Craigslist etiquette
 

So, I find it very annoying that there is this guy on the Salt Lake City Craigslist that keeps reposting gaspipe road bikes for exorbitant amounts. Sometimes he'll repost the same bike just a day or two after he first posts it. He's obviously finding a huge supply of low-quality old bikes for cheap, investing nothing into them and trying to sell them for way more than they're worth. I cannot distinguish if I am jeleous because he is finding a butt-load of bikes and I'm not, or if it just bothers me that he isn't do it as a hobby but as a way to rip people off, or if it's just that he obviously knows nothing about these bikes. I'm still sorting this out with myself.
Anyway, so obviously this guy is not being polite by continuing to repost. Would it be ok to gang up on him as BF members and flag every single one of his posts to teach him a lesson? Would that be bad?

There's a guy in Portland who does the same thing, apparently puts minimal effort into what he calls a "tune-up" on old low end bikes. He gets flagged all the time.

I dunno. On the one hand, poor people need bikes too. On the other hand, a "tune-up" should be a tune-up, whether it's done by the LBS mechanic or a guy flipping low end bikes on craigslist.

Another factor to consider: It's a violation of craigslist rules for a business to sell there, and some of these sellers get flagged for that reason...

I think there is at least one in every city. The one here is so lazy he posts on ad with no pictures that says something like "vintage peugeot, apollo, raleigh racing bikes email for prices and pictures". He sometimes post more than once a day, I can't believe people are buying bikes from him... I am way past caring. I like being a bike mechanic because people trust me. When they bought bikes from my backyard they were skeptical. It also helps when selling on criagslist that I can tell people I am a mechanic and they can drop by my work to have a look at a part or something.

There is one in eastern San Diego county that shows pictures of flat bed trailers stacked high with Wal Mart bikes. He is advertising his business and keeps persisting despite getting flagged off again and again.

I think it's also a CL violation to repost the same think every two days (is it?)

Yes- so maybe we should start a sticky (clear throat loudly) where we report offenses, post links, and have everyone here flag these weasels to make sure they get booted- cause not enough people are doing it here to stop this guy.

We don't need to be policing Craigslist here. Do it on Craigslist.

The only way to slam guys like that is to sell bikes in better condition for less but it probably won't put a dent in his business.
When I flipped bikes locally, I would scout CL for similiar bikes, then sell mine for 10-20% less, and if it didn't run well, I wouldn't sell it. But there were so many people looking for bikes, sometimes I would receive 10 to 15 responses for a bike within 48 hours. I doubt that I put a dent in the sales of those who overprice their bikes.

The way I see it is the people who buy bikes from people like this get what they deserve. No one is forcing them to buy these bikes. If they do then I see it as a 'stupid tax' that we've all paid.

It's not my job to protect the world from them, but it is my responsibility to offer my customers the best product value.

I've had exchanges with people who have tagged these listings, they tell these sellers they are wrong, that they should go away and stop selling this stuff, etc, etc.

Every time I say something these crybabies they tell me just now much they are entitled to their opinion, how they can say what ever they want... it's their right.

I say hypocrite. they are calling these sellers to cease & desist of the same rights they are demanding.

IMHO, it ain't none of your business.

Why would you want to harass someone selling bikes? Because you don't like his prices? WTF? Mind your own business!

He's only ripping them off if he falsly advertises the bikes. Anyone can charge any amount for a bike. Consumers arent idiots of dumb a55es for paying what they feel is good price.

Remember, cyclists, in general, are very cheap people. What a cyclist considers to be over priced may in fact be market value. Also, just be cause you may have, or someone you know may have bought something similar or better for lesser price it doesnt mean the current item is overpriced.

Economics 101.....BTW...I vote for jealous

"He's obviously finding a huge supply of low-quality old bikes for cheap,".
I call that either a lucky guy or a hard working man!

How do you know he's "investing nothing into them"?

"and trying to sell them for way more than they're worth."
Trying and doing are two different things. Who's to say his prices aren't highly negotiable? Who's to say what someone else should charge for a bike? The buyer may have had one when he/she was a kid and is thrilled to find another and willing to pay a premium to get it. What's wrong with that?

I recently sold a handful of gaspipes on CL that I had thoroughly cleaned up, repacked bearings, replaced cables, tires and tubes as needed, and got a good price for them, surely more than the people on this forum would pay for them. Does this make me one of "those guys" on CL? I sure don't think so. How do you know this guy is any different without even going to look at what he has for sale?

BTW... Craigslist allows you to repost an ad every 48hours to bring it back to the top. In a busy CL city that's a smart thing to do to get your ad seen.

The guy may or may not be a CL flake like you suspect, but these things tend to work themselves out on their own. Either enough people see through the scam and flag him off the list, the guy is forced to drop his prices in order to compete, or is forced to fix up the bikes to get the price he wants (if he hasn't already done so). I imagine very few people actually get scammed. Caveat Emptor.

PS If someone actually is selling overpriced junk, it sure makes my good stuff sell easier. :)

Aknowledged: Econ principles are at work here and I shouldn't be too worried, the guy can do what he wants, and I probably am just jeleous- thank you for helping me sort that out.
I guess I'm still just mostly cheesed off that he reposts constantly (you'd think he'd get a clue after a while and stop cluttering the listings).

If he's not violating CL terms of use then I guess there nothing you can do.

A bit OT, but I disagree on the fact that if people are buying his crap they're to blame and he's just following economics. Sure offer meets demand, but marketing crap to unknowing customers is dishonourable. I think it's Milton Friedman that realized this. Following the BS the cycle industry is coming up with (e.g. "carbon is vertically stiff yet horizontally compliant", proprietary components, 16-spoke wheels) is discouraging.

"Remember, cyclists, in general, are very cheap people"

I prefer to think of myself as an active "Agent of Market Capitalism"! Don

there's a guy here in town trying to sell a brand new $150 wal mart road bike for $250.

Those type ads around here usually get a shoutout ad warning potential buyers of the scam.

this might be what you're referencing but BikeSnob NYC had a spoof on this phrase yesterday...

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007...-shootout.html

"Now, granted, I didn’t ride the Tarmac SL2, but I was able to tell just by looking at the pictures that the carbon fiber construction and layup yielded a frame that was laterally stiff yet vertically compliant."
....
Now, I didn’t ride the Colnago Extreme Power, but I looked at the Colnago website, which was full of poorly-translated English and a lot of Flash animation. I also rode lots of crappy bikes that were not the Colnago Extreme Power and possessed none of the attributes of the Colnago. Even the name of the bicycle itself told me most of what I needed to know, which is that if you either have or want to produce Extreme Power then this is the bike to ride. So I can say with complete assurance that the carbon fiber construction and layup yielded a frame that was laterally stiff yet vertically compliant....

"Thanks to the wealth of diagrams and photographs that have accompanied the introduction of the new Madone, it was completely unnecessary for me to ride it, because it’s abundantly clear the carbon fiber construction and layup yielded a frame that was laterally stiff yet vertically compliant."

A recent post in Detroit
http://detroit.craigslist.org/bik/396649366.html

^^ bike snob NYC
Yeah I stole that phrase... such a funny blog :)

wow, i really couldn't tell if he actually bought that bike or if he was making up an example.

here's a reply to that wal mart bike scammer
http://eugene.craigslist.org/bik/396461649.html

I know the guy. He gets auction bikes and resells em and they are almost always junk. I asked him to keep an eye out for me for a commuter road bike. He referred to the handle bars as "ram horns" and I almost died laughing on the phone. Forget it was my last response.

It seems like Schwinn Varsitys (the ones from Walmart, not the decent bikes) are always being flogged off for exorbitant amounts, simply because they have the "Schwinnn" brand name. However, I can never tell if the seller is trying to rip people off, or if they legitimately think it's worth that much... Whatever.

Back in the day, all us kids referred to drops as "ram's horns". He's probably a child of the 70's.