BengeBoy 

From Pensacola, Florida:

"Man's bicycle accidentally sold at estate sale"


When Jim Rodney visited an estate sale on Saturday, he parked his bicycle near the carport so he could go inside to examine the merchandise.

When he came out he discovered that his bike -- his sole means of transportation -- accidentally had been sold, for $5.

Rodney, 56, said his bicycle, a chrome, 27-inch, 21-speed Schwinn Super Sport, had a value of about $450. Super Sports models on the Schwinn website sell from $450 to $950. He said that his bicycle apparently had been the victim of poor communication between the buyer and the family member helping with the estate sale, who had been haggling over another, older, bicycle in poor condition.

The organizers of the estate sale, held at a home on Dunwoody Drive, felt bad about the mix-up and offered him $100, Rodney said.

"I thanked them, but I told them that that wouldn't help me get my bicycle back," Rodney said. The organizers of the sale could not be reached for comment.

Since giving up his car about a year ago, Rodney has ridden his bike everywhere -- to work, on errands, etc. -- and had just had the rear tire and some cables replaced in preparation for a journey to Kansas.

"I'm hoping that the person who bought the bike will see this and realize that a mistake was made and have the kind-enough heart to get it back to me," Rodney said.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Rodney's bicycle should call the News Journal, 850-208-9810.

LesterOfPuppets

I've actually often worried about that at garage sales.

BlazingPedals

It's funny that the police weren't called and the auctioneer charged with the theft.

Louis

Up until now I thought I'd heard everything. Damn!

ron521

I bet he will LOCK his bike next time he walks away from it.

Timtruro

That is a really bad, and sad, day. Any way to track down the buyer?

TromboneAl

Not surprised it happened. Several times I've been looking over a bike at a garage sale, only to hear "No, no, that's not for sale, that's my bike."

BengeBoy 

I feel the same way about going to funerals. I always worry that someone is going to come up to me and say, "but he looks so natural..."

kr32

Aren't Estate Sales run by some form of company? And if so wouldn't there be a list of all items being sold and again if so wouldn't the bike not be on it? Do they have reciepts for sales in one of those estate sales, I have never been to one so I do not know.

I think that the company would be responsible for the guys bike.

I would have taken the $100 anyway.

Talldog

This scenario always crosses my mind. So, I never let it out of my sight when stopping at a garage sale.

fat biker

Lock the bike, no problem.
Careless, Carless and now Bikeless.

Jeff, still fat

trackhub

Yikes, that is worrisome. Reminds me of an urban legend that went around some years back. This legend was about a guy who had a very expensive road bike, but wanted to check out bargains at the local thrift store. He parked is pricey bike in a bike rack outside the store, along with some other bikes. He learned the bad way that the bike rack was full of bikes for sale by the thrift store, and that while he was in the store, his prized bike had been sold for way cheap.

Like most ULs, this one has its "variants", mostly concerning the price at which the bike was sold. I've never seen any proof that this actually happened. Thus, it remains an urban legend.

Still, that is nasty. I don't think anyone can be charged with theft, since nothing was actually stolen. But, I could be wrong there.

ModeratedUser150120149

This matches a transfer a few years ago when I got to the destination and found the movers had packed everything including the trash in a can sitting on the car port.

tpelle

Reminds me....my sister and her husband were packing up for a road trip to an out-of-town wedding. My brother-in-law was loading stuff in the car, and my sister was getting some last-minute things together. She had several plastic garbage bags full of stuff, including wedding gifts, snacks to consume on the drive, etc. She'd sit them by the kitchen door and her husband would load them in the car.

Anyway, they drive several hours, check into their hotel, and unpack the car, carrying everything up to their room. They then go out to dinner.

Upon returning to their hotel room they noticed a skanky odor. Yep, one of the garbage bags was full of garbage from the kitchen can. It got packed into the car and driven several hundred miles, ridden on a baggage cart and up an elevator!

Cracked me up when I heard the story.

CHAS

It is not theft, but conversion. He needs an attorney, they might work pro bono in this case. The police try to help in cases like this in some places. The action would be against the seller.