Velocipede Baltimore Craigslist Discussion
 

Have the Baltimore Peeps out there seen the odd posts on craigslist about velocipede? Do other bike coops in other cities have these issues?

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/bik/



The initial post about someone selling 2000 bikes in DC keeps getting taken down.

Here is one with more concerns about the bike coop:

Whether they have the best intentions or not, I have some serious concerns with their ethics and organization.

When donations are made or bikes are sold, are records kept? When donations are made, are receipts given to the donor? When a bike is purchased, is a receipt given to the buyer? There is some note-taking in the big 3 ring binder by the front desk, but is this the only official record?

I question again, is this an ethical problem or organizational.




I posted this in reply to concerns of a previous post:

My velocipede experience has so far been positive.

Sure, you pay a little more for junk than you would if you scoured garage sales, but you're buying the convenience of all that junk in one place.

Anyone can volunteer there. Therefore anyone could potentially find a vintage part and pay less than its worth only to flip it on ebay. But the idea that there is a gold mine of bike parts is very unrealistic. The vast majority seemed only worth their weight in scrap metal.

No its not super organized. They don't have customer service consultants training the volunteers. Its not walmart. I was under the impression most are random volunteers who may walk in, help out for a few months and then move on. I did think the lack of a clear person in charge/power structure makes it more difficult to figure out whats going on. But remember, its run by people who mean well, not business people.

Its a free country. If you can make a better bike coop in baltimore, start your own. Seriously. But keep in mind that if it takes 10 hours to fix up a bike, how much can you sell that bike for? Its only worth what someone will pay for it, and that probably won't cover your costs.

not those issues specifically, but most have similar ones.

dc lost our only co op earlier this year. i wasn't in on the whole story, but from my experiences there i could tell that it was having serious problems with the business end of things.

its a shame, i liked some of the folks that ran the place. sadly, the others were people with connections to the parent organization who needed a job and didn't really know or care much about bikes. if that place were still around i very well might be volunteering there instead of working in a shop. such is life.

I would argue this is more of a forum discussion, then a relevant post in the "FOR SALE" section of craigs list, and that all of the post's don't belong there in the first place.

In regards to Co-ops, keep in mind that the guys running or organizing Co-ops generally have their own intentions, however disappointing that may be. And since they recieve the bikes, they generally have first pick at which bikes come in for donations, or if they make their way into the hands of another individual.

Sorry to hear about the bad luck, hope you have better experiences next time

All of my experiences with Velocipede have been positive. I hope that these issues that others have raised don't become a cancer for them.

So as a collective member (we vote on how the co-op is run as well as staff the shop) i'd like to say a few things.

First, we are aware of these posts, at least one post concerning bikes being sold in DC as well as concerns about us selling bikes on craigslist and ebay for more than they are worth. The post was replied to by a velocipede member with our contact information and a statement saying that concerns should be brought to us directly.

As for 2000 bikes being sold in DC... anyone who has been to Velocipede knows that we don't have CLOSE to 2000 bikes, much less 2000 WORKING bikes. Whatever is going on with that has nothing to do with us. Furthermore, Velocipede has yet to (though there is a future possibility) sell ANY bicycle on ebay or craigslist.

When any donation is made, it is documented. A reciept is given if the donor wants one. A reciept is given when someone purchases a bicycle. Our system is still in development but it is there.


I would also like to make this last point very clear. We are not in the business of SELLING bikes. We SELL very few bicycles, and that is only to help cover costs; to "keep the lights on" so to speak. We are a collective. A person who walks in and wants a bike is encouraged NOT TO BUY a bike, but volunteer hours and then to build up a bike with our tools and with the help of our more experienced volunteers. After you have volunteered 3 hours (3 hours people) you can pull out a bike and build it up and take it home, without spending a penny. The same goes for parts. If you find a vintage part, you volunteer enough hours to pay for the item, provided it's not a phil hub or something rediculous like that. Most parts can be had for 1-3 volunteer hours (hours worth aprox. $11/hour).

Once again, these are all questions that could be answered if they are just asked, possibly in our shop and not on craigslist.

Who ever is posting on craigslist, must have an unrequited love at velocipede or is in need of a hobby.

i think the folks at velocipede are doing a great thing, but you cant make everyone happy.