Well thanks! I wasn’t aware of that.

Although it is odd that the only guy in the world who seems to know about this deal asks about models to look for and nearly all the responses are 80’s/90’s models.

On a side note, one would think Bridgestone would have adopted the Abchor brand for their earlier steel bikes and not their current carbon offerings... settle down, I’m just kidding.

John

OP said he's in Japan, the boxes look recent, rather than from the the US operation during the GP period, and instead of being entirely unmarked, "there is a sticker on the box with a lot no. and 2 codes like 1B43Kb and MHM370.P."

Bridgestone, in Japan, is a fairly middle of the road brand with a bunch of road bikes and MTBs. I'd say OP will end up with some 5-10 year old entry-mid level hardtail mountain bikes, rather than a stash of NOS XO-1s still in their original boxes.

Yep, I assumed they were olde North American market bikes, but he said Japan in a later post. I haven't seen many Japanese posters on the forums, if anyone knows of one, alert them to the thread.

My first guess would be mamachari city bikes. Could be minivelos, would be kinda cool. No MTBs on this advert, but the flat bar road bike is kinda MTBish. Hard to tell, but I think the roadie is Anchor branded.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8fd7e2d5e7.jpg

OP said earlier in the thread that "Seller doesnt know the specific model, he only knows that some boxes are mountainbikes and some are childrens bikes."

I was going off the global products (https://www.bscycle.co.jp/global/products/index.html). A few MTBs there, but I've never seen one in person in Korea, unlike (admittedly rare) Bridgestone branded mid-level road bikes.

Japan's really interesting with bikes, in that they often have products that don't make it into any other markets. Check out the Giant website to see what I mean; the offerings are fairly standard across the world until you get to Japan, where there are Giants available that you just don't see anywhere else.

I interviewed for a job selling white van speakers around 1989 in Charlotte, NC. Drive around, tell a bogus story like the ones above, and sell overpriced crappy speakers at a “discount.”

So why can’t he now open up the boxes to see what’s inside? Seems like a smart business person would do that to make sure he isn’t cheating himself.

This makes no sense to me.

Happened to me 2 or 3 times in South America in the '90s, but heard it happened to some others too.

Link to the Auction


https://injapan.ru/auction/522129541.html

Seems like theres a 5 post limit per 24 hours for newbies lol.

They are going for 10-50 USD right now but they are up for auction so they can go for much higher. Given they have been for auction for a few days now and some have stayed at 10USD I thought it might be a good opportunity to get 1 or 2 of the 10USD ones since they would for sure sell for much higher than 10 bucks even if I listed them as used. He put them up for auction which to me goes in the direction of him having no expertise and letting the market determine a price for him instead of letting it eat up warehouse space.

They are a buy and sell shop. From their history I would say mostly auto parts. They seem to have the expertise for that even offering installs for some models parts for a separate fee. This is the first time I see them list a bicycle though which is what makes me think they dont have expertise.

I would open them if I were him. If I had to guess, maybe he opened 1 or two to identify the type and didn't bother with the rest since he doesn't know how to assemble or maintain them. 2nd hand market in Japan is picky about all original, could be he thinks amateurish assembly would lessen the value? Could be as simple as not expecting much profit from them given the age and likelihood they are entry level bikes that he feels its a hassle to assemble them all. He did mention there were like 30 odd boxes per bike type. Again though I have no idea. I tried to ask him if he could open a specific box for me to verify but he was adamant that he didn't have the expertise and that they were at the warehouse.

So the seller seems to somehow know which boxes should sell for 5x more than other boxes? Are those boxes much smaller, like maybe with the children's bikes that have 16" wheels?

:foo:

Milwaukee 3 weeks ago, with steaks.

Tim

This is exciting. I would go for it. At the current prices, and even substantially higher, you don't stand to lose much.

I'm jumping in here a little late after the thread has gone off course and now returned.... I don't care what the guy is telling you they are, you're crazy for even entertaining the idea. You're basically telling us you might want to buy something that can't even be identified, that it's only a bike box?

I would at least want to look through the hand holes to see if there is a bike in there and not some bricks or something. Whole thing seems bogus to me, but I know there are different norms in Japan than in the U.S. Right now bike shops are bartering for parts in the U.S., the bidding on these things would be considerable if they could tell what was in the box.

If I could get mystery bikes shipped here for $10 a box, I would. I can build a boxed kids bike in 15 mins. Could probably sell it on CL for $50 fairly quickly.

Thing is the boxes are supposedly in Japan, and the auction copy is in Russian. I'm guessing the OP is in Japan? But doesn't know what the Japanese on the stickers says?

OP, do the seller guarantee there's a bike - any kind of bike - inside the box? Or they sell "as is", you must accept whatever is in the box?

He doesnt know, its more the auction market determining the price. He listed for a base price of 10USD, some of them have been bid higher.

I'm telling you I want to buy something before completely identifying it for the right price. It is definitely a gamble for sure, The idea is that despite the odds, the worst outcome still nets me a profit. I found these while looking to buy my first road bike, quite the exciting sidetrack.

Yea that was my logic, I dont speak Japanese fluently yet. I just moved recently. All I can read determine from the labels are some of the colors. And yes I can see tires and a rim through the holes of the boxes.

Its a buy at your own risk thing. They verified a few boxes being bikes and didnt bother checking the rest of the stock since they came from the same place. Still speaking to the bridgestone guys about trying to identify it. They dont have the lot numbers in their database which the guy said is relatively new. This makes me think these bikes are maybe late 90s early 2k? I suppose 50 USD including domestic shipping would be my cap since you can get decently maintained complete bikes for that price on auction here. Lets see how this plays out.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bfaaafc347.jpg

Bid on the high wheeler bikes! Who doesnt love a good Penny Farthing for $50usd?


This thread is wild- made even more so since it appears legit.
I would 100% be willing to buy 2 boxes of something for $40usd. I have spent more on worse, and thats when I knew what I was buying!

Sounds like it’s time to **** or get off the pot, as they say.

I'm always wary - wouldn't the seller be better off at least opening them to give a better idea of what's in the box? Even an unbuilt model X or Y bike will sell for a lot more than a mystery box.

Of course, if there are bikes (or parts) in there, you can't really lose money at $10 a box. I've no idea about Japan but the price of bikes is really high at the moment due to covid and the impact on supply/demand.

Everyone's freaking out on the unopened boxes. But, if the seller has them stored somewhere remote from his office, the hassle of driving there, opening individual boxes, photographing bikes within, resealing the boxes and uploading the images to an uncertain buyer is much more hassle than it's worth.

It looks to be a Russian site listing Japanese auctions. I would assume the Japanese site has fraud protections, as well as OP's credit card company. It's not like OP's buying a closed box from a little truck advertising "Mr. Hashimoto's Mobile Bicycles, wholesale cabbage and non-fake Chinese iPhone store."

I would go for it.

I like this truck you speak of. Cabbage, bikes and non-fake iPhones are great. Do you know where I might find this truck?

how do you know what size frame your buying? Don’t you want to buy the correct size? Maybe send an email to Bridgestone