and techniques. Any major service has been carried out by the dealership regardless of cost. This bike was never raced, has only seen two tours, and club rides some weekends.

Complete with sale:

Brand new Vittoria Rubino Intrepid tyre, and two brand new tubes and a puncture repair kit. TACX bottle cage will also be included in price. The original warranty information, and two Bianchi maintenance guides are complete with the sale.

Other information:

This bike is quite light, so it would suit an amateur racer, or someone looking for a nice touring/commuting bike. The ride is excellent, the short chainstays ensure acceleration is rapid, and the bike handles superbly. The CR-MO fork takes the sting out of bumps and dips in the road, and are a lot less harsh that aluminium forks. Frame is a great piece of engineering, the welds between the oversize tubing are clean and strong and the paint scheme is perfect. The triple chainset provides an extra cog on the front meaning it is perfect for climbing (proven climbing the hills of Scotland!), cruising, or high speed sprinting at the expense of having a slight bit of added weight. This is a very fast bike, I have had it at around 30mph on flat ground with no wind, and downhill at speeds exceeding 50mph, so it can most definitely take you to decent speeds. I am 5 foot 10, and the bike fits me well, if not a tad large, although the bars and seat were tuned for me, so it was more than comfortable enough to take me 500 around Ireland on a two week tour. This would cost you anywhere between £600 and £750+ brand new and it is worth it, this is your chance to snap up a bargain before someone else does.

Terms of sale:

The buyer will pay shipping, and I demand the right to withdraw this piece at any time due to being up for sale elsewhere.

Contact:

If you have any questions or queries regarding this sale, contact Darren on 02********* (Daytime) or 077********* (After hours), alternatively my email address is pi***0@hotmail.com/pi***0@yahoo.co.uk.

Thank you for your time, happy bidding, and good luck!
Darren Pickett"


I weighed the bike, ghetto style, and got a consistant reading of 1.1stone / 15.3 lbs / 6.9, does this sound right, sounds way too light to me. Thank you for your input.

I think you did a great job of it writing everything out. Wish I could afford a bike like that. :D

What I usually add is that I will ship the bike within two days of payment. That I will be shipping via ups and will give a tracking number asap.

If you want check out the last paragraph in all of my auctions, it has taken a while to get right but I believe I finally figured out how to protect my a$$. I would just copy and paste it here but I am unable to access ebay at work.

Also, as petty as it sounds I wouldn't put the part about reserving the right to end auction at any time, it may scare people away from bidding. If you do wish to keep that try using the "I reserve the right to cancel or end this auction at any time". It sounds much more polite than the "demand" thing.

Just my two pennies. BTW, my ebay name is the same as this one.

for me, it's too wordy, but it's good. you should be including pictures, and if you are, you don't need that many words...

sd

Better to be too wordy than too tight-lipped. I'd want to know as much as possible before I even considered buying a bike. I assume you have pictures that will go with it.

Looks good.

Koffee

being too wordy is good, so your are covering your a$$ in case a buyer gives you problems. But! it is very hard to read and to know what you are bidding on. I think you are assuming the potential bidders know what is a "2003 Bianchi Gold Race 600.." Your listing is going to be one in a few hundreds some one will go through, and you want to make it easy for them to know what they are lookign at. I looked over your listign a few times before I understood what material is the frame made of..

I would add at the top of the listing an "elevator pitch" version of the description.
something like:
- 2003 Bianchi Gold Race 600
- Aluminum (or whatever) frame
- 54 cm
- Mostly Campy Xenon
- See detailed description below..


and in the detailed descrition word the lines such as the reader could scan and pick what they want to look at:
- Wheels: rims... Hubs.. spokes..
- drivetrain; Derailours... cassette,.. chainring...
- Shifters: etc etc...
- Brakes: etc etc...

Frame size is missing!!!

lol, hard to believe none of us noticed that

Wow thank you for your input everyone! I know that the size of the frame is missing, as i still have to confirm it from the dealer, i know it is a small but i have forgotten the specific size :o. Also does that weight sound valid, it was weighed using a usual `bathroom` scale, zeroed with a plank of wood, and bike set on top. Im guessing its a fair bit short.

Sorebutt, good idea, would keep the buyer interested. :)

Koffee etc, i will definately be including pictures, my friend is lending me his digicam for a day or two to get the pics done, i will throw them up here to see if they are inticing enough :D .

Lowcel, your point is well taken, i suppose you really have to lead the hand of the buyer right up to the "checkout", without being too forcefull. Ill edit that. I see your highly rated on ebay ;) , im an ebay first timer, but using my brothers account, as he has a good rating from selling festival tickets :)

Wish me luck!

IMO, too wordy. Honestly, I don't even have the attention span to read the whole thing ;) Take lots of pictures and let them do the talking. If potential bidders have a question, they will ask.

One thing I did see missing in my glance was the Crank length. Not sure if the stem length was in there either?

I'd buy that Miche Cassette off ya. I've been meaning to try one, but haven't been able to track one down...

K6-III, no offense dude, but i won't be breaking down the bike, it will hopefully be sold as a single item. If the bike doesn't shift ill hit ya a PM, though its unlikely tbh. :(

Photos are taken, but if forgot to pick up the driver cd, meaning i can't upload the pics onto the computer/here. They look nice though, ETA, tomorrow.

Scratch that dudes, got drivers off the Fuji website, they will be up within the hour.

Ok, heres the pics, get em while they are hot :D Some are a tad blurry, but will be taken again tomorrow morning. Think bike looks well in these pics.

P.S New bar tape will be added before shipping.

Last set, last pic of seatstays shows the minimal scratching. :(


Enjoy guys, a couple of guys have viewed the bike, said it looks brand new. :D

I agree that it is too wordy but you can break it up and make it look better when you post it.


The buyer will pay shipping, and I demand the right to withdraw this piece at any time due to being up for sale elsewhere.

I don't know if that is in compliance with Ebay's terms and conditions or not. I would suspect not. Even if it is permissible, as a bidder I wouldn't like it. At a normal auction style sale, it is understood that this item is for sale and you are entertaining offers to sell it.

I don't like the fact that I may be bidding and have the highest bid yet I don't get the bike. You could argue it either way but you asked for opinions and as someone that spends a lot of time on Ebay, i gave you mine. ;)

the front chainset pic and the rear wheel pic, along with one of the bike sides, is great. include the chainstays for honesty's sake. and eliminate most of the words. keep only the essentials... i agree with the "Right to withdraw...etc.". that's just bad form for an auction.

sd

Dazza.....how's your Ebay seller history? The more positives you have, the better luck you have.....alot more bidders will be interested in your item..... you'll end up with more bidders and a good chance of your reserve price being met early on during the auction.

The buyer will pay shipping, and I demand the right to withdraw this piece at any time due to being up for sale elsewhere
Be careful on this one. I forget what the eBay rules are, but there's a point where you CAN'T withdraw it. Furthermore, I would consider this to be an unfair set of conditions and might not bid just in case you sold it offline and I missed a good deal elsewhere. Personally, if you're gonna sell it on eBay, sell it on eBay. Don't double-dip. You can't have your cake and eat it too. A bird in the hand is w- no wait. That doesn't fit. Anyway, you get the idea :)

Also, the comment about eBay seller rating is a good point. If you've got less than, say, 20/25, you're probably not gonna get good bites. I don't buy over $500 if the seller is below 30 and/or 99% positive...

I don't like the fact that I may be bidding and have the highest bid yet I don't get the bike. You could argue it either way but you asked for opinions and as someone that spends a lot of time on Ebay, i gave you mine.

Hehe not to worry mate, im not THAT stubborn. :p Im all for improving the sale, and now that i come to think about it, that statement wouldn't instil a sense of security in the buyer. Cheers for pointing that out dude :)

The only reason i put that in there was to cover my ass if i thought the bike wasn't going to `fetch` enough, and i saw it on other items. "PLEASE NOTE I HAVE THE RIGHT TO END THIS AUCTION AT ANY TIME AS THE BIKE IS ADVERTISED ELSEWHERE, ALSO YOU ARE BIDDING TO BUY, NOT TO VIEW." Thats a genuine qoute from a sale of a Kawasaki ZXR636, but i won't be including the statement in my text on the real item as its way too negative. ;)


Dazza.....how's your Ebay seller history? The more positives you have, the better luck you have.....alot more bidders will be interested in your item..... you'll end up with more bidders and a good chance of your reserve price being met early on during the auction.

I'm hopefully using my brothers account, he has only sold three items, and has received top remarks from all of them, would you guys think that this account would be suitable, saying this bike a pretty high price item.



I agree that it is too wordy but you can break it up and make it look better when you post it.

I will have to edit it, I just love talking about bikes though, so I got caught up and started rambling :D God im going to miss this bike. :( I thought that if I included ALL info in the description, then the customer would have less to come back on, should there be a problem. Kind of like saying `sold as seen`. Point taken though, ill shorten it, but yet keep as much important info in there as possible.

Another quick question, what payment methods do you regular users deal with, i've heard some problems with Paypal, not dealing with problems should there be a scammer in the transaction. Thinking of just setting up a new account (need one anyway) and linking it to Paypal and taking the plunge early next week.

Thanks guys, a few more pics for your trouble ;) She's a clean machine ain't she :D

Might be best just to pay the extra and slap a reserve price on there. A GOOD strategy is to list the bike with a "Buy it Now" option and advertise "Free S&H w/ BiN". I've sold several things this way at the price I wanted. :)

"Free S&H w/ BiN"

I don't understand that im afraid :( what does w/ BiN mean?

I also don't really want to pay for shipping, as its gonna be expensive :o

BiN I assume means "buy it now" ...

Too wordy in my opinion, and I'd remove the part about the scratches not being noticable - that's too subjective. Might also add that you won't make any representations regarding fit - on the bike I sold, the most common question was "I am xxx tall - will this bike fit me?"

Yep, BiN means "Buy it Now" (saves percious letters in the title).

I think you will find that the shipping shouldn't be more than $50 or so (at least, it was when I got my bike). The way I see it is that I'm guaranteed to get $xx.xx if someone does that. If I just run an auction, I may get less. I might only get a max bid of $400 on a regular auction, but with "free S&H w/ BiN" I can get $450 or $500. The former is the same $, but it sells faster. The latter makes me some money. Never underestimate the power of the word "free". Seriously :)

so did the bike ever get listed on ebay?
I have been looking for it, curious to see what it goes for and if it may be within my budget.