rozegr

i am planning on buying a 2011 trek 520 off craigslist. the owner said he could drop it off at a bike shop for them to ship. will the bike shop be alright with me organizing this? any advice on what i'm planning to do? sorry if i'm in the wrong sub forum i tried finding a more appropriate place to post this. thanks

FBinNY 

Many bike shops will pack bikes for shipping. Some even have rate contracts with the carriers and can save you money on the whole deal.

However, to avoid any possible ruffled feathers, when you call to arrange, tell them a cousin is sending you his old bike.

Rider51

Never heard the "cousin" trick. But I have found that bike shops are quite good at this. They may charge you a bit, but it's probably worth the cost.

FBinNY 

I wouldn't call it a trick. It's just that I try not to give folks an unnecessary reason to get their feathers ruffled.

If you're asking a bike shop to pack a bike for shipping, there's no reason to rub it in by saying you just bought it on Craig's List. Sometimes an innocuous, meaningless lie can be a social lubricant.

WizardOfBoz

"Fat? Are you kidding? Those pants make you look great, sweetie!".

Skeptical? Married 35 years this year... (to the same woman, contiguous years even)

As far as bikes being shipped, I think most shops do this as a service. If you call and tell them you want your bike shipped and ask what they charge, they probably don't care.

Rider51

LOL!

I was figuring it was don't ask/don't tell kind of thing. If the LBS doesn't ask me about the bike, I'm not going to tell them where I got it.

Canker

Why are you organizing anything? They guy selling it is the one that is going to the bike shop to have them pack and ship the bike.

bicyclridr4life

This.

The seller will add the cost of shipping to what you paid for the bike. At least that was how it worked on the two I bought on the eBay years ago.

TenSpeedV2

Our shop doesn't care who you got the bike from, or where it is going. You bring a bike in and ask for it to be packed, we do it for a fee. I don't care if it is eBay, Craigslist, black market, whatever. Say hey, need to pack this up for shipping. We do it.

rozegr

oh i see i think the seller want me to arrange it and just drop the bike off. i'll speak to him about this

Arthur Peabody

I shipped mine thrice, had a friend ship it to me once. I scavenged (had my friend scavenge) a shipping box from an LBS's dumpster. It worked out.

FBinNY 

The seller may have a good reason. If he arranges with the shop, then his responsibility doesn't end until the bike is delivered in good shape.

OTOH - if the shop is acting as your agent, the seller is out of it once the bike is accepted in OK shape, and anything that happens is between you, the shop and the carrier.

Be sure to ask the shop to check the bike, and photo document it's condition, then insure it. That way you have some measure of protection.

spinnaker

Why do you need to make up any story? You don't need tp say anything. For all they know you are shipping the bike out to do the tour.

I normally don't have shops ship out my bike when I go on a tour but I have sent my bike to shops and have them build it at the destination. Also I have had shops break down the bike and send it back home after the tour. Of course there I usually roll into the shop with bags so they have an idea of what is going on but I could have just as easily dropped the bags at the hotel and they would have no idea why I was shipping the bike out.

spinnaker

Maybe a valid reason for explaining what is going on.

Still I am not sure they are going to care you bought the bike used.

FBinNY 

Yes, there's no need for a story. As we used to say when I was growing up "closed mouths gather no feet".

In fact it shouldn't make a difference, but I've been around the bike industry for almost 50 years (still no gold watch), and know that there are dealers who truly resent anyone who buys except from them. It's not a good thing, but it's a thing. So, that's why I suggested not saying it was bought on Craigs list or anywhere else.

Lakerat

What does this usually cost?

FBinNY 

IME, there's no "usual" cost, and it runs a wide spectrum.

Your best bet is to phone shops local to the seller and ask about shipping a bike back home. They probably won't give you an exact quote because some bikes are easier to pack than others, but they should give you a sense. While talking to them, ask if they can handle the shipping, and what it would cost all in. As I mentioned earlier, many bike shops can get you a better deal on the shipping that if you brought the bike to UPS or Fedex yourself, so asking for all-in pricing makes sense.

bikingtotown

You would be putting alot of trust in each other. And you know how nice &honest random ppl on the Internet can be. When do you pay how do you know he's going to ship it. Can't inspect it at all. Sounds like more trouble then it's worth. Then again I'm a sucker for a good deal as well... acually it sounds like something I would do

drlogik 

Depending on how many bikes he needs to ship in the future he might need a lot of cousins. I vote be straight up with the shop and tell them what you're doing and pay them their going rate. Leave with a clear conscience.

spinnaker

Most shops that have built bikes for me after shipping charged around $50 to build the bike but that was a few years ago last I used the service. Then there is the cost of shipping. I can ship a bicycle from Pittsburgh to the west coast for around $70.

Check out the Fedex website for ground shipment prices. My experience Fedex ground give the best price. and you might be able to do a little better shipping through the shop.

VegasTriker

Ask the seller for a list of bike shops he would recommend and then go online and look for their website. Most have contact email addresses or phone numbers. I'd do it by email as you can ask them for a price to package the bike. The actual shipping shouldn't vary. And yes, bike shops pay a lower shipping rate as they are a business and not and individual doing the shipping. A fellow rider had a $1K recumbent shipped this way. I have no idea what the shop charged though.

CliffordK

I find those types of lies exceptionally annoying.

I can't say how I would respond if I was a bike shop owner, but I could well turn someone away if I thought they were lying to me.

How many cousins in need of a trade-in does a used car salesman have? Which, of course, your car would be perfect as long as you could give him the family discount.

FBinNY 

I'm sorry I ruffled your feathers, or anyone else's. You're looking at the wrong side of the coin. It's not what the OP says to a dealer, since he doesn't owe anybody an explanation in the first place. It's what he doesn't say.

I know of enough dealers who have become very territorial about sales in their backyard. So my point was to avoid possibly rankling the dealer by not saying it was a locally bought bike.

Whether you say nothing, an innocuous lie, or the truth is up to you.

BTW comparisons to used car dealers is not apt. The OP isn't selling anything, nor is he asking for a favor, he's the CUSTOMER.

Cptimagine

I paid $95.00 L.A. to central Pa. The seller took the bike to the shop, they disassembled and did a fantastic job packing it. Foam tubes all over the frame, axle plugs, fork spacer, bars in a bubble wrap bag, etc . The shop had the FedEx guy pick it up at their shop . The seller handled the entire operation . He and I spoke at length about the entire deal, and he was true to his word .

CliffordK

I would hope that dealers can understand the difference between buying a 6 year old bike, and a new one off the shop floor. Are they directly competing? Is it even a bike the shop would have stocked? Would that dealership otherwise have gotten the business from a customer across the country? Could a dealership across the country do the packing that the local dealership can?

There are few situations that would lead me to buy a bike from dealer A, then take it to dealer B to get it shipped, or for that matter worked on. But, it should also be clear to shops that for things new equipment, they make choices not to stock everything, and in doing so, it invites competition.