Roger M

The original price was $50. How did it get up to $75?....

Capecodder

Obviously he offered more to get the bike.... I lost a couple bikes to someone that same way. I set up a time to look at a bike and got half way there and got a call telling me the bike just sold, cause someone offered more than their asking price.

tmh657

^This.. I lost out on an awesome deal 2 weeks ago. Told the seller I will buy the bike, where and what time? He gave me the info, I show up and no bike. Seller said, "9 out 10 potential buyers do not show up so I sold it to the first one that did". He was apologetic and I was bummed but I already scored 2 deals that week so it had to be spread around.

I always tell the potential buyer that says he wants to buy it absolutely for sure, first one that shows up with the cash, plain and simple. I have held a bike for someone once. It was a 1983 Trek 720 and buyer was driving 200 miles one way for it.

I have told buyers that want to get the bike 3 days from now, no problem, just paypal me the money and add 5%. That hardly ever happens.

auchencrow

As a seller, if I agree to sell it at a set price, I sell it at that price.
If I agree to meet some one at a set time, I meet them there.
And if I stated that it was a "first-come first-served" proposition, that's exactly what it would be.
I expect the same courtesies as a buyer.

I don't know why this is hard for some people to grasp.

cudak888 

That is an uncalled for jab at Fender1. It is obvious that he put a good deal of time and effort into prepping the frame and making it presentable. For that matter, it still remains a most reasonable price given what they'll fetch anywhere else.

It looks as if someone forgot to tell you that it is a free market out there. Guess you don't mind reading flipper threads, so long as you don't get to hear the profit margin, eh?

-Kurt

fender1

Yes I did, at the sellers request. I was told there were 10 or 11 potential buyers and that many had offered more than the asking price. He asked me what mine was and I said $75. I figured he would have had offers that were higher based on what the bike is but he agreed. I am pretty sure it was because I was a convenient buyer and his risk of having someone not show up was minimized since I was so close.

fender1

Kurt, no big deal. I make no apologies for trying to make a buck on a purchase that did not work out. It was my intent all along to flip this if it did not fit my son, as I ride a 60cm. I have won and lost on CL & Ebay many times, often to other BF memebers (one of whom is my brother!). The risk of "losing" is what makes "winning" fun. I also don't think the OP bears any ill wil

Also the price on it is just a shot in the dark. I have not really researched pricing on these frames. If anyone wants to make an offer, pm me.

jacksbike

The whole episode is lousy, because the seller failed to either delete the posting or be courteous (@!) enough to inform the OP that the bike had been sold. There was a previous thread about CL this past week, it's pitfalls, etc.. When I am driving an hour or more to see someone about a bike, I always ask them to call me in the event that someone beats me there. If this occurs, I can turn around and call it a day. Sometimes this happens, sometimes not. I have had more than my share of folks setting up times to come and buy a bike and never showing. I always ask them to call when they are on the way. This way if I am meeting them at the nearby commuter parking lot, they call me to tell me that they are there, and it takes me 10 minutes to drive down there to meet them. CL is good and bad.

cudak888 

Just the same, I find it two-faced and hypocritical for kaliayev to have called you out for trying to make an honest, fair buck on a used frame - one that you put a good deal of elbow grease into already - when, in another thread, he expressed the exact opposite sentiment by dissing Speedplay for sending a cease-and-desist letter to a flipper who was trying to sell 10 NIB Speedplay pedals under retail.

-Kurt

r0ckh0und 

I always require a phone call confirmation before leaving the house when buying or selling on CL or ebay local pickup. I have delivered and picked up in the city more than an hours drive one way many times and have never had a no show and am most always able to work out a deal. Phone confirmation/communication is key. Seller should have communicated his intentions to the OP.

JunkYardBike

It's a jungle out there!

fender1

BTW, I tried to "lowball" that guy w/ the Waterford for you....no go. Sometimes you lose. Another BF'er is going to take it.

cinco

This situation has obviously turned out better for two people, at the expense of a third person. My question is, how could it have turned out badly for anyone if everyone had behaved honorably? Unless the seller couldn't afford his next meal he didn't need to sell it as quickly as possible, or for more than the agreed upon price. As long as the buyer had another way to get to work he didn't need another bike as quickly as possible. What's wrong with having some principles and forming a line, and what's wrong with "standing" in that line?

I guess I see buying something out from under someone on CL (etc.) the non-physical equivalent of grabbing something, as yet not-paid-for, out of someone's hands at a thrift store and racing them to the cashier. I know why dollar signs flash in people's eyes, I just don't know why we tolerate the destructive behavior it tends to cause. I miss a lot of fun things because I refuse to "play the game"... but a lot of other people miss out on the fun things I sell because I don't put up with that game from either side. When they try to undercut another buyer to get something I'm selling I either put them on the list or tell 'em to pound sand, depending on my interpretation of their general attitude.

JunkYardBike

No worries. If I really wanted it, I would have directly contacted the seller myself. I was on the fence, but figured if it somehow landed in my lap I wouldn't refuse it!

It appears you were in a similar boat. As the others said in your thread, it's worth the asking price. But it's not if you've got other bikes to ride and you're satisfied with them.

cudak888 

Because on Craigslist, buyers refuse to stand in that line. You might as well call the 90% that "commit" - and then flake out - prank calls.

-Kurt

Roger M

Yep, they just want to cut to the front...

cudak888 

Or duck out of it, once they're first up.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Allow me to add a postscript to my last comment about the flip side of this discussion - courteous selling on C-list. Yes, even C-list sellers (surprise! ) deserve to be defended.

Sure, there are tons of jerk sellers on Craigslist, but it doesn't exclude the fact that even an ethical Craigslist seller will lose patience with fools who give the runaround - or don't show up.

Then there are the people who can't $hit or get off the pot:


Sounds like a reasonable request, eh?

Well, it wasn't.

Upon her visit to see the bike, this woman wasted 2 hours of my time (in the early evening, a.k.a, my dinnertime), ran her visit well into the stopover of someone else scheduled an hour ahead (not for the bike), requested a pedal swap, saddle adjustment, test drove the bike 5 or 6 times, and brought along a friend to critique the bike - all so she could call me two days later to return the damn thing because it's "so big" for her.

You'd think she would have figured that out when she spent those 2 hours debating about buying it. I could have screamed over the number of times she nagged about what bar tape color would look best on it.

-Kurt

Roger M

^^ That is not what happen in the case of the OP.

The OP agreed to go see/buy the bike. Someone else calls, seller claims there are several other parties interested. 'Someone else' says "hey I'll give you this much more than that guy". Seller is greedy, as is Someone else..

And now the bike is sold in pieces...

auchencrow

+1
This is why when a seller asks me to up the ante on a bike, my response to them is always very terse (to say the least).

jettore

I'm just pissed at the seller on two issues. First on Wednesday night(when the craigslist post appeared) we had exchanged emails and I thought I had purchased the 2 bikes for $50. Then through Thursday with the photo sent to me and a couple texts back and forth confirming the Sat meeting everything seemed fine. At no point did he mention any other possible buyers and looking for more money. I knew the deal I was getting and would have offered more money if I was aware of a bidding war. He did not say anything and confirmed Saturday. Second issue being the fact he didn't notify me on Saturday and let me waste my time. It's all ok, karma will catch up with the seller.

tugrul

One is a corporation enforcing what has been viewed as excessive constraints on the market, the other is an individual expressing their opinion. I think an argument can be made there is no contradiction.

Whether the comment was in good taste in this context is another matter.

jettore

Fender1, did you buy the other bike? If so what was it?

tugrul

Normally I wouldn't indulge the seller either, but the buyer isn't aware of any commitments the seller might have made or how the seller resolves those commitments.

-holiday76

The other bike was just a dirty ol lugged chrome paramount. No biggie.