Blatent profiteering

Bit of a rant I'm afraid!

I've noticed prices creeping up on here. I've sold parts to people at what I've thought have been honest prices only to see them back on here a month or so later at twice the price.

This used to be a good, honest community where we all helped each other out and did what we could to get kit out to people at resonable prices but it seems that more recently, people have started hiking up their prices and are blatently taking the p*ss to try to make money.

I've seen someone here buy something off e-bay for £31 and then advertise it here a week later at £83!! I know I'm probably being idealistic and at the end of the day we're a market economy but come on!!! If it only made £30 on e-bay with an audience of millions, is a £50 price hike realistic within a week???

I know its a problem endemic of the sites success, but as buyers and sellers of this stuff, we need to keep this in check

True, but having had a similar discussion about bidding wars on eBay, it seems that plenty of people are happy for it to be each man for himself, wheras I don't bid if someone I know is already after it. (Oh, and I politely declined the £83 offer for the same reason you would have done!) What can you do?

Yeah, but I think that a bidding war on e-bay is a different matter. Simple economics dictates that with so many millions of users on e-bay, the selling value must be close to the products actual market value. Sure there is a few quid difference here and there according to the 'who has the biggest wallet' factor, but most of the time, e-bay is pretty fair.

To use retrobike as a place to make huge profits, not always justifiably, I think is against the spirit of the site, and not why John set this up in the first place.

I bought the Zaskar LE purely to make a bit on it, but to be honest the prices I think I'm offering the bits at are fair. I could have sold them straight onto Ebay for more than I think I'll get here, but I just wanted to make enough to get a couple of small shiny bits for myself hopefully the interest I have had shows I'm pitching at about the right level... if my prices are too high is is unintentional. I've bought it for £275 and I'd like to get £300 in parts. To be honest I'm not sure it's going to happen and I might not even break even unfortunately, but you live and learn.

Also, I notice that a lot of stuff that comes up on here is very top end (£100+ for rear mech etc), now it may be worth that, but it's out of my reach. I'm after plain old LX/XT generally and if I can flog it at reasonable prices the favour might be returned one day when I need it.

I don't have a problem with that. If there's a BIN for £250 on something thats worth more, then thats the sellers stupid fault. You did well there, I think that the bike and bits are worth more than that

If you had bought it for £250 in a normal auction though, with a few bidders going for it, I would have said that £250 was a fair reflection of the market price.

Profiteering is okay, buy a complete bike for £100, take the frame and forks and sell the bits off for £120 is okay by me, but "taking the piss" as Russell so eloquently puts it is not and I agree whole heartedly.

My M900 XTR rear mech is worth what I paid Scant for it, not one squillion pounds 'cos one went for that on ukranian ebay or what ever.

Keep it real, keep it friendly, keep it retro.

I will be continuing to sell and buy items for their value to me, after all if it costs £2000 to build a 1993 ti hard tail then I'll build a new ti hardtail!

Oh, we should shop the most blatant offenders

I also have bought a Zaskar on STW to re sell in bits to make a profit . Actually I have bought lots on STW , and re sold to make money .

But at the end of the day , I am never desperate for a part , that I am going to pay over the odds for it . I will wait .
The case you mention Russell must be a saddle I think . He git it cheap and tried to re sell it at the market price .

As long as you dont buy on here , then re sell on here for more , I dont see a problem . As you have said , ebay and other places are open to all . Buying and re selling is the only way I can finance my bike addiction.

I used to 'flip' a fair bit of stuff back when I was a poor student, and it helped to fund my bike parts addiction. However, I'd agree there is a fair bit of profiteering happening. If you want to do that, sell it on eBay - you'll pay them a fair fee for doing so, rather than taking advantage of a free website run by enthusiasts.

Chris has a good point there, it is the people who are willing to pay over the odds who are as guilty.

I have just re read my earlier post and it does sound a bit hard line!

The best option is too keep a good eye out and pay what you think something is worth to you.

Really, there is no way to stop this. Where the price is completely dictated by how much someone will pay in a fluctuating market, people will trade.

Bad? dunno, how long can you keep a bit before you can resell a cheap bit without it looking like you are making a quick buck?

I know what you mean Russ, but guess its the way of the world.
I try and offer at what I think is a fair price, though sometimes get it wrong


Just keep your eyes open and only pay what something is worth to you. I have paid lots for bits I really wanted (though not when I know its above market-ish value or just been bought!), but also got other stuff cheap, sometimes by accident

You can see who trades, so I come to expect it when I look at the ads.