Sure it is. I've seen things float from table to table, making the rounds, with a $5 markup once it hits a new table.

If you watch, you can see it happen a lot :)

We have these places around my town, Cash Express loan places. IMHO, these are immorally making a profit, but legal they are.

I bought a bike off Craigslist to flip and was critiqued by the seller for re-listing it about 10 days later. I had to change a wheel (bike had one 700c and one 27" wheel), bar tape, and the rear derailleur. I also did regular maintenance and cleanup. After my costs the profit was under $50.

The few times I've beaten other Craigslist bargain hunters and re-listed I usually wait at least a week and spend time working on the bike. I'd feel a bit uncomfortable listing it the next day w/o any changes / improvements.

Great Horatio Alger story.

If you are working 60 to 70 hrs a week then you are not doing it right.

Flipping is for losers who can't find a good job. They generally destroy the historic value of a bike by "fixing them".

I am sorry your dad was incompetent. My dad taught me to work smart, not hard.

^^ Uh-oh. Name-calling has begun. How long before the sticks and stones?

Regarding the flippers who misrepresent the condition of their bikes on CL (or any other person-to-person sales transaction), there is still "caveat emptor". Buyers are on notice there are no guarantees in the marketplace.

But if a shameless flipper was making a practice of misrepresentation, then surely word would get around, especially on CL. Dissatisfied buyers would make it known, and the shameless flipper would be out of business.

The $299 flip with apparent minimum effort is not shameless flipping, in my opinion; it's good business, if he can get his price -- AND the buyer is satisfied. Else, he can publicize the defects, and business may decline for the flipper.

C'mon man...not cool.

I work 40 hours/wk. I have a wife and a baby and am paying off all our debt before proceeding to the next entire in our lives. I start college in Spring of next year to pursue my BS in Nursing. At that point, I will be working 60-72 hrs/week (three on four off, four on three off alternating). As a nurse, I will end up working 30-80 hours per week. I am 23.

I am a loser.
:rolleyes:

This seems like flipping done right to me. You improved the bike before reselling it.

And I completely agree that psychology is playing a large part in my disgust with this particular situation. Had I not known how much the bike was purchased for and how quickly it was relisted I would have simply thought his new price was way high but that was his prerogative and moved on without giving it any thought.

This crap is obnoxious. There are two people who do this on craigslist for my area (tampa) all day long. I am forever seeing bikes listed at reasonable prices then being put back up the next day (or sometimes even the same day) for 200$ or more added on to the original cost (rb4 listed at 115, then relisted same day at 300$, motobecanes listed at 250 then relisted same day at 500$, etc.). Plus one of these dudes made a bike auction website to sell these bikes hes got from craiglist (isn't that what ebay is for?) Its absurd that I cant even look at craigslist now for a reasonable bike at a reasonable cost any longer, its all dominated by these 2 peoples bike ads all day and their astronomic prices. And if you must ruin it for everyone else, then at least wait a week before relisting the bike (otherwise you might as well make fun of the person you bought the bike from as you ride away with it).

We have two guys that flip bicycles in the area (one now, the one I purchased from is now in Holland for a year). Both seem like honest individuals and both sell decent cycles. Both do some work to the bikes before selling them. One - the one I bought from - uses other guys to do the work. Now, it seems as though they do not know a lot about each bicycle. For instance, they listed it as a 69, while it was actually a 72. Also, the brake shoes are not aligned properly (they hit evenly instead of front first), though there is plenty of shoe left and the bicycle does not squeal. Also, gears 2 and 3 are elusive. It could be that I am not shifting appropriately as I am not used to lever shifters.

All-in-all, I think I overpaid for my bicycle by about $50. But I would do business with either person again.

That response wasn't too far off the mark when the original post was full of generalizations that put down anyone that didn't see it their way.

I believe what I'm seeing here is that people dislike two different behaviors that are not necessarily related:

1) dishonesty and misrepresentation regarding the condition or value of a bike pffered for sale;
2) rapid reposting at a significantly higher price of a bike that was previously offered by a different seller.

We are all agreed on (1), I think, that we all want to do business with honest people. The remedy for unknowingly doing business with dishonest people is -- don't do business with them again, and alert the public to their dishonesty so that no one else gets burned.

But as for (2), there is disagreement. Merely re-posting a bike at a higher price is not dishonest; it's an attempt to profit by the acquistion and sale of an item. If the market will bear the higher price, good for the seller; if it won't, then the seller will learn to re-evaluate his selling price, condition of the bike, or both.

The remedy for higher prices is -- to vote with your feet. Take your business elsewhere. Refuse to buy from the high-priced seller. If enough buyers in the market follow this behavior, the seller will eventually lower his price (or eat his product).

I've often wondered whether the high-priced flippers are really getting the asking price for their bikes, or whether they get bargained down.

That's it in a nutshell. I also wonder how far off the asking price these bikes sell for. Some of them you see for weeks at the same price.

Have you seen that guy who keeps posting that cannondale mtb on NYC CL over and over again? First it was $950, it's been $3500, and every price in between. The ad always has some bizarre description that's always changing, too.

Agreed. I'd rather not know. If it's something I want bad enough and the price seems worth it to me, I'd be happier just leaving it at that.

Part of what bugs me about the buy/do nothing/sell flippers is that there isn't any value added. I've sold bikes found at the dump (after any required repairs) but most of my 'flips' these days are done on bikes that had a lot of work done to them. It's just a hobby for me and if someone needs the money I certainly don't begrudge them trying to get by anyway they can. But.....at some point, you have to add some value to the system or you are just another person living off the efforts of others.

I sold a bike two weeks ago for $200 to a guy. Today I see it on the local C/L for $500. Am I angry or upset? Heck no. And I hope he gets it. To me, I had the value just about right, maybe I sold it for $25 less than full market. If he can get the market to pay this kind of price, great. I don't mind if he proves me wrong. I still have about a dozen bikes to sell. And what did I pay for this bike? $40 at a garage sale. But it needed a new BB, new DT shift levers, and a couple of other parts. So after parts, it was the typical $100 to $125 margin flip.

Adding "value" can be accomplished several ways. First, it can be from doing the mechanical work needed on a neglected bike. But secondly, it can be from terrific marketing, and third, it can be from a better understanding of the market. So I do not begrudge those that have found market inefficiency opportunities buying and selling stuff, whether its real estate, companies, stocks, musical instruments, antiques, coins, jewelry, cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, sporting equipment, or yes, even bicycles.

YES! That guy provides me with a daily chuckle. He is absolutely nuts. Posts that thing several times a day with descriptions that are outrite insulting and confrontational sometimes. I wonder how long he can keep it up for. I've noticed it for a couple months now.