Originally Posted by
genejockey
Just because there's a high ASKING price doesn't mean there's a high SELLING price. I mean, I got $75 knocked off the Lotus Classique I just bought, just for being willing to drive across The Bay!
Oh, I know the difference between the asking price and the selling price. But when the seller goes into a great deal of detail about all the work they did to restore the bike to what might be better than new condition, they might as well put "No Lowball Offers or Time-Wasters, I Know What I've Got!!!" at the end of the ad. I'm sure this seller did good work, and maybe making a Varsity into a restoration project wasn't a bad idea, but getting the investment back is going to be harder because that's a bike that most people won't pay $100 for regardless of condition. Another poster said they saw more than a few Varsi-Conti's in far worse shape, like borderline scrap metal, with an asking price of close to $200. When I see something like that, it looks less like someone padding the price so everyone walks away happy after haggling and more like someone with an unrealistic idea of their item's true worth, and someone like that isn't going to want to haggle on the price.
TV shows like Antiques Roadshow and American (Nose) Pickers have everyone thinking that the contents of their attics and garages are a gold mine, and most of the time, that's simply not the case.