Somebody Doesn't Like the Cost of Old Bikes
#1
Bike Junkie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: South of Raleigh, North of New Hill, East of Harris Lake, NC
Posts: 9,622
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Specialized Roubaix, Giant OCR-C, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR, Stumpjumper Comp, 88 & 92Nishiki Ariel, 87 Centurion Ironman, 92 Paramount, 84 Nishiki Medalist
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 68 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 37 Times
in
27 Posts
Somebody Doesn't Like the Cost of Old Bikes
I was doing my daily review of Craigslist looking for that one diamond amongst the many X-Mart bikes and newer bikes when I came across this rant. Obviously someone thinks the price of used bikes is too high. I thought some of our group might find this interesting or maybe amusing.
Enjoy!
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/680393719.html
Edit: I had to read this thing three of four times to understand all of it.
EDIT: See post by Rob E below, although CL pulled the post, Rob captured it. Great reading!
Enjoy!
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/680393719.html
Edit: I had to read this thing three of four times to understand all of it.
EDIT: See post by Rob E below, although CL pulled the post, Rob captured it. Great reading!
__________________
Roccobike BF Official Thread Terminator
Roccobike BF Official Thread Terminator
Last edited by roccobike; 05-14-08 at 06:58 PM.
#2
www.theheadbadge.com
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Southern Florida
Posts: 28,513
Bikes: https://www.theheadbadge.com
Mentioned: 124 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2422 Post(s)
Liked 4,395 Times
in
2,092 Posts
#3
Bike Junkie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: South of Raleigh, North of New Hill, East of Harris Lake, NC
Posts: 9,622
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Specialized Roubaix, Giant OCR-C, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR, Stumpjumper Comp, 88 & 92Nishiki Ariel, 87 Centurion Ironman, 92 Paramount, 84 Nishiki Medalist
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 68 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 37 Times
in
27 Posts
Did the link not work? His posting is still up.
__________________
Roccobike BF Official Thread Terminator
Roccobike BF Official Thread Terminator
#4
www.theheadbadge.com
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Southern Florida
Posts: 28,513
Bikes: https://www.theheadbadge.com
Mentioned: 124 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2422 Post(s)
Liked 4,395 Times
in
2,092 Posts
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 17,158
Mentioned: 481 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3810 Post(s)
Liked 6,702 Times
in
2,612 Posts
There's been complaining along those lines on Boston's CL today:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/680481395.html
It's mostly been lame fixed-gear conversions that have been listed at ridiculous prices. Lots of 70s road bikes still there for a decent price (for owning, too high for flipping mostly), like this tall Fuji:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/680381958.html
Neal
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/680481395.html
It's mostly been lame fixed-gear conversions that have been listed at ridiculous prices. Lots of 70s road bikes still there for a decent price (for owning, too high for flipping mostly), like this tall Fuji:
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/680381958.html
Neal
#6
Senior Member
Yeah, I saw that, too. I understand wanting a good deal, and I understand not wanting to pay upwards of $500 for a used bike, but seriously, is it someone else's job to give this guy an expensive bike for cheap? It takes balls to whine to the world that they aren't giving him their stuff at the price he wants:
Oh, I see now that it's a courtesy. He's just trying to help people sell their bikes. It probably never would have occurred to someone who didn't sell their bike that it might sell if they lowered the price. I'm sure he'll be getting lots of thank you letters.
Some people are way overpricing their old bicycles, IMHO *rant (Raleigh) $1996
I thought I would post this as a courtesy to everyone looking to buy bicycles on craigslist AND as a something for people selling bikes to consider. You can take it or leave it. (By the way, this is not to ask for any sympathy for myself but to see if I'm way off-base here or if anyone else can relate to this--afterall, I'm not an economist OR bicycle expert)
I have been looking on Raleigh Craigslist bicycles every single day for over 2 months trying to find a good value on a used mountain bike. Merriam-Webster defines value as: "a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged". I have yet to find this among the bikes I have been looking for. --> I'm not really talking about anything that is listed for over $500 because I haven't been looking at those. I'm not talking about very very old bikes or Wal-mart bikes under $100, which are fine and priced pretty appropriately. I'm talking about bikes that are well-made, mid-grade, good value performance bikes. Specialized, Gary Fisher, Trek, Cannondale, etc. The Hondas and Toyotas of bikes.
Of course I don't expect to find the nicest, best, lightest mountain bikes for sale very cheap on here, but I don't think it's beyond reason to find ONE or TWO good values, that would be better than going to the bike shop, in the last few months--but I haven't. Nevertheless, here I am, about to go to the bike store.
I thought to myself a few months ago, "Why go to the bike store when there are probably a lot of people with good bikes that are a few years old who are selling them on craigslist? I could probably get a bike that is a few years old at roughly half the price of what something comparable costs at the bike store." Instead, I find people trying to sell bikes that are 10 years old or older for almost as much as the same type of bikes (or better) are costing new in the stores. Maybe not AS much as new bikes, but close enough to ask, "for that price, why not just get a new bike?" It doesn't matter if you paid $700 for a mountain bike in 1994--that's how much they cost back then--you can't assume that it would be worth $700 NOW if you had kept it in a sealed box for the last 14 years, therefore, you need to adjust your price to the bicycle's present VALUE. Don't try to sell it for $350 because you figure that's half of what you paid for it 14 years ago and it still has some good years left in it. A local store has a lower-end but still very nice Gary Fisher mountain bike for $300. This same bike, if it were magically transported to 1996, may have actually cost $700 to buy new. But now it's the year 2008. You can't price your bikes based on what you paid for them in 1996. You just can't. We are talking about VALUE. Forget what you paid for your bike (unless, of course, you bought it new in the last 3 or 4 years). Look at what it costs TODAY to have the same kind of features your bikes has and judge your bike's condition, then price appropriately. Consider the materials and technologies used today and their cost versus the materials and technologies your bike has. The first SONY Discman I bought was around 1992 and I think it cost about $90. If I had kept it sealed in a package, even today, it's VALUE wouldn't be more than $20. Why? Because there are much more advanced CD Walkman portable stereos (as they are now called) that cost between $30 and $50.
Bicycles, especially mountain bikes, cost less now than they did in the past. At least this is what I have observed in my limited experience and if I need correction then I welcome it. And yes, I know that people ask for more than they really want on craigslist so they can have some room to go down, but (again, IMHO) on an item under $500, that should be $20-$30, not $80-$100... which I'm HOPING some of you have in mind when you post a 1996 bike for nearly the same price as a relatively similar bike costs new in the store.
Craigslist is not supposed to make you ask, "ouch--for that price, why not just get a brand-new bike?" I thought Craigslist was supposed to make you ask, "sweet--for that price, why would anyone ever buy a new bike!?"
I thought I would post this as a courtesy to everyone looking to buy bicycles on craigslist AND as a something for people selling bikes to consider. You can take it or leave it. (By the way, this is not to ask for any sympathy for myself but to see if I'm way off-base here or if anyone else can relate to this--afterall, I'm not an economist OR bicycle expert)
I have been looking on Raleigh Craigslist bicycles every single day for over 2 months trying to find a good value on a used mountain bike. Merriam-Webster defines value as: "a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged". I have yet to find this among the bikes I have been looking for. --> I'm not really talking about anything that is listed for over $500 because I haven't been looking at those. I'm not talking about very very old bikes or Wal-mart bikes under $100, which are fine and priced pretty appropriately. I'm talking about bikes that are well-made, mid-grade, good value performance bikes. Specialized, Gary Fisher, Trek, Cannondale, etc. The Hondas and Toyotas of bikes.
Of course I don't expect to find the nicest, best, lightest mountain bikes for sale very cheap on here, but I don't think it's beyond reason to find ONE or TWO good values, that would be better than going to the bike shop, in the last few months--but I haven't. Nevertheless, here I am, about to go to the bike store.
I thought to myself a few months ago, "Why go to the bike store when there are probably a lot of people with good bikes that are a few years old who are selling them on craigslist? I could probably get a bike that is a few years old at roughly half the price of what something comparable costs at the bike store." Instead, I find people trying to sell bikes that are 10 years old or older for almost as much as the same type of bikes (or better) are costing new in the stores. Maybe not AS much as new bikes, but close enough to ask, "for that price, why not just get a new bike?" It doesn't matter if you paid $700 for a mountain bike in 1994--that's how much they cost back then--you can't assume that it would be worth $700 NOW if you had kept it in a sealed box for the last 14 years, therefore, you need to adjust your price to the bicycle's present VALUE. Don't try to sell it for $350 because you figure that's half of what you paid for it 14 years ago and it still has some good years left in it. A local store has a lower-end but still very nice Gary Fisher mountain bike for $300. This same bike, if it were magically transported to 1996, may have actually cost $700 to buy new. But now it's the year 2008. You can't price your bikes based on what you paid for them in 1996. You just can't. We are talking about VALUE. Forget what you paid for your bike (unless, of course, you bought it new in the last 3 or 4 years). Look at what it costs TODAY to have the same kind of features your bikes has and judge your bike's condition, then price appropriately. Consider the materials and technologies used today and their cost versus the materials and technologies your bike has. The first SONY Discman I bought was around 1992 and I think it cost about $90. If I had kept it sealed in a package, even today, it's VALUE wouldn't be more than $20. Why? Because there are much more advanced CD Walkman portable stereos (as they are now called) that cost between $30 and $50.
Bicycles, especially mountain bikes, cost less now than they did in the past. At least this is what I have observed in my limited experience and if I need correction then I welcome it. And yes, I know that people ask for more than they really want on craigslist so they can have some room to go down, but (again, IMHO) on an item under $500, that should be $20-$30, not $80-$100... which I'm HOPING some of you have in mind when you post a 1996 bike for nearly the same price as a relatively similar bike costs new in the store.
Craigslist is not supposed to make you ask, "ouch--for that price, why not just get a brand-new bike?" I thought Craigslist was supposed to make you ask, "sweet--for that price, why would anyone ever buy a new bike!?"
#7
Senior Member
Incidentally, I picked up an old folder off Craigslist this past weekend for $10. Maybe he's just not looking.
#8
Muscle bike design spec
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Sterling VA
Posts: 3,688
Bikes: 70 Atala Record Proffesional, 00 Lemond, 08 Kestrel Evoke, 96 Colnago Master Olympic, 01 Colnago Ovalmaster, 76 Raleigh Gran Sport, 03 Fuji World, 86 Paramount, 90 Miyata CF, 09 Ritchey Breakaway CX, Bianchi Trofeo, 12 OutRiderUSA HyperLite
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
3 Posts
We have at least one vigilante on our Washington D.C. craigslist. One went nuts posting a dozen times a day about someone selling a cobranded (Coke) gaspipe clunker for $125.
Other favorite targets are the bikes posted at list price or above. In most cases he's right but sometimes he goofs and after a while he's just annoying.
On a side note, prices are trending up. I'm easily selling bikes for $150 that I would have sold for $100 a year ago.
Other favorite targets are the bikes posted at list price or above. In most cases he's right but sometimes he goofs and after a while he's just annoying.
On a side note, prices are trending up. I'm easily selling bikes for $150 that I would have sold for $100 a year ago.
__________________
Korval is Ships
See my Hyperlite 411 it's the photo model on OutRiderUSA web page
See my Hyperlite 411 it's the photo model on OutRiderUSA web page
#9
Senior Member
Well, the thing about an open marketplace like Craigslist is that you set a price that someone will pay, or you don't sell. I don't see that many bikes relisted, so either people are finding buyers, or they're deciding not to sell. Either way, there's no point in scolding them.
We had another rant a few months back about people selling bikes without giving any details. I thought that was a waste of time, too. I figure there's two groups of people posting on Craigslist: people who routinely use it to sell bikes and/or know enough about their bikes to know the pertinent details and people who were just told by a friend, "Just list that on Craigslist and get rid of it." The first group is not the object of the rant, the second group will never read it, and if they did, and took it to heart, then they'd spend a little more time researching and would probably price their bikes higher, leading back to today's rant...
We had another rant a few months back about people selling bikes without giving any details. I thought that was a waste of time, too. I figure there's two groups of people posting on Craigslist: people who routinely use it to sell bikes and/or know enough about their bikes to know the pertinent details and people who were just told by a friend, "Just list that on Craigslist and get rid of it." The first group is not the object of the rant, the second group will never read it, and if they did, and took it to heart, then they'd spend a little more time researching and would probably price their bikes higher, leading back to today's rant...
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,404
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
From the rant:
"Of course I don't expect to find the nicest, best, lightest mountain bikes for sale very cheap on here, but I don't think it's beyond reason to find ONE or TWO good values, that would be better than going to the bike shop, in the last few months--but I haven't. Nevertheless, here I am, about to go to the bike store."
and...
"Bicycles, especially mountain bikes, cost less now than they did in the past."
Yeah, he really needs to visit a "bike store".
"Of course I don't expect to find the nicest, best, lightest mountain bikes for sale very cheap on here, but I don't think it's beyond reason to find ONE or TWO good values, that would be better than going to the bike shop, in the last few months--but I haven't. Nevertheless, here I am, about to go to the bike store."
and...
"Bicycles, especially mountain bikes, cost less now than they did in the past."
Yeah, he really needs to visit a "bike store".
#11
Mr. Maximan1
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Anaheim and Fullerton (SoCal)
Posts: 1,300
Bikes: Puch Superleicht, Nishiki moutain project, Trek 2300 carbon composite
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Yeah, I saw that, too. I understand wanting a good deal, and I understand not wanting to pay upwards of $500 for a used bike, but seriously, is it someone else's job to give this guy an expensive bike for cheap? It takes balls to whine to the world that they aren't giving him their stuff at the price he wants:
Oh, I see now that it's a courtesy. He's just trying to help people sell their bikes. It probably never would have occurred to someone who didn't sell their bike that it might sell if they lowered the price. I'm sure he'll be getting lots of thank you letters.
Oh, I see now that it's a courtesy. He's just trying to help people sell their bikes. It probably never would have occurred to someone who didn't sell their bike that it might sell if they lowered the price. I'm sure he'll be getting lots of thank you letters.
__________________
www.olgapetrovart.com
www.olgapetrovart.com
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Western North Carolina
Posts: 434
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
We have at least one vigilante on our Washington D.C. craigslist. One went nuts posting a dozen times a day about someone selling a cobranded (Coke) gaspipe clunker for $125.
Other favorite targets are the bikes posted at list price or above. In most cases he's right but sometimes he goofs and after a while he's just annoying.
Other favorite targets are the bikes posted at list price or above. In most cases he's right but sometimes he goofs and after a while he's just annoying.
#13
Really Old Senior Member