Am I the only one???
 

It seems that craigslist is more and more flooded by ridiculously priced bikes as time goes on.

I routinely see:
1) the bike they got off bikesdirect two years ago, and now try to sell it for more than it even sells for brand new. even though its stock.
2) schwinn varsities that are "rare" and worth $250.
3) the rusted up cruiser thats worth $500-$1000
4) and the SS conversion that is worth $400, even though it still has a 6 speed freewheel and a double crank still on it

So the the past few weeks or so, I've taken it upon myself to set up an alternate email account and respond to some of these gems.

I'm by no means offensive to them, but many of the sellers do not respond with calm temperament when I politely correct them on the value of their bike. And several emails begin to shoot back and forth of pure trolling on my account which makes them even more mad.

Anyone else respond to some of these ridiculous ads that attempt to swindle the unknowing?

If someone wants to go fishing for a buyer on CL it's their right. If a buyer is to dumb to look into something before dropping money on it their fault. If somethings way overpriced (to me) I have better things to do than act like the Craigslist police and tell people how to price items they own.

With all due respect, the sellers are working within the laws and rules of buying/selling and CL. You are "playing" and tormenting people engaged in business with no skin in the game yourself.

Ignoring the alternate email thing…

The prices my ‘Pickers’ charge me this year .vs. years past are up 20% to 25%.
Why sell me a Univega with chromo frame and alloy rims and cranks for $150 when they can get an easy $200 on CL?

prices are going up -especially on vintage city bikes and classic 3-speeds. There are a few of us in my area rebuilding them and selling very nice examples and getting higher prices. I think that people are seeing these prices and think they can roll a basketcase out of the basement and get the same prices.

More power to them. If that pushes the prices up it's only better for me as I can charge even more.

Seems like we are starting to see a vintage bike-boom here in Chicago. I love it. Let the market decide with its invisible hands on the bars...

What is frustrating to me is the communication, or lack of, with CL customers. I put my phone number in the ad. Does anyone call? no. Texts that go on for hours. Setting up times to meet with no response. Endless emails back and forth. Give me a call and get it over with. You want the bike come and get it.

And yes I have noticed craxy prices on junk bikes. And there are several claiming things like "all original", "rare", and the strangest to me is the people who list the mileage. No one really knows what sort of miles the bike has been ridden. Its the goofy CL world, and it reflects the goofy real world that just gets stranger and stranger.

What is frustrating to me is the communication, or lack of, with CL customers. I put my phone number in the ad. Does anyone call? no. Texts that go on for hours. Setting up times to meet with no response. Endless emails back and forth. Give me a call and get it over with. You want the bike come and get it.

And yes I have noticed craxy prices on junk bikes. And there are several claiming things like "all original", "rare", and the strangest to me is the people who list the mileage. No one really knows what sort of miles the bike has been ridden. Its the goofy CL world, and it reflects the goofy real world that just gets stranger and stranger.

Of course you are not the only one. Lots of people complain about the rising costs of vintage bicycles, but to no avail. What the rest of don't do is set up phony email accounts, so that we can muddy the Craigslist waters with unsolicited opinions regarding asking prices.

CL in the Twin Cities is an absolute pain and torture machine.

It can give me real aggravation if I let it get to me.

My kids don't bother flipping anymore either, as we get either spam, crackpots, or never shows.

Just when I say to myself I'm not going to look anymore, there is a deal I just can't pass on.

Like a brand new set of Challenge tubs for $50!

I do tend to flag the severe overposters but I don't really worry about the crazy prices people ask because it just makes my prices that much better and makes my bikes that much easier to sell.

I rarely have more than one bike done at a time and I rarely have to post them for more than a day as opposed to the guy that's been trying to sell a Technium with flat bars for $275.00 for over a year now.

:)

Edit- I did e-mail one guy that posts that all his bikes are tuned and ready to ride just to inquire (nicely) what "tuned" included and he just got rude and said "everything", I'm sure he sells a ton of bikes with that attitude :rolleyes:



.

If this is a big enough priority for you to take that much time, I suggest that you start watching the news. If people are over charging, their bike won't sell. It's not your problem and, the last I checked, there is no MSRP for used bikes.

I sympathize with the OP's point of view on this. In this market the majority of bikes listed are old department store junk being offered for twice what they cost new by people who have no interest in or knowledge of bikes other than they're heard you can make money flipping them. Some of the photo's listed with the bikes would actually be funny if they weren't potentially dangerous. eg. brake cables reversed; rear derailleurs "ready to ride" with the cages horizontal to the ground, small frames with six inches of stem sticking out, so maybe the OP is right to try to do something.

I hate Craigslist Police. Why do you want to waste a sellers time with your opinion?

The thing I wonder about is that I see a lot of bikes listed as "Good for a rider between X'-X" and Y'-Y," but then have ZERO other sizing information.

is there some sort of website or table somewhere on the internet that people are using for this determination? I see this all the time and from a number of different CL listers. It always confuses me when it is done without the actual real frame size. Dude, I don't trust your judgement or your table or whatever website you are using to determine these "good for" values. Just give the stupid frame size from the BB to top of top tube and BE DONE WITH IT.

Of all the many things that tend to annoy other CL readers the total ignorance of many bike sellers about how to list a frame size tends to annoy me most. Also include the fact that the USA is becoming a post-literate society and people have been totally failed by their public schools to be able to at least read and write at a 5th-grade level. The lack of proficiency in English is abysmal. Not being able to at least READ THE NAME ON THE FRAME and type it into the ad without a typo or an obvious misspelling always amazes me. How hard is that???

Haha! At least I can feel superior -so some good comes out of it. ;)

You'd have to be blind in one eye and cant see out of the other not to notice the swing in this trend. However, there is a good side to it all. Not every CL lister is a flipper wanting to pay their late rent with a one piece-cranked, rusty chained Schwinn. Some of these are people that just want to dig out what they have to make a few bucks on something gathering dust in the corner of the basement the past 15yrs. It is these few that are the gems worth dealing with.

I picked up a '79 Super Mirage (in my sig) for 60clams last summer. It's a beauty and in amazingly good condition now that I've cleaned it up.

I just eye-ball the length/height of the headtube. If there is a big gap between the downtube and toptube at the lugs then you have a bike for a tall rider. No gap, you have a short riders bike. Frame geometry tells a quick and good story for those looking for a certain genre of bike.

one thing i learned from CL is that:
redefined use of the word 'vintage'. the spectrum of vintage seems quite broad and generous there. :)

Nothing is offensive on craigslist bike ads really. Silly yes sometimes. I calmly explain why there bike isn't worth so much in an email to them if it's a bike I'm interested in....I'll include links in the email to some of the ebay listings of replacement parts, and other example of mint versions of their bikes for sale in other places, then explain the time and money it takes to do a restoration.

Some bring the prices down and some don't. Doesn't matter to me, it's more of a hobby for me than an income stream. So I don't let myself get too emotionally invested till it's in my garage.

Besides, a $200 for beat up "rare" Chicago Schwinn is still a better deal than anything else for $200 in a box store (most peoples idea of fair pricing). Which is why you're seeing the prices go up. We're in the middle of the next bike boom, when Wally World bikes go for $150-$200, why wouldn't an old reliable bike? Other than some of the bike co-ops, bike store bikes are still out of most people price ranges. Yeah, it's easy for us to say you get what you pay for, but as most of us know, most bikes sit after they are bought. And besides the basis of your complaint it that you want to get more than you pay for.


<edit> When I list, I give seat tube dimension (except on kids bikes tire size then) and a recommended rider size. Not everyone knows what size is going to fit them. Let alone a dimension given in cm. But I also tend deal in casual/urban rides/bar hoppers, where sizing isn't as important.

Also this forum in a way with it's "what's it's worth" threads doesn't help much either. Anyone can look up there bike thier and price it at collector prices.

^^^^^^^^^^^This ^^^^^^^

and this: and lastly, this:http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-on?highlight=

Notice that while I am curious about the trend,
I am somehow able to refrain from righting the
wrongs of the entire Craigslist universe.

Just an observation.:D

Agreed, 3alarmer. It's better when I accept that stuff as part of the landscape. Impossible to change it.

+1 Mind your own business.