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Local Craigslist flakies

Old 05-30-08, 02:25 PM
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Local Craigslist flakies

Wow, people around here are so flaky. I've got my 2008 Specialized Tricross Sport on Craigslist here which I put about 50 miles on. The price is $900 and I paid $1150 about a month or so ago. People know this and come out and look the bike over and then offer me $800. I never have this problem when I sell on EBay. Guess I'm going to pull it and sell it there.

Other people have this problem with selling on Craigslist?
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Old 05-30-08, 02:34 PM
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it's same everywhere. I have put a bike on there for $400 and people will email me before even seeing it asking if I can take $250. That's almost half without even looking at it.
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Old 05-30-08, 02:41 PM
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Yeah, they keep saying depreciation. "you drive a car off the lot..." Whatever dude, this is a freaking bike! Plus, look at the price, it's already depreciated. Uggh.....
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Old 05-30-08, 02:50 PM
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So, someone is selling a one month old bike on CL... a venue known for being big on the offer/counter offer type of dealings... Let's see what is going through the buyers' heads:

1) This guy is lyin' about the mileage.

2) This guy is lyin' about what he paid.

3) This guy is lyin' about it never being crashed.

4) This guy is a fool to go buy a bike for over a thousand dollars just to turn around and sell it without hardly ridin' it at all...

5) This guy is selling a stolen bike.

Which of these should lead to the buyer to jump at paying you your asking price?
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Old 05-30-08, 02:56 PM
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Yeah I guess you're right about a lot of those. But these people would be the same one's to buy one off ebay sight unseen.

P.S. I have the receipt and I explain the reason I don't need it is I converted my other Tricross Comp to a triple, so I now don't need two of pratically the same bike.

Lying about crashing? I guess, but there is no blemishes on it what-so-ever. Could be lying about the mileage, no way to tell that though.

Fool? Yeah, I'd agree with you there. Maybe I'll just keep it and do some cyclocross.
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Old 05-30-08, 03:03 PM
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You ask $900 and think an $800 offer off the bat is unreasonable? Have you never negotiated for anything? If you're firm on the price then say "FIRM" after it.
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Old 05-30-08, 03:05 PM
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the price haggling has never bothered me too much. i sort of expect it. what really sucks about CL is how often the people don't show up or don't call after you've scheduled time to show them the bike.

I had a guy come out, make an offer (which i accepted), and then tell me he's going around the corner to get money from the bank. during this time, i called a few other people to tell them the bike had been sold and not to bother coming out and meanwhile the first guy just never came back with the money. urg.
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Old 05-30-08, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by CastIron
You ask $900 and think an $800 offer off the bat is unreasonable? Have you never negotiated for anything? If you're firm on the price then say "FIRM" after it.
Sure, but this one I'm not. My price is the bottom price. If I can't get that, then I just don't sell it. Pretty simple. I will change the ad and put FIRM on it though. Maybe that'll slow down the people wanting to haggle.
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Old 05-30-08, 03:19 PM
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Keep in mind that just because you paid umpteen thousand dollars for it doesn't mean it's worth that to ME. Personally, if it was $1,150 two months ago, I'd go pay that for a new one before I'd pay $900 OR $800 for a used one. But buying a used bike means it may not be exactly the right size or style or color or accessories, and what was the Perfect Bike for you is an "it'll do" bike for nearly everyone else.

As to people offering $250 for a $400 bike sight-unseen- that makes perfect sense to me, and I wouldn't object to them offering at all (although looking at it first and then lowballing seems like a waste of people's time!). It's the same thing; what is valuable to you is a good bit less valuable to them.
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Old 05-30-08, 03:30 PM
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I guess I can see your point. I'm going through the same thing with a house I'm buying. They have a lot of affection for their house and for the particular features of it that I really could care less about and will probably remove a lot of. We've been back and forth about the price, but this is a buyers market......
The bike is different in a way. Yeah, you could go buy it for $1150, but you'd be getting the exact same bike. If this bike was still sitting there unsold, it'd probably have the same amount of mileage on it from people test riding it. Would it still be worth $1150 to you or would $900 be a better price for it? I should have listened to my inner voice and took it back when I had the chance.
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Old 05-30-08, 04:34 PM
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i've sold a lot of stuff on cl and i follow a couple simple rules:
1. cash and local only
2. i tell whoever says "I'm interested" how many others may be interested and I use the order they contacted me and tell all where they are and if they want to be contacted if it doesn't sell before their place
3. if someone says that he'/she'll show and doesn't, they don't want it (whenever this has happened, they've contacted me immediately with the reason).
I've had people agree online or by phone on a price and then try lower when they come to pick it up. If we've agreed on a price, I go with that. If they don't want it at the price we agreed, I don't sell it to them....they've made the trip to me so it's no loss for me.
The only time i lowered a price on something was a cellphone...we met in a public place and I saw he was home from Iraq (he was a marine....I gave it to him and thanked him for his service.
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Old 05-30-08, 04:35 PM
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The craigslist culture includes haggling.
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Old 05-30-08, 04:37 PM
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What's funny is that I've NEVER had any luck selling stuff locally on CL. I have had good luck buying and selling on CL when it wasn't local. I sold a Trek Pilot 5.0 to a guy in Florida and was driving to Tampa from NC and arranged to drop it off to him on the way. Worked out well. Bought a few bikes off CL from other states and that worked out well. It's just the people locally that are the problem.
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Old 05-30-08, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Kimmitt
The craigslist culture includes haggling.
Yeah, it's like an electronic garage sale.
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Old 05-30-08, 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by knobster
The bike is different in a way.
Ya.
Cuz you're the seller

I'm sorry, but $800 sounds like a reasonable offer for a USED (regardless of how little used... it's USED) $1200 new bicycle.
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Old 05-30-08, 05:06 PM
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If you paid $1150 a fair price is $700. Allow me to explain, REI Strada with 105 group, $1099 when on sale 20% off = $880 minus a yearly dividend maybe $700+tax. Brand new using selective smart shopping. Used Bikes in great condition sell for about half new price. Just because somebody else paid full price by not shopping doesn't mean I have to. Especially on Craigslist.
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Old 05-30-08, 05:31 PM
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Ok, screw it. Not worth selling then. I'll keep it to race on.
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Old 05-30-08, 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Bikepacker67
Ya.
Cuz you're the seller

I'm sorry, but $800 sounds like a reasonable offer for a USED (regardless of how little used... it's USED) $1200 new bicycle.
Sounds more than reasonable. Remember, Specialized's warranty is not transferable. I don't care how little you used it, I do not get the warranty.
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Old 05-30-08, 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by knobster
The price is $900 and I paid $1150 about a month or so ago. People know this and come out and look the bike over and then offer me $800. I never have this problem when I sell on EBay.
$900 value
-shipping 65.00
-ebay fee 35.00
-paypal fee 27.00

equals 773.00 ebay profit
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Old 05-30-08, 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by knobster
Ok, screw it. Not worth selling then. I'll keep it to race on.
There ya go...
Use it for a few years, then sell it for $400.
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Old 05-30-08, 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Dork Disk
$900 value
-shipping 65.00
-ebay fee 35.00
-paypal fee 27.00

equals 773.00 ebay profit
You must not sell much on EBay. I charge the buyer shipping and I don't use Paypal for bikes. I force them to send me a Postal money order. Ebay fee is nowhere near $35.
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Old 05-30-08, 07:28 PM
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If someone offers less than your asking price, you can say no.
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Old 05-30-08, 08:40 PM
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I had the same problem when selling a bike via craigslist. I was asking for $800 for my bicycle and people would email me and offer $500 site unseen but I knew I the bicycle was priced appropriately because I had 4 emails in 2 days. Sure, most of them were looking at the $500 to $600 dollar range but there was a lot of interest.

I'm not sure why people start haggling the price before they see the item. The value of the bicycle varies based on condition and photos don't show a whole lot. People look for a deal on CL and consequently the competition which drives the price of the item closer to the the true value is not there.

I think that the key is getting the competition up just like on eBay. Let people know that other buyers are looking at the item and if they haggle, have some proof of the item's worth. If you can look up the value of a comparable bicycle(s) on eBay, you could use that as evidence. For example, If the bicycle would sell for $900 + shipping on eBay, maybe $850 or be enough incentive for someone to buy it locally and you'd save yourself the time and hassle of shipping the item.

If you think you can do better on eBay and think it's worth the difference, I would go ahead and sell it there. The bidding environment tends to bring out the true value... My bike would have gone for around $800 on eBay but someone offered me $700 and to me, the extra hundred was just not worth the hassle of trying to ship a bike. Once someone comes over and inspects the bicycle firsthand before giving you their money, the sale seems more final to me than shipping a bicycle to someone who could complain about things you may not have disclosed or damage that could occur during shipping.
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Old 05-30-08, 09:48 PM
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Finally somone with some sense. Yeah, I looked on EBay and this same exact bike was going for $900. I just hate packing bikes. I may just do that though. I really don't need this bike.
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Old 05-30-08, 10:32 PM
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Originally Posted by shoerhino
I'm not sure why people start haggling the price before they see the item.
I know why I might do that. If I see a bike that I would only pay $150 and the ad said $200, I might email them and tell them that if the bike is in the condition it is described/looked in the ad, I would pay $150. I would not want to ride 25 miles on my bike to look at a bike just so the seller says, "No, the price is firm". Why waste my time and the seller's time? Sure, the seller might get $200, but that is not what I am willing to pay for it. If the seller says that she will accept $150, then I will go look at it.
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