What do you do about people who list their bikes for outrageous prices?
 

In my area you get people who think because the bike is old it's worth a fortune.

These bikes sit forever with noone buying. I have sold quite a few vintage bikes of good quality for reasonable prices (flipping). Even at lower prices the bikes did not sell instantly it took a while, not a huge market in my area. How do you approach someone to inform them the price they are asking is outrageous but you would be interested at a fair price?

Not worth your time or effort.

+1

IMO, capitalism is the best answer.

It gets annoying. I want to shoot off angry emails all the time. "Your bike is a piece of sh... sell to me for 25$" Yea that wouldn't work.

sometimes i send emails and screw with their minds..... it's actually entertaining...

for instance this guy was trying to sell a super cycle medalist from Canadian tire for 600 bucks on Toronto craigslist, they were selling for 99 dollars last year. Funny enough, ppl on the craigslist were Re:RE:Re: his post and making fun of the bike and telling ppl not to buy it cause it was worth no where near that. I wasn't one of the people involved in that one, but i find that on Toronto's craigslist, if you post a bike that's way too overly inflated, then someone will make a post or make fun of you or criticize you or whatnot. So it's pretty funny when it happens

Uhhh... ignore 'em.

Agreed and it's unfortunate since I have seen some bikes I would really lie to own. You wait a while and see the price drop and it's still ridiculous. I wonder what happens to it after the listing is gone?

I know. The guy says to his wife, " see dear I told you it wouldn't sell. I will just keep it". Nothing new about that huh.

Ignore them. The price will come down, or they won't sell the bike.

Why not simply offer what you like? Worst that can happen: you get ignored; you get a nasty email back; you get a counteroffer.

There's no point in telling somebody he's pricing something too high. The market will do that.

Shave their belly with a rusty razor.
.

+1 I ignore them, not worth my time, and the market will eventually educate them (if they are listening). Got a flipper in my area, his prices are usually 33% to 50% high, his ads suck, and his mechanic skills are lousy too. But I think his ads make my bikes look like a better deal, so I leave him alone.


While you may be interested at a fair/realistic price, they obviously are not interested in selling at that price. So move on, their loss.

Oh, that was you?

It kinda bums me when people relist their crap bikes every day. I only relist my crap bikes every Friday and my ads get kinda lost in the noise.

It works both ways. Sometimes sellers know what something is worth and should sell for, only to have bottom-feeders respond and attempt to annoy them. If you see something you want, you can always try to negotiate. If that doesn't work, walk away, but leave your offer and phone number.

I waited two years to buy a lot of three bikes I wanted. The seller eventually called, and we made a deal. One bike was at one time, the earliest known CA Masi (from the first batch made in Carlsbad). Another, a full chrome Alex Singer camper, with all the goodies (less the bags), and the third, a pretty 'traut Limited with some nice bits on it. I got them all for my original cash offer, it just took a couple of years.

BTW- insulting the seller, whether he is or isn't reasonable, doesn't work very well. :)

Same thing I'd do in a store. Pass.

You could make an offer, which the seller may think is as ridiculously low as you think the asking price is high.
If he/she refuses, then simply understand it's not a bike you're going to get for that price.

You may get a counter demand, also absurd, which is a good indication the two of you perceive things differently.
That's CL for you. He may think you are as uneducated about the bike as you think he is.

It's a time/money tradeoff. Maybe these sellers don't care if it takes years to sell the bikes. Maybe they're just waiting for an idiot to pay $600 for a Canadian Tire bike.

It's annoying, but I find the guys that think CL is eBay and say they're looking to sell for the highest offer even more annoying. There's a guy that had a mid-80's Stumpjumper and said he'd take the best offer over $500. Evidently he did a little research and thought it was a collector's piece of some sort. It sat on CL for months with him trying to sell it like it was an auction. Every time he re-posted it, I would flag it for removal. I've not seen it for a while now, so I'm guessing he gave up or finally sold it.

Not buy them......

I like the dull razor. Making fools of these people sounds like something a little more reasonable. How many times can you flag an add >??? I wish you could flag an add on ebay, there are several people asking stupid numbers for common run of the mill bikes.

The whole make a bid for my bike on CL really bothers me more than stupid high prices on junk. The latter is permitted under CL terms of use and the former is not.

i report them to the moderator.

I had bought several bikes from a flipper in a near by city. The prices were fair for the condition of the bikes. Somehow he came into possession of a Peugeot. The bike had a fork that was not original to the bike. Also, it had other noticeable flaws. I informed him that the bike had likely been in a accident. Even if the bike was in pristine condition, his bike was substantially overpriced. In an email, I gently informed him of the value of his bike. Although he was kind, it was apparent that he didn't accept my evaluation. Although I was attempting to be helpful, he perceived it negatively. Since then, I have decided to help only when asked.

Some questions:

If you read an ad in the newspaper, for a car that is overpriced, do you notify the editor?
If you read a classified ad in one of those trader publications, do you notify the publisher?
If you walk onto a car lot, and a vehicle is priced at double NADA, do you call the mayor?

Why then, do we feel we need to take action when a bike is overpriced on CL?
What gives us the right to judge prices in classified ads?

Perhaps I didn't get the memo.

It's not an emergency situation, like with gouging after hurricanes.
It's a bike. It's priced by the seller, subject to the market's desires.

Is there some kind of rule out there that: "Thou must charge only prices that the internet public agrees with " ?

Perhaps we are so quick to criticize is because we can do it anonymously, and remotely.

I'm not defending the prices, but I do think it's a free country, and last I checked,
the government was not appointing price police. I'm sure that's coming; the price of votes seems to be going up.

I agree with the irritating "highest bidder" seller, but they were around in classified ads, too. Just say no?

I simply don't buy things that are grossly overpriced unless I have to (medical care, dentistry, HVAC repair, jewelry).
Other things, I avoid buying.

It took me 100x as long to write this as to make a buy/don't buy decision on a bike on CL.

If I spoke to such a person, and I can't think of why I would, I would say:

'Thanks for making my prices look great. Also for making my photos, descriptions, and the work I do on the bikes I sell look awesome. By comparison to you I look like the freaking genius of bike history and mechanics, and like I'm the most trustworthy guy in the world. But words alone can't express how much you have helped me, it requires something more tangible. So here's my warmest handshake.'

I wait. I have bought two off of CL this year that started about 2-3 times what I paid. If the seller really wants them gone, then reality eventually will sink in. The value hit on shipping for the Ebay excuse doesn't hurt.

They just make my bikes look like a better deal.