Originally Posted by alanbikehouston
Get the seller to agree to meet you at a good bike shop and have the tech look the bike over and give you the price of putting into safe riding condition. Then, factor the tech's cost estimate into the price of the bike.
While this is good advice and an excellent idea, I doubt many sellers will bother for a $75 bike, especially in a strong seller's market. I sell "low dollar" bikes all the time, and at under $100 expect the buyers to come to me. Based on all too frequent experience ,the flakes
far outnumber the earnest buyers on CL. I would quickly burn up gas in excess of any profit realized were I to run all over town to meet people that never show or promise to buy and then vaporize. If someone wants a good deal on a bike I'm offering, they can make the commitment to come to me.
Every time I get a contact from Berkeley or The City (SF), I groan. Citizens of these two areas are both my best and worse customers. For every 10 contacts, 8 are flakes. But the remaining 2 usually come with the cash........
John D.