hubcyclist

I did today, I saw a 50cm specialized allez sport a few days ago going for $150 and wanted to get it for my wife. Today, saw the exact same year/model/color in a nearby town for $450. Offered 300 and stated that I was assuming he got it for $150 a few days ago, and he came back sounding offended that I'd offer $300 and the old trope about assuming things. I mean, what are the odds that two identical bikes go on CL within days? Pretty damn low, I'd think.

Dunbar

Nope, although overpriced bikes on Craigslist are a pet peeve of mine. I value my free time higher than whatever meager amount (per hour) I could make buying/selling stuff on CL. I do know guy whos flips stuff on CL for fun, and to help fund his cycling hobby, even though he doesn't need the money. He does seem to genuinely seem to enjoy "the hunt" for great deals on bikes and cycling equipment.

J.C. Koto

No. Unless they're flagrantly violating the craigslist terms of service I don't bother doing anything.

hubcyclist

I actually looked at the blue book value 2004 Specialized Allez Sport Triple - New and Used Bike Value and I apparently even offered him $50 more than they list the bike for in new condition. I just felt like I had to make him aware I knew what was up. Mainly just kicking myself for not getting in on the $150 price originally, would have been a good entry road bike for my wife.

mulveyr 

Why the need to "call him out?" Buy the bike you want when it's at the price you're willing to pay. It makes absolutely no difference whatsoever what the seller paid for it.

WonderMonkey

Who cares if grandma gave it to him for free yesterday or he bought it cheap or whatever? He can sell it for whatever the market is willing to pay.

He may even say "Yes, I buy low, shine it up, and sell higher". So?

cannondale125

Well hubcyclist! I'm on your side here. I flip a lot. But if I buy it on cl I don't smack people in the face and relist it on cl for 3 times what I paid! Now what the other guys are saying is true to. Does not matter what he paid you should of jumped on the deal as soon as you seen it. But hey you will find a good deal, just watch cl every chance you get.

hubcyclist

Yeah, don't get me wrong, people have the right to sell for whatever they can get and I can generally identify the common flippers pretty easily. But by "calling out" basically I just said, hey I think you paid $150 for this just a few days ago, I'll make you a reasonable offer to at least double your investment, but I'm not going to overpay at $450. I didn't mean to imply that I was calling him a jerk for turning around and upping the price $300 or anything like that. Just wanted to create an honest transaction, but he didn't seem to want to fess up lol

xenologer

please explain how doubleing ones investment is any more or less 'honest' than tripling?

I thought the concept of "Just Price" died out with the middle ages

hueyhoolihan

i went to the grocery store the other day and asked the head honcho how much he paid for the loaf of bread i was going to buy, i happen to KNOW that they pay 1.50 for it because my brother-in-law is a distributor and told him i was only willing to pay 3.00 for it. he said the price was 4.00. i felt better about it afterwards cause i "called him out".

cannondale125

I have a old ex friend that lives in il. He comes to mo and buys bikes and goes home and list them in parts on ebay. He always says this bike sat in storage for years like new. He's a TOOL!!

Machka 

I don't understand what the problem was ...

IF you were right that someone bought a bicycle for $150 and then put it up for sale at $450 ... what's wrong with that??? If he can sell it for $450 ... great!! He made a good deal. How is that, as you say, 'pretty damn low"? And why on earth should be obliged to "fess up"?

IF you were not right, and if it was a different bicycle ... then you were busy making false accusations. You have no proof they were the same bicycles.

Either way ... if you wanted it for $150, you should have bought it for that when you had the chance.


Or was there something I missed in the story?

walrus1

Welcome to the internet kid. Sometimes people ask outrageous amounts for goods and services vote with your feet and move on.

mulveyr 

You didn't miss anything; OP seems to believe that he has the right and/or obligation to dictate how much profit a seller makes, especially if the seller has lucked out with an awesome deal that the OP was too slow to get himself.

fietsbob

Stolen Property sales get to use CL these days.

Looigi

If you had some cash, time, knowledge and initiative, you too could make money buying and selling used bikes on C/L.

Looigi

C/L is no different than the newspaper classifieds in the old days.

RaleighSport

If you wanted the bike.. you should have snapped it up at $150 and worried about if your wife wanted it later. CL is a crapshoot, and flippers are constantly on the look out for underpriced bikes to resell, I don't know your market but $450 seems high for most places for that bike, still dropping 150 off the price for your offer and inserting assumptions isn't going to get you anywhere.. if I were wanting that bike for 300 I'd sit on it and hopefully it wouldn't sell.. then a few weeks later off 250-300 probably 250 so it can seem like I'm moving up to the 300 mark. All you really did IMO was create ill will towards yourself from the seller...

curbtender

Never called anyone out, but have corrected them. Had a Schwinn Fiesta I'd picked up for free. Aired the tires, lubed and cleaned. nice bike. Sold it at a swap for $60 to a guy who said he was buying for his daughter, OK. Saw it the next day on CL for $250, fine. He was saying it had a 2speed hub that needed attention, not, single speed. I sent him a note along with a "Goodluck"...

wahoonc

I have better things to do with my time that try to police CL. It is what it is, the basics of commerce are buy at a certain price and sell at a higher price to make a profit. Caveat Emptor.

Aaron

I-Like-To-Bike

I am going to "call out" some early investors in Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Google and Netflix if they try to sell me some of their stock at today's prices because the price asked is way too much and far more than 2 or 3 times what they paid for it.

achoo

And here I thought half of what's on CL was stolen.

Now it's official?

Little Darwin

It irks me when people sell over-priced, but only because it clogs up CL with useless postings. I see it as no more irritating than selling bikes withg little or no information. Or informative titles like "Bike for Sale" or worse, "bike for sell"

I try to find the humor in the postings that don't otherwise interest me.

ratdog

So,...over the last two years I've bought (2) pretty rare bikes on CL for 1/2 their market value. Am I obligated to sell it to whoever comes asking for a song and a dance?

Quite frankly, you lost the opportunity to buy the bikes you want at the lower price, so either buy it at the new higher asking price or keep looking. That's what CL is all about. You snooze, you lose.... FWIW, the two bikes I bought were only on CL for 5-8 minutes before I snatched them up. That's how fast you have to react if you see a deal you want.

bikecrate

I don't really care about flippers reselling used items. The only thing that bugs me on the CL bike section is people reselling "new" Wallyworld bikes for 3 times their original price. Usually someone will call them out.