Difference between trying to sell and not trying?
 

Perusing CL.

Oh, that sounds interesting, let's take a look. Hmm, no size listed. Oh well, I'm sure the pictures will give me a rough idea. Hmmm, no pictures. Well, might as well contact the guy anyway. How does he prefer to be contacted? "Will text pictures." Ok, a little less than optimal, but I've got a decent phone, so let's shoot him a text. Hmmmm, no phone number.

:crash:

Shot him an email, so we'll see what happens, but I just had to share.

Meth does things to your brain.

I would NEVER buy a hot bike, no matter what. Good chance this was/is hot, otherwise there would be pics.

Many CL users have no idea how to write an ad that gives information in a useable form. How often to you see an ad that says: "Shimano rode bike for sale. Size 26. Has hand breaks. Perfect condition. Great for fixie. Text pictures."

When you get the pictures, it's a Magna full suspension mountain bike with flat tires and drooping chain.

We get geniuses who post: "Bik 4 sale." Nothing else. I think they're signaling spies with coded messages.

Well, the funny thing is, he went through the business of letting you know all the components that had been upgraded and you can tell it's someone who knows bikes, they just didn't put a lot of effort into the ad.

Shoot, I'm putting up a bike in the next couple of days and I just wrote a book compared to this guy while drafting up the ad. But the flip side of that is no matter how much info I give and how clearly I state it, I'm bound to get at least one or two emails asking a blatantly obvious question. Works both ways really.

You're serious? Because there aren't pics offered the bike has a better chance of being stolen? Because the seller can't write an ad he/she is a meth addict?

That's ludicrous, and sad. There's lot of people out there who don't yet have digital cameras or would know how to get an image out of their phone to post in a CL ad.

It's awfully high and mighty of you to make these assumptions from a description of a CraigsList ad. OldFatGuyville must be a very interesting place to live.

OP, just go with it, might be a gem for you to pick up. Who knows.

Keith,

Think of it from his point of view for a second.

He had one of his beautiful bikes stolen from his own garage, while he was in his own home.

If that were me, I may be thinking along the same lines.

Maybe some folks don't have a camera, but I am always suspicious when things don't add up.

We have instincts to follow, as well as lots of bike experience. Some of us go through a lot of bikes.

We have to be diligent about considering our sources.

I, as well, would never knowingly purchase a hot bike.

Period.



BTW Keith. Hot enough for you today? Julia and I did 31 miles before noon and I thought she was going to have to tow me home. :)

^ I'm sure the loss of his De Rosa Primato has made OFG a bit jaded. I can't blame him, though he may be wrong in this case.

(Edit: gomango beat me to it.)

Had to look up your local weather. That is brutal for MN. But at least it looks like you have some rain coming. This has been (and will be) our July in Texas:

http://www.wunderground.com/history/...tory.html?MR=1

106 degree heat index atm, with 95 degrees straight air temp.

My folks live outside of Austin, TX and my little sis lives outside San Antonio.

They brag about the "dry" heat.

I would be happy to trade atm.

The temps here this week include an 80 degree dewpoint.

The kids and I are leaving for the lake right after I finish a plumbing project. :)

At least we're not in Abdaly, Kuwait: 118 degrees today, 8% max humidity :)

http://www.wunderground.com/history/...ml?EditMetar=1

Currently here it's 91 degrees F with 42% humidity (heat index = 93). I rode around a bit this morning, and that was enough. It's supposed to be hotter the next two days.

Neal

Ruining someone's thread by sniping and personal attacks is a violation of the forum guidelines.

Disruption:
Posts which intend to disrupt the topic of conversation or steer the topic away from the focus of the forum and related news. Disruption can include harassment, multiple user profiles, multiple posting of the same post and posting completely off topic messages. Please do your best when it comes to grammar, punctuation and spelling. Excessive use of "AOL'ese" and "hAx0r" talk can be very disruptive so please keep it to a minimum. Private messages are to be kept private and never posted in the forums. Additionally, since we are a bicycle forum, primarily, and not a political forum, don't use political signatures or avatars, due to their controversy effect.

Stop it. Keep to the subject of the OP and leave personal differences out of it.

Dry heat? Maybe a little. Generally, Texas can have brutal humidity, but right now, there's just not much moisture to go around I guess.

Guess I'm screwed for giving that weather report.

Neal

Thank you Super Moderator.

I stand by my original post in thread, but would like to expand it to other drugs, as well.

I find it hard to believe that someone can 'text' a picture, but not provide one in an ad. Beware.

If lacking pictures were an indication of theft, over 1/3 of all CL merchandise would be stolen. There are lots of reasons for not posting pictures, including laziness, email scammers, technically challenged, or just someone new to CL.

But the good news is, the ad will turn off a lot of buyers. Your persistance may land you a great deal. Just make sure you email them from a disposable email account - just in case.

No good will come of this.

True.

Hey, my mom can text pictures, she sends them to me all the time. However getting pictures off her phone and on to a computer? Not so much.

I would not meet that seller with a wad of cash unless I first had a verifiable phone number for him.

Aside, I agree that the best buys ARE from ads posted by the "marketing-challenged" folks, with no pics (or really bad ones) - and that simply state "10-speed FS", or even give some inaccurate description.

Eg; One of my better buys was this "old Schwinn":

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...eenNervex_.jpg

How about those "Reynolds aluminum" bikes? I bought a couple of those :).

Personally, I don't meet any seller with a wad of cash. I see the item, decide if I want it, agree on a price, and then say, "Give me 5 minutes, I have to go to the ATM." Nobody's ever had a problem with that, and I don't have to carry hundreds of dollars around in my pocket. It's not that I don't trust the sellers specifically, it's that I don't trust myself not to lose a crapload of money through negligence, or getting mugged, or whatever.

Yeah, and for my part, sorry. I was just incredulous when I read that lack of pics in a CL ad = high likelihood of being a drug addict and thief.

We're better people than that here right? Certainly all of us don't lead lives that jaded?

I would not meet that seller with a wad of cash OR AN ATM CARD unless I first had a verifiable phone number for him.

Love those bikes. My Rossin Ghibli was in the yardsale section of craigslist, listed, with a bunch of other nonsensical stuff, as "roseina race bike". I had to not act too excited when he showed me it. Threw in a bunch of tools and parts too, for the cost of the Campy cobalto calipers (which still had the gems).

As for the heat, it's 3:30, 110F, 56F dew point, and I'm getting ready to go riding. Gluttons.

You bet - it's hard not to hyperventilate when the seller drags out some gem like that! But you have to keep cool. . .


It's 101 here now - Almost as hot as Phoenix!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...mpDewPoint.jpg