Shameless flipping
 

This kind of stuff really annoys me. I noticed this ad last night listed at 11pm then I notice it listed again today at 8pm by someone else with a $200 mark-up. I doubt this guy did $200 worth of cleaning and tuning in less than a day. He even admits the tires do not match. Beyond that I think his asking price is way high.:rolleyes:
The original ad:

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/2549072833.html

Today's ad:

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/bik/2550654322.html

i scan toronto craigslist a lot here, and i notice that stuff all the time, it's pretty whack, they buy it, do absolutely no work to it and just tack on an obscene amount of money.

i believe there's a name for these types of flippers, there was a topic about it a while ago

It's called capitalism. Guy saw an opportunity and took it. What's the problem?

i guess ur right..... it just looks sleezy

I would not be selling that bike for $299 and likely neither will he. The difference is that I'll put many hours, much TLC and an average of $75 in to rehab a bike that we will both sell for $180. It's hard to compete with the DKO flippers dollar for dollar, but FWIW, I get more satisfaction and more happy buyers.

this.

pawn shops do it all the time.

if a seller is willing to let something go and doesnt want to put much time into selling it, then its his own fault

Heck, it looks at least a hundred bucks better with the seat raised to a respectable level :)

DD

And he hasn't sold it for his asking price yet. He might not make what he thinks he will.

What's the problem?

The initial seller did a poor job of listing a bicycle for sale, offering poor pictures, a minimal description of an absolutely unprepared bicycle. He sold it for what it is worth, or more, or less - to him.

The next guy did clean the bicycle up in preparation for presentation and offered a much better description of what to expect. The pictures, seller two offered, are much better than those first presented. And, the new seller is asking more for the bicycle, but how much more, he or she asks, is his or her business.

I do this sort of thing all the time and I am most certainly not ashamed of what I do. I picked this 1978 Motobécane Grand Jubileé up at the Dump and spent less than twenty dollars preparing it. I then took lots of pictures of the bicycle, prepared those pictures for use on the Internet, wrote copy for an Ebay listing and even wrote a feature article about the bicycle.

I turned down an offer for the bicycle of $500.00 two days ago. And why? Because I am greedy? Not at all! And all of my friends will vouch for that.

I am educated and have a pretty good idea of what vintage road bicycles are worth, these days, in Thunder Bay and around the world. With that in mind, to me, the Motobécane is worth close to what I am asking. If I get paid what I feel I should, then I did my job well. If I don't get what I wanted, then I priced too high but do have the option of lowering my price and trying again.

In the end, it is always up to the buyer to decide how much anything is worth. And that is all just an old shameless flippers opinion.

So, again I ask, what is the problem?

buy low, sell high, isn't that what it's all about?

I don't fault anyone for making a buck, but I detest misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent listings. Dishonest flippers make me angry.

Right on Randy!!! Seller lists a bike for $X. He should have listed it for x + $100. I buy it for $x and sell it for x + $200 after cleaning, tune up, taking great photos and writing a good ad.

WalMart does it all the time, so do used car dealerships, real estate investors, etc, etc. Lol :-) I also read an aticle in which a Polo shirt by Ralph Lauren costs him $2.00 to make in Honduras, but this Polo shirt is at my local mall for $70-$80! Everybody flips! I agree this is capitalism, and I love it! Opportunities abound in America for those that are willing to take action and be creative! Nobody is putting gun to the head of the seller or new buyer! Don't take it too personal, it's just business!

Flash

I agree that the original seller undervalued the bike and did a poor job of selling it. If I could have gotten to it I would have bought it. That said I still seriously doubt the buyer did anything but take new, better pictures and make a more professional looking ad. And yes that is only his asking price but it just seems scummy to me. If I buy a bike with the intention of selling it I thoroughly refresh it and list it at or close to what the bike is actually worth, not double that. I like getting a fair price for something, not feeling like i ripped someone off. But yeah, it's a free country I guess.

Many of my bike flips have been not dissimilar. I do plenty of work on many of my bikes, and some I just clean up and put out on the lawn, as long as I have others out there too, and I'm always surprised that people buy bikes that have had no real work done on them. Of course, while I priced them higher than what I paid for them, they are not priced anywhere close to what I'd get if I had refurbished them.

What really bothers me is when the bikes I restored to original luster, and they sit unsold for months.

A question for Randyjawa -- how do you manage to find such high-end bikes in the town dump? Isn't the population of Thunder Bay only a few thousand, if that? Seems like you'd have found all the bikes already.

I believe thoroughly in one's right to do whatever he or she pleases within the confines of constitutional law and in a free market. But would I flip bikes to fellow cyclists for a quick buck? Hell no. I'd rather clean up a poorly presented bike and give it to a friend. Then again, I have a job.

Ive stopped trying to sell whole bikes. slim profit margins, nil if you count your time. but I make it pretty clear when I buy stuff from people that I am in it to make a buck and I won't pay them what their item is worth on the market. generally people don't want to deal with the hassle of keeping something up at the asking price, taking pictures, etc. so the guy got what he wanted from the bike and now the next guy is going to do the same thing. no harm no foul.

Nah, Buy high, sell low, make it up in volume ! *lol* BTW, you would be surprised
what can be done with bike in two hours.

Johnnybee.

I believe the term "DKO Flipper" was coined by Thrifty Bill to describe some of the locals who did nothing more than resell bikes with the Dirt Knocked Off.
(In this case, I doubt that our illustrious CL entrepreneur did even that much to it. :rolleyes:)

Absolutely nothing.

We have a flock of Flippers around here that DO NOT have a lick of sense
when it comes to a bicycle. They are not Cyclists, nor they have no interest in the sport.
They could care less about cleaning and preparing the bike so it's
safe to ride. All they care about is a fast buck. They have Nooo idea what they are
selling and try to convince an unsuspecting buyer that the bike is rare, light, fits anybody
from 4 ft to 6 feet, and that Hi - ten is the very best in frame quality.

They are known as Bicycle Pimps. Seems fitting to me.


Johnnybee.

We had a guy in Tampa that wouldn't touch anything on his flip bikes. I'd see pictures in the morning with crooked handlebars and misadjusted seat and he'd advertise the same bike in the same condition within minutes of getting it home.

Bicycle flippers offer a valuable service in my opinion. I'm not ashamed to admit that I flip a bicycle here and there, but being a bicycle mechanic, it kind of goes hand in hand. I generally pick up bikes that are in poor mechanical condition and are in need of a skilled bicycle mechanics love. I take the time to make sure everything functions as it should and that most of all THE BIKE IS SAFE TO RIDE - not something you'll find out of every bike on craigslist.

In my case, I wouldn't exactly call it a "quick buck". It's more a labor of love that actually benefits fellow cyclists. The profits are pretty much negligible - certainly no get rich quick scheme.

Your reply did give me a chuckle though, so thanks for that.

There might be some folks out there without a lot of money who would have loved, ridden and appreciated a quality bike for $90.00, instead now they'll get one of the junk cheap bikes leftover on craigslist. All because some guy with nothing better to do wanted to make 300% markup for virtually no effort.

This is exactly what I do. Find an under-priced bike, to some quick TLC to it (Clean, inspect tires and brakes), and tack on a markup.

I generally look for bikes that will cost me less than $30 to get road-worthy, and then tack $50-$75 on the price. And, I re-post it in about 30 minutes after I get it home (Doesn't take long to clean, inspect, and replace tires/tubes).

I don't see anything dishonest with this. This is what keeps bikes out of the landfill. Even those BSO's.