markwesti

There is this little hole in the wall LBS that I drive by when I get my hair cut , so the other day I finally stopped in . The whole place was about the size of a one car garage and it was packed , junk beach cruisers trash kiddi bikes it was not a BOC it was a room o' crap . Out of the corner I hear " can I help you Senor " So I told her I was checkin' the place out . She looked kind of dejected so I told her I needed a seat post , 26 .6mm so she starts looking , then I see hanging on the wall a Basso frame and fork , really nice paint and no fender mounts and it looked my size . She was having no luck with the seat post so I said "how much for the Basso" "oh Senor that will be $35 .00" I said "well lets get it down and have a look" trying to stay calm, so she jumps on a pile o' junk pink kiddi bikes and she has this 6 foot stick with a bent nail at the end and she is trying to get it down , so I'm going hey let me get it . She gets up close to it and turns her head around and says "Seenoor I make zeee boo boo eets' $350 .00" . I'm driving home and I'm doing some soul searching and I'm like dammit westi would you really have ripped that woman off?

3speedslow

No, I would not have done it. Kudos to you for not going down that hole

Kactus

I wouldn't have done it. She may have been an employee just making minimum (or close to) wage who would have had to pay the difference or lose her job.

Lascauxcaveman 

Depends on how it was marked. If it really did have a $35 price tag on it, then... why not? You've basically established it was more a junk shop than a bike shop. If that's how they want to price their nicer junk, then caveat venditor. But at that price, you have to wonder about the provenance. I'd worry more about the thing being stolen than the asking price being "too low."

bulldog1935

could have done without the less than complimentary caricatures - they are implied racial epithets.
Your story would have been much better without them.

jj1091

It's a story with some local flavor, a caricature in context. She could be Spanish, Italian, Mexican. But, I guess you gotta look hard for offense.

bulldog1935

no, it's real easy to be offended by that, especially if you are a Latino randomly reading this forum
unfortunately, the local flavor is the observer, not the object.

Actually, barrio bike shops are treasures for a lot of reasons, and the OP stumbled upon just one of them.

Lazyass

There's nothing wrong with his story, he's a big boy and doesn't need you lecturing. If he had described a hole in the wall bike shop in the deep south with a white guy speaking in a heavy southern accent in the same manner you would have said nothing about stereotypes.

And no, I wouldn't have ripped the lady off.

bulldog1935

it's one thing to make fun of yourself - entirely different to make fun at the expense of others.
There is nothing about the woman's ethnicity that is relevant to the story.
It's about the bike frame, and it would be a good story if it stuck to it.

If the woman made the object of this story read it, she would be offended
It's about a fn bicycle frame
I think the woman was ripped off anyway

jamesdak 

Best little story I read on here for awhile. Makes it feel like you were there. Don worry about the thin-skinned folks.

Now go back and work a deal on that Basso, I love mine.

cb400bill

Guys, let's keep it civil, and on topic, here.

dunrobin

..didn't read a lecture and don't need to project personas.
Btw that $350 very nice frame, my size and in very good condition, would have come home with me. The transaction would have ended with a very gracious thank you senorita!

cb400bill

Leave the political content to the P+R forum.

BillyD

I wouldn't have done it. That's like stealing from the poor. If it was truly in good condition I would have offered her more, regardless. Even $350 is a steal, no?

Wilfred Laurier

If the lady didn't realize her mistake and the transaction was completed for $35, that in no way counts as 'ripping someone off'.

trailangel

+1
I don't get why the op thinks this would be ripping somebody off.
I don't get why this is even posted. ... maybe the OP can sell it to Readers Digest.
Westi is such an honest person.....

John E

I am glad Seal Beach has not become completely over-gentrified. I went to then-new Marina High School in the 1960s, my father worked at McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing), and we lived across the coast highway from Sunset Beach. On Saturdays my buddies and I used to look for surplus electronics, used bicycle parts, and other treasures at the various stores in the surrounding environs.

sloar 

I would've tried talking her down to $25. Kidding of course, I would've made sure she knew what she was selling and what its really worth then tried to make an offer if I really wanted it. But on the other hand, if the same frame was on craigslist for $35 would you all feel the same way? Ive seen some steals on this forum by some, including myself.

DMC707 

If the price was $35 --- i would have given 35

Vintage_Cyclist

If neither one of us noticed the price mistake at the time of the sale, I wouldn't feel bad about it at all. Had I noticed the price mistake prior, I'd feel obligated to point it out, even to my detriment.

repechage

Makes me think of Sandpiper Bike Repair...

On a smaller note, departed the coffee house this morning, I often then scan the newspaper racks for the above the fold headlines, guy has one open, "here, take one". No thanks, newspapers need all the revenue they can get right now.

Phil_gretz

My wife and I worked at McDonnell Douglas on Bolsa Ave, and we'd go to Sunset Beach after work with friends. This was in the 1980s. We really enjoyed that area. Lived in Huntington Beach for a year before moving down to Irvine. We left in 1992, to have the kids closer to their grandparents...


EDIT: Lots of great riding down there back then - Laguna Canyon was undeveloped, PCH wasn't as crowded, and you could ride up into the Anaheim Hills. Orange groves in blossom had a special smell for miles.

thumpism 

While in Seattle in the mid-'80s I went into a nearby bike shop (a competitor) on my day off from working in one. Spotted a new Bianchi Eco Pista hanging up with a $5.95 price tag on it. Yes, you read that right, not $595.00 but $5.95. My size.

I said, "I want to buy that bike."
Guy said, "It's not really $5.95, it's actually priced at five hundred, ninety-five dollars."

I walked out. What can you do? Could have tried to make a stink with the BBB or someone but blew it off.

Bandera

Just as "Caveat Emptor" applies to the buyer so does "Et Vendit Cave" to the vendor.

-Bandera

Andy_K 

Yes! This is what I found interesting about the story. Does it make a difference that the frame was being sold by a small business? If you find a great deal on a NOS frame at Performance Bike, woot! If you score an incredible deal from an anonymous individual on Craigslist, you might wonder if it's stolen but if you can convince yourself it's not, great deal! If you find an incredibly under-priced bike at a Salvation Army store, booyah! So what makes this case so different?

I'm not saying it would have been right to buy this frame for $35, but I don't think there are a lot of people who try to get sellers to take more money than they're asking for.