Some bike shops in the Dallas/Fort Worth area do the same including some larger stores. I wonder if that is to allow them to accept trade-ins on new bike sales. Sometimes they are "new" unsold earlier model year bikes. I did not buy my bike on CL but it was a candidate. I got it new for 50% of MSRP and it was almost 3 years old. There was nothing wrong with it, the LBS just did not have enough women interested in spending that much for a bike that wasn't pink.

Back to OP: I don't have any issues with whatever people ride -- as long as it doesn't affect my ride. I have been frustrated on group rides I lead when the bike is not assembled correctly or if the owner has a flat tire and lacks tools/spares and know-how to fix it. We have a "no one rides alone" policy so the group stops and waits. Normally we will loan out spare tubes or CO2 cartridges but only carry 700x23 presta tubes and assume the bike has quick release skewers. It also makes a ride less fun if somebody is riding a bike that for whatever reason they do not enjoy riding. It brings the mood down for others. This is mostly an issue with fit/maintainability rather than how much the bike cost.

I started like many others as a 5-year-old on a little department store bike. It was the best birthday present ever. My first 10-speed was a yellow Huffy that I bought with baby-sitting wages in high school.

With my current ride - I test rode dozens of bikes and this one fit the best, handled the best, and was fun to ride. In 30 years I got maybe 1000 miles on my older bike that was pretty good in its day. With the newer bike, I have ridden 17,000 miles in 5 years. I am not a fast rider but I know it is due to the engine, not the bike. I also know other people who showed little enthusiasm for riding until they got a bike that didn't hold them back and was properly fitted and adjusted. We Clydes/Athenas have plenty of size-related challenges and I didn't want my bike to be another.