Bearonabike

Here is a Fuji S-10-S Special Road Racer on Buy It Now or Make Offer with an asking price of $925.00! Yes, the decimal is NOT in the wrong place! I bought one a year ago for restoration at $25! That 3700% above what I paid and likely 3000% above what this bike is rightly valued at.

Anyone see anything that would justify the price?


https://cgi.ebay.com/Bike-Bicycle-FUJ...item19bb026c9e

beech333

Well, he is selling these, so I would say that he just has no clue of reality.

auchencrow

Astronomical BIN prices are a ploy to part a fool and his money.

The shipping alone is worth more than this High Ten bike, but I would not be surprised if he gets some noob to offer $200 more than it's worth, still thinking he is getting a "lowball" price.

It's the "there's one born every minute" approach that too many eBay sellers take.

thenomad

Ebay doesn't set the high prices - idiots do.

And other idiots sometimes pay it. Creating a false economy.

Andrew F

Ahh... the realm of unhindered capitalism. What's sad is that we are developing a society that needs its hand held every moment of the day. Take control of your life! If he wants to advertise the bike at $925 great! If someone is so uneducated or careless with their $ and buys it....so be it! Thanks for listening, I'll get off the Soap Box now.

JunkYardBike

Probably because the seller is paying extra for 12 awful photos. What's with the whole stop motion photography thing from the deck to inside?

Grand Bois

I wouldn't call the sellers who set high prices and sometimes get them idiots.

EjustE

wonder what the fee is to list something (which is not going to sell) at $925 BIN and add a dozen snapshots...

I loved this tad of marketing, btw:

wrk101

That's really nothing new for ebay. Sellers can ask any price, or call a bike something it is not. All it takes is a foolish buyer. Reminds me of the 1970s Schwinn Super Sport with a bent fork that went for $1300 last year. There are always those incredibly crazy auctions. And occasionally, there are some great deals as well.

TheManSuit

+5

I've been browsing eBay lately and found myself laughing at what people are paying for vintage bikes.

sykerocker 

Hey, I just ran across an eBay ad for a garage-fresh (admittedly original but missing downtube decals) '73 Falcon San Remo, in need of a complete tear down and cleaning, some paint chips, for $1595.00.

The guy's justification for the asking price? "It what I can get if I strip it and sell at the parts separately."

Value is in the eye of the beholder. I'd adore a San Remo. At about 1/3rd that asking price.

randyjawa 

Just remember, that the noobs ( I think I know what that means) are the people setting the new prices, be they sellers or buyers. My guess is that, tomorrow, some of us will wish we had bought this or that today, when we had the chance. I passed on a gorgeous full campy early seventies Bianchi frame set with chrome plated lugs and in gorgeous shape about five years ago. Selling price was $102.00 US. I absolutely refused to go above a hundred dollars. That same frame set will fetch a thousand today. Thing about tomorrow!

Just an old man's opinion.

bigbossman 

What you paid has absolutely no connection with "worth". Granted, $925 seems WAY high, but 2 years ago I easily sold a very pretty blue one for $250. I had no trouble at all finding a buyer.

wrk101

I picked up a bike Friday night on ebay and I am happy with the price. We'll have to see what it looks like when it arrives. There are still reasonable/good deals on ebay out there if you are patient.

I've been selling a lot of thrift store/garage sale finds on ebay this year (nothing bicycle related yet). While I have been pleased with the outcomes, the buyers all got pretty nice stuff at a fraction of new or replacement cost.

There are always those insane/stupid deals on ebay. But a selective bidder can still do just fine.

Shp4man

Maybe I should put this vintage, desirable, all original Centurion up for sale. Unlike this Fuji, it has good tires, good chrome, flawless paint and doesn't need any adjustments. ONLY $1500 AND IT'S ALL YOURS!

TheManSuit

[QUOTE=randyjawa;10590178]Just remember, that the noobs ( I think I know what that means) are the people setting the new prices, be they sellers or buyers. My guess is that, tomorrow, some of us will wish we had bought this or that today, when we had the chance. I passed on a gorgeous full campy early seventies Bianchi frame set with chrome plated lugs and in gorgeous shape about five years ago. Selling price was $102.00 US. I absolutely refused to go above a hundred dollars. That same frame set will fetch a thousand today. Thing about tomorrow!/QUOTE]

Christ dude. Bad move.

randyjawa 

Actually, this was not a bad move. That was a high price, in those not so far gone days. And that is the point I was trying to make. The prices you see today, however crazy they may seem, are cheap compared to the prices you will be faced with tomorrow.

I have sold hundreds of vintage road bicycle and I have watched the market change very closely. I assure you, this is the best time to buy a vintage road bicycle. You WILL pay more tomorrow unless you get really lucky or become really good at Hunting for Vintage Bicycles.

Fidelista

There's a "Make offer" button under the BIN price...I suppose someone could offer the seller something closer to the actual value...$100 or something?

Homebrew01

I was going to offer $50 as a joke, but realized with the $150 shipping, it would be over priced.

Picchio Special

Just welcomed the safe arrival of a pristine Waterford 1200 (Reynolds 753) with full Dura Ace 9 that I BIN'd for under $500 shipped. It's like the Gold Rush - you increasingly have to pan, as the big nuggets just sitting there are getting more rare. I have been amazed at some of the prices being asked, in large measure by new sellers (and it seems an increase in overseas sellers). But we should all be glad vintage bikes aren't really a big-money hobby, and aren't likely to become one. Speculative "investor" money sucks the fun out of the room fast and squeezes out a lot of folks who genuinely enjoy and respect this stuff. I'm here for the fun factor, and when that's gone, so am I.

Poguemahone

Ebay (the company) doesn't control the prices; those are set by the seller. Neither does Craigslist. Over high prices, ridiculous claims, and other outright distortions have long been a part of both internet markets. Frankly, the above post doesn't even make the top ten. Several years back, there was a fellow who claimed to have invented the mountain bike, and he was selling said mountain bike for the quite reasonable sum of $12000 USD. He had even been nominated for the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame! (by himself, of course, but who better to nominate him than a true pioneer?). Or the seller who claimed his scraped off the bottom of the barrel bike boom Jeunet was Tour de France quality racing machine, what with those steel rims and cottered cranks. Or many more just like them. Delusion can quite easily be fostered by greed, and if a fool pays the price... hence we have the "numbskull of the Day" thread, somewhere.

Basically, ebay is a market, and people can set whatever price they want. You just don't have to pay it. And you are free to laugh at it, all you want, although some of those with a faith-based view of the market may frown upon it.

JunkYardBike

It's our fault. John Q. Public turns up an old 10 speed, Googles to find out if it's worth anything, and finds this internet forum. Look at all these people polishing parts, deliberating on bar tape color, taking loving photos of 30 and 40 year old bikes! He thinks he's struck it rich, when all he's really done is found a group of lunatics waxing poetic about old crappy bikes.

mrhedges

There are still good deals, not crazy good deals but not everyone takes the time to google their bike before trying to sell it, or they don't bother cleaning it up or whatever. This is when being a amateur mechanic comes in handy.

cycleheimer

Dope smoking causes some sellers to set "high" prices.

Dry rot tires? Asking $925 and this cheap @#$! couldn't break down and spend a lousey $20 for new ones? Or clean & polish the paint and alloy components for that matter? Scuffed saddle? Like he doesn't have shoe polish & 5 minutes to shine it up? What a dirt bag. It is probably even an earlier model S-10-S with the "clicking" spoke problem , which is probably why it sat in storage since the Carter years. Just another example of what illicit drug use is doing to our society. Needing work, that bike is worth about $75.

Shp4man

Hehe^^^^