mightymax

Hey folks,
I am just astounded by what happened earlier this afternoon.
I saw a listing on Chicago Craigs List for a Schwinn Le tour. It was a single picture taken from the front left side of the bike and the description was a single sentence that said
Quote: 'Schwinn Le Tour. men's road bike asking $40' I decided to email the seller and ask a few questions to determine a few things. I did not want to drive 80 miles round trip using 15 bucks in gas, pay 8 bucks in tolls and waste my time.

I emailed this (copied and pasted here)

Hi,
Is the bike still available?

I would be interested in this bike but need more info. Is the paint in decent condition? Any rust???
I am tall and need a Schwinn with a 25in. frame. It would be 25in from the top of the seat tube (where the seat post goes into the bike frame).... to the center of the chain gear where the crank arm is.
Also are the rims straight?
My cell is 815-***-**** or reply to this email and I can check back later....



Well 20 minutes later I get back this snotty reply in an email sent from his Android.

'Go to a bike shop pal'

Really? I asked this dirtbag a few simple questions trying to either buy his bike or save us both an inconvenient meeting and I get that uncalled for response. I guess it's not proper ettiquette to ask a few questions of a seller that could'nt be bothered with more than 1 picture and no description.

So after not riding the last few days I needed to burn off some stress. So I layered myself and took my World Sport to the trail. I forgot how early it gets dark now but managed 10 miles.... Felt better when I got home and my WS reminded me why I really did'nt need a Le Tour

Cheers
Max Bryant

Metacortex

I assume this is the listing: Schwinn:Le Tour > men's

If so, that appears to be a '74-'76 Le Tour with a 23" frame in Opaque Blue. It is missing the chainguard, spoke protector and original saddle. He's "asking" $40, which means you could probably get it for $20 or $30. It would be worth more than that in parts alone, but overall I'm not sure it would be worth the drive.

lostarchitect 

I mean, the guy was rude, but it's a $40 bike. Just buy it or don't. If it's far enough away that it's a question if it's worth it, it's not worth it.

Also, pretty obvious that's not a 25" bike.

oddjob2

Time and again on bikeforums, if the deal is too good, experienced members recommend buy now, ask questions later. Also, unknowledgable sellers don't want any hassles. Obviously the seller keeps the bike at a storage locker and not his house, so getting the info would require time on his part.

From the listing, it is apparent it is not a 25" frame and not in very good condition.

At $40, a bike purchase should be a no brainer, yes or no, end of story not worth stressing about.

David Newton

I don't like his snotty response, if he didn't want to be bothered with your questions, which for $40 I don't blame him, he could have just not answered you.

arfer1

It often amazes me how CL sellers have no idea what prospective buyers would like to know about a bike. From using bad pictures (e.g., a single image of a bike hanging in a garage) to posting inaccurate information (mistaking wheel size for frame size) or failing to indicate model or manufacturer, they just don't have a clue. Of course, it's even worse when they're rude.

mightymax

Yes, that is the listing MetaCortex has in his reply. I am aware it is worth 40 bucks, just for the rims which I can use on my WS if need be (if they were straight). I just would have liked to have known if it was useable to me as a whole which would have been preffered.

I was just flabbergasted by the rude reply. If it was in a locker and not easy to get to, then why not just say so.


As it is, I wouldn't bother giving my money to a person like this if it still is available.......

Plenty of other bikes show up on CL.....

Max

MrCoffee

It looks like it's worth $40.00, but then you'll need to be willing to give it a complete overhaul. So, that $40.00 bike will end up being $190.00. I just dislike Craigslist, and having to go through the hassle of watching for ads all the time, only to see a listing end 3 minutes after it's posted because a flipper already got it.

Just remember that what you find is a roll of the dice. You may need to take a gamble, or several gambles before you find what you really want. Have a lot of cash on hand to buy up used bikes and start a parts bin is all I have to say. Otherwise, it may be cheaper and even better to purchase something new at a local bike shop.

crank_addict

Look at the bright side, at least Rude Dude answered back

Laugh it off. I guess there's lots of strokes up there. Quite surprised the amount of I don't even get a reply from on CL. I'll reply to a posting including my e, phone number - ask if its available and when can we meet. (Never mind the distance or time I must travel but always WILLING to!)

Trying to think of one of the top best rude ones. Ah yes... a real weirdo CL seller whom I never met or even heard of. He listed a small frame rough condition Trek. Needed some compassion but was cheap. Wanted to buy for a grand daughter. All I ask was just like the above. Mister Rude got all over me for some unbeknownst reason, possibly confused me with someone else, would never sell me a bike, etc. etc..... LOL. I second replied thanking him kindly for help saving me money, further wished him a beautiful day

edit: good thread and amusing to hear some more CL - bike trash talk

D1andonlyDman

I had a bizarre experience earlier this week with a Craigslist seller in northern San Diego last week.

This guy is advertised several bikes, and unlike most Craigslist sellers with quality bikes, he's asking prices that are in the ballpark of market value for them. I was interested in TWO of his bikes: One was a Trek mid-1980s road bike, described only as having a mix of Superbe and Campy components and being in good, ridable shape, asking price $259 - no size, no other details given, and no photos of the bike. The other was a Bill Davidson Impulse in pretty pristine condition with a mix of Dura-Ace and 600 componentry. This bike was described meticulously, with over a dozen close detailed photos, and listed as 54 cm, which was my size. He was asking $525 He had been advertising the Trek for a week before he advertised the Davidson. I had initially contacted him concerning the Trek - specifically just to ask the size of the bike, and if it had been anything from 21-22 inches, or 53-56 cm, I was planning on driving the 18-20 miles to check out the bike. He promised on two separate occasions to give me the size of the Trek, but never got around to doing so. Then the following week, he advertised the Davidson - which, since I knew it was my size, I figured was a reasonable rationale to check out the Trek at the same time.

So I call him again right after he advertised the Davidson, and told him I wanted to check out both the Trek and the Davidson. He about blew a gasket over the phone, insisting that I could only be interested in one or the other of the two bikes, not both, and that I needed to decide which one - and call him back when I was serious. I told him I was serious NOW, and I would be prepared to buy one or the other of the two bikes that day if it met my expectations and was in the promised condition at an appropriate price. Again, he told me I needed to decide WHICH ONE, on the phone, before seeing them, as he would only show me one of them at a time. So I replied that I was interested in the Trek but I was still waiting for him to tell me what size it was from a week earlier - and I had been heartened by the fact that the Davidson was my size - and why did he not provide anything like the sort of information that he did about the Davidson, about the Trek. Again, I asked to see both of them, since if he had them both, and I was driving 20 miles to see them, why could I not look at both of them. At which point, he told me he didn't have time to waste on me, and he hung up on me.

Long story short - he apparently has sold the Davidson, since he's no longer advertising it, and he's still advertising the Trek, and has yet to provide any more detail whatsoever about it. And I never got to look at either one. Meanwhile, I found another target of opportunity, a clean repainted Cannondale vintage late 1980s Aluminum frame/fork/headset with a nearly complete Shimano 105 group, but it is not anything close to functional, as it needs a new chain, new brake pads, and all new cables, new rubber in the front, but to my pleasant surprise, the wheels are salvageable with a bit of truing, and this whole thing set me back only $100 cash - I estimate it will take me another $60-120 put into it, and it's my next project.

crank_addict

Mister CL seller, I have a friend from Zimbabwe who's a prince and willing to pay ten times for that most rare and unusual Schwinster bikey. It would be so kind of you to provide your bank and routing poopoo info so funds can be wired.

lostarchitect 

Yeah, we get our share of psychos here, too. Sucks when they actually have something you want! There was one here once who had a Pinarello in my size he wanted to sell. Through several mood swing emails (I suppose it depended on if he had taken his pills or not) he confided in me about all the "haters" out there, told me I was a good guy "not like them", confessed that he'd only paid $100 for the bike, and eventually concluded I was "just another hater". And I never did get to see the bike, which may have been for the best.

turky lurkey

If you deal with craigslist enough you learn to laugh about some of dummies on there. Some people are just too hard to deal with. It's amazing that some of these people can function in society at all.

KonAaron Snake 

+1 - the dude had 20 responses offering to buy it in an hour. He's not going to waste time with proper photos - if he was, he'd charge more.

-holiday76

He's still trolling you. Stop thinking about it and move on. Lots of people are ship heads and once you realize that you can just laugh at it and not be surprised.

mstateglfr 

Ha, I had a hilariously bad exchange with a lister in Chicago a couple months ago.

He listed an 86 Fuji Touring Series IV that was posted for close to 2 months with 1 or 2 pictures depending on the week. The listed price changed too, but was between 300 and 400 each week.

Being out of town, I asked if he could send a couple pics and confirm that the bike didn't have rust, had original components, and true wheels. I was going to have my brother in law take a look and buy it for me.

The seller didn't email for a couple days then said I could pick it up and gave me cross streets but no address.
I again asked if it's in good shape since the picture showed little detail and also for an actual address.
the seller removed the listing for that whole day, so I later emailed him asking if it had been sold.
The seller responded the next day telling me that te bike is rusted, the wheels aren't true, and the bike isn't for me. He refused to sell the bike to me.
I then responded with how insane this process has been since its been posted for months, has little detail, and I had just asked for some more information.

The posting went back up for 1 day then was taken back down.
When he listed it yet again, about 3 days after refusing to sell me the bike, he specifically mentioned at the end of the post this- 'no rust, wheels true, no bike for Mike'.

I laughed harder at that than anything in the previous month. The seller is crazy, but man he has a sense of humor. I sent that listing to a bunch of friends so they could have a laugh too.

What was really great was that in his last posting, when he specifically said on CL that I can't buy his bike, he also raised the price to something like $500.


There are some colorful and odd folks out in Craigsland.

curbtender

Could be a guy trying for a quick sale on storage locker buy. Sounds like something Jarrod would say...
Now and Then*

randyjawa 

If I am interested in a bicycle, I get up and go for it! I ask for an appointment to view and go look. If I don't like what I see, I don't buy. If I do like, money exchanges hands and I get another bicycle.

Learn to know a good bicycle when you see one and act. A long drive is a pain but if the bike appears worthy, you (meaning me) have to look...

autoteacher

I'm going to side with the seller here. It's a $40 bike. I would drive 80 miles for a $40 bike worth $100 or so, not for a $40 bike.

Past experience: 4 calls over 3 days for a $50 bike. A 15 minutes test ride and $40 later, I should have taken the parts I wanted and thrown it in the dumpster. It was a $100 bike EASY but not my brand.

wrk101

Your mistake, I am surprised you got a reply. You asked way too many questions for a $40 bike.

40 miles away? Wow. That is definitely a big city concept. Here in Hooterville, all bikes are over 40 miles away. Last four bikes were 75 miles away one way, which is typical.

Sure, the seller is a jerk. I prefer to buy bikes from nice people, but I have bought my share from jerks too.

+10 It is obviously not a 25 inch frame. When looking for bikes, it helps if you can estimate size from a picture. Focus on the head tube first, its a good guide.

As far as the seller being lazy or uninformed, that's where you find the deals. A knowledgeable seller would have spent $5 on bar tape, 15 minutes cleaning it up, air up the tires, write a GOOD ad with great pictures, and ask $150 for it.


Even though I ask more for my bikes, when faced with an onslaught of replies, the ones easiest to deal with get moved to the top of the list, while the ones asking a bunch of questions get moved to the bottom. There is no "dibs" in C/L. Sellers have no obligation to answer replies in the order they are received.

How bad do you want a deal on a bike? To find deals, you WILL waste time and money on gas and tolls. Its part of the "cost" of deals, and one reason the typical $50 deal costs most of us a lot more than $50 if we factor in time/gas/tolls plus time/gas/tolls from deals that did not work out.

How much have you dealt with Craigs List? The response you got is really not that unusual. Sometimes, the better the deal, the worse the seller. I had one guy finally respond after TWO FREAKIN' weeks. I must have emailed him 10 times "I see your ad is still up, is the bike available? If so I would like to buy it. Thanks. bill xxx-xxx-xxxx" I ended up buying it. Seller was over 100 miles away (screaming hot deal). Realize jerk sellers are usually jerks to all potential buyers, leaving deals available much longer than they should have been.

big chainring 

I've responded in similar way when I am listing a bike on CL at a give away price. I had 4 frames on CL last month with a price of $75 for the lot. One of the frames was 3 tubes 531. One was an english frame from the 60's, a Moto Grand Touring, and a Gitane Mixte. I was getting inquiries like, "can you measure each frame", "can you take detailed pictures of the Mixte". My responses were fairly rude. At $75, you come and get 'em. Thats it. No questions.

So on a LeTour for $40, just go get it. At that price you're not going to get much help from the seller.

And as a seller, I hate getting "is the bike still available" in an email. Just ticks me off, especially if thats all they write.

Phlorida

I once saw a nice bike on CL that had no indication of size so I responded to the listing with just that question. When they responded with the wheel size I wrote back with some ideas about determining size which they didn't seem to understand. When I wrote back asking how tall the original rider was they thought I was getting personal and asked me to stop writing them which I still laugh about. The bike was an hour away and the asking price was something like $1500.

lotekmod

That was definitely a rude response but I've found some people just don't communicate well electronically. I had a similar experience recently with a vintage mountain bike on eBay for local pick up only. The listing had a crappy photo and the description just said "Needs work." Well I knew it was a good bike but I couldn't tell from the photo if it would fit and I didn't want to get stuck with a vintage MTB that was too big, there's no market for them here. I asked him to take some measurements and got no response, and the listing ended with no bids. A month later it was relisted for $30 so I asked him again for a frame measurement and again got no response. I thought "what the heck, it's $30", put a maximum bid of $35, won the bike for $30 (only bidder), and then I wrote him asking when and where to pick up and if he wanted cash on pickup instead of Paypal. No response. Two days later I wrote again, no response. Five days after winning the auction I get a message that says "Pick up bike today, bring cash" and gives me an address in a sketchy part of town and no phone number. Well, I had been thinking about this bike for weeks so I went even though I had some serious reservations.

It turned out he was a pretty nice guy, even a bit chatty. He went to a lot of auctions and estate sales and knew a fair amount about vintage bikes and bought and sold quite a few every year. Really, REALLY bad communicator though.

Oh, and it is my size and is one heck of a vintage mountain bike for $30. Looked like death when I picked it up but it cleaned up very well and everything on it works!

redscampi

I agree. In my experience with craigslist you have to finesse the seller a bit. Most are not willing to put a lot of time into descriptions, etc for multiple hunters. I've been on the selling end before and know what its like to get the 20 questions thing from a prospective buyer. I pretty much just always ask when a good time would be to come see the bike. I assume if the ad is up the bike is available. I ask all my questions face to face, with cash in hand, which makes the seller much more attentive.

KonAaron Snake 

It depends on the bike and the price. Someone listing a le tour for $40 is bombarded with buyers, so asking anything other than when can I buy it is going to fail. If I'm buying an obscure brand on CL for $500, I expect pics and information if it's far away. It's really a question of leverage - and the leverage is a product of supply and demand.