What I've found annoying is the buyer who lists the bike for "as long as it takes" in order to try to get a much-higher price.

It's the same on Ebay, with the sellers who list parts at hugely-inflated prices in the hopes of cherry-picking from among the most-impatient buyers.

As long as Craigslist allows sellers to re-post their ad at the same price over and over, the listings will tend to be clogged with over-priced repeat listings.
At least with Ebay auctions, there is a cost to the seller for each auction, so the seller is encouraged to reduce an item's price when it doesn't sell readily.
Not that I can't sympathize with the difficulty in finding a suitable buyer for certain less-commonly listed items, but some sellers take prices to extremes and keep them there, which I find annoying.

"It's the same on Ebay, with the sellers who list parts at hugely-inflated prices in the hopes of cherry-picking from among the most-impatient buyers."

Or the most affluent. And look what has happened to the average prices of good parts since.
Almost all sellers now think their stuff is worth 100 to 300% more than it was 5 years ago.
Maybe it is. But I doubt it.

Patience is key.

I had been searching high and low for a Campy Chorus ti seatpost for a build. The ones I found were spendy.

I just sourced one yesterday from a local racer. It had been sitting in a box for many years on a garage shelf and was thrilled to get rid of it.

Sounds normal. Every fall, I build up 3-5 bikes for the annual swap meet at the Virginia Museum of Art. And I sell all of them, usually in one fell swoop - to a big time bike flipper from Washington, DC who comes down to the show every year to build up inventory. Its gotten to the point where he comes and checks out my display first anymore. I take two bits of knowledge out of these transactions: 1. My quality of bicycle building must be awful good, and my reputation matches. 2. What's retail in Richmond, VA is wholesale for Washington, DC (and I've been edging my prices up about 10% every year).

My attitude? Terrific. I sell everything I bring, at the price that I want, or at least at a negotiated price close to it. And I'm usually sold out by noon, which gives us the rest of Sunday afternoon off for Maggie and I to go and do some urban riding thru the Richmond college district. I could care less if the buyer ever rides them.

The most annoying for me was when a BFer snapped up some derailleurs I posted for free in the "pay it forward" thread and later listed them on eBay. That's bad form.

Both of those are VERY bad form indeed. I think scoundrels that do such things should be outed, by user name.
But I'm probably in the minority on that.

I'd much rather see someone make a quick profit from a bike I sold them (and I am sure that has happened).... than have a problem due to something I missed. I always feel good when I think that a buyer of a bike I sold... could just resell rather quickly if the buyer changed his/her mind.

Making a few more dollars... or a few less... isn't going to change my life to any extent ether way.

In my case, I emailed them and we spoke on the phone.

I simply stated that if they were to do it again, I would out this prior experience as well.

I told them we would chalk this one up to "a valuable learning experience" for both parties.

I think the original price was about right, and applaud OP for not gouging or pretending this was a more valuable bike than it is. The current seller may get his ask, or not; but I don't think that would make this into a more valuable bike.

I get what you are saying, you don't like that someone is trying to profit from your work. The thing is, if you priced the bike like this person it could still be in your garage. There is something to be said for pricing items to move. The bike is out of your space and you've got some extra cash to roll into something else.

I'm fairly picky about what I purchase. Basically, it needs to be midrange+, require some work, and somewhere around my size. The fun, for me, is in watching the bike come back to life and enjoying some time on it. Ultimately if it does not fit my needs or I'm uncomfortable on it I'll move it down the line. Most times, I'll find a friend who's in need of something. If that doesn't work, I'll post it on CL at a price where I won't have it for more than a day.

In my view, the consumables plus the time I have into refurbishing a bike are likely to outweigh what I'm probably going to get for a bike in most cases. And I'm content with that knowing the whole process of this hobby was enjoyable experience. I have my fun with 2-3 bikes a year and if I see it back on CL for more, it is what it is I guess.

I sold a Raleigh Super Course mixte frame at a swap for $35. The buyer built a fixie out of it with crappy used parts and had it listed on Ebay for $350 BIN. I didn't bother to see if he actually sold it. If he did, good for him.

I'd agree, many examples of bad form here.

My father always taught me that, in the world of tradin' and trafficin',you should pass things along at a price that nets you a fair profit, but leaves some room for the next guy to do the same.
Unfortunately, the next guy doesn't necessarily always deal by that philosophy.
A pity, really.
But, you've done your part, and there is no guarantee that he will sell for his asking $$$ (Usually doesn't happen.)

All this discussion just reminded me of a swap meet I attended last year, and ended up shuffling bikes across town to a local used-bike shop for a "fair"(?) profit.

This made sense for me that day because the bikes were underpriced, had been sitting for hours unsold, and it was a college town where I could sell for the highest likely price.

But it felt weird re-selling bikes that I hadn't yet gone through, and I also benefitted from collecting cash from the proprietor for a bike I had left there the year before, one that I was unable to readily sell at the same (but previous year's) annual swap meet.

The best swap meet I've attended was one about ten years ago, as I was nearly the only buyer in a sea of hungry sellers. I loaded the truck and went nuts on Ebay for the next couple of weeks clearing most of it out.

I believe the proper term is "chagrin."

Look at it this way: It has more value now that the seller can say you built it.
I'm certain that when I die, my bikes will be worth millions.

My first ever Stop, Swap, and Save, a guy bought 3 of my bikes before I got them out of the car.
He promptly went inside and doubled two prices, tripled a third. I was a little disconcerted, but understood.
Like an idiot, I walked around with a canvas bag, hoping to trade parts with vendors (it said "Swap" on the flyer).
I quickly realized it was "swap your money for our parts," and there was not a lot of saving.

Then, I met sykerocker and poguemahone, who were there to sell what they could to cover the table fee, then raise the $ for a good meal and beers. When pogue started poking through my bag, I knew C&V was going to be my niche. To this day, I regret not buying his Black Lightning, but we did trade some bits.

Kharma will get them. I must say I'm happily ignorant if this has been done to me on BF (which is likely, I suppose, as I'm a pushover).

It's the "act" that gets me, when I'm made to feel I'm actually helping someone out, and then realize I "helped" him/her to a cash profit.
It's a slight sucker punch to the pancreas, I must say, but I've had to get over the fact that I really mustn't shoot the people that annoy me.

I've even had them come back to me with a sob story, when something else went wrong.
At which time I bring up the earlier transaction and say "sounds like you had it coming, would you like to buy the part that works?"

It's only the human aspect, though, and I believe this is the same for you, Grady, being such a nice guy.
I have nice bikes, more than I deserve, and I'm only holding them for someone else, I suppose, some day.

Yes, that is bogus. Not against the law, but not nice. Neither is taking things from the BOC and selling them on Ebay (against the rules of the game, not to mention not nice).

Worst? Giving something away and having them turn around and sell it on Ebay. Uck

In the end, I just chalk it up to the fact that not everyone shares my values system. C'est la vie.

DD

In both cases, they had wtb's posted and I thought they needed the parts for a build.

I rarely post "for sale" ads here or anywhere else for that matter.

In the end, it doesn't really matter.

It simply means I had a little less in the bike fund. I have plenty of bikes and parts to play with around here.

I thought about outing the buyers, but one of them has already been booted from the forum.

The other one still posts here occasionally.....

Last year around this time, in the dead of winter when prices are low, I bought a bike on Ebay for $2250. I fixed what needed to be fixed, rode it a little and resold it on Ebay for a $3,000 +/-....I profited about $250.

A week later it was re-listed on Ebay for $5,000 using my exact ad. Ebay gave that guy a swift kick in the nuts.

Nice - what bike was that? I have some nice rigs (if I may say so myself), but I don't believe a one of them would go for 3k or Ebay...or anywhere else for that matter!

DD

Truer words and all that. Completely agree. I've found a nice balance regarding stuff and money over the past 9 months and I think I'm a happier person for it. I've even been bitten by the N-1 bug (say it isn't so!)

I'm banking experiences these days!

DD

That's funny you say that. For a while I was really enjoying working on my bikes more than riding. That has shifted to wanting to ride more and wrench less. All of the projects don't give me the joy that they once did, they are more of a burden lately.

2010 Trek Madone 6.9 Pro with Dura Ace Di2.

I'm on both sides of the fence depending on my mood that day, sometimes I want to make a fixed amount, if I get it I'm happy and dont care what the next guy does with it. Most of the time I only sell for fair market value.

In another shocking/irritating development, two of my bikes are showing up in false CL ads.

Contemplating going photo less on forums at this point..........

Seriously.