Buying then splitting at profit? Opinions?

[northerndave]

Been seeing a bit of this lately, bikes being bought then very quickly split and sold at quite a mark up.

What do people think of this? Is it a bit frowned upon or just considered de rigur? Is having someone take a risk on parting out a bike good for the general flow of parts and they're welcome to profit from it?

 

[cce]

i acquire all kinds of shabby, badly listed stuff off ebay and do this. it makes my habit a bit more self-funding and takes a few nice parts out of the "hack bike" pool and brings them into the enthusiast pool.

 

[Agency_Scum]

I think cce is deservedly the most righteous ( no, seriously! ) of the retro-for-profit demographic as it's his fund for his " keepers. " I see many who are in it for the dosh alone and it's not my cup of tea....HOWEVER, I treat these " traders " the same way I treat those who massively over-price their gear; I walk away. I always feel the thing worse than profiteers are the indignant " sale-killers " who pop into a sale thread informing potential buyers ( often with links ) of the massive profit the seller is making or the " these are in Chain Reaction for half the price " crowd. Please, if someone's dumb enough to spend way over the odds without a Google search I don't feel the seller ( even a profiteering one ) deserves to suffer.

 

[legrandefromage]

I buy and sell just to keep the fleet going - but have only sold stuff from victims, er, yeah, sod it, 'victims' from outside RB.

Buying cheap from an RB member then selling it on for profit is not cricket but, its your money and you can do what you like.

Karma is a little tricky, I given shitloads away and received shitloads and its all gone into the mix.

 

[Tazio]

My biggest grip is the no posts but selling a lot crowd. Who seemed to have upped their numbers recently. One in particular seems to be using this site as a clearing house for parts, admittedly decent ones, but not contributing anything else to the forum.

 

[rojo]

My biggest grip is the no posts but selling a lot crowd. Who seemed to have upped their numbers recently. One in particular seems to be using this site as a clearing house for parts, admittedly decent ones, but not contributing anything else to the forum.

Who's that?? :? :? :?

 

[technodup]

I can't see why anyone would care.

My singlespeed was largely funded by shifting two bikes worth of bits on here (the half decent bits anyway). It means I've got a bike for almost nothing, but equally if I was spending the profit on cocaine and hookers I don't see why it should matter to anyone else.

Buy it, don't buy it. As long as it's not stolen I can't see why the seller's motive should come into it at all.

 

[Tazio]

My biggest grip is the no posts but selling a lot crowd. Who seemed to have upped their numbers recently. One in particular seems to be using this site as a clearing house for parts, admittedly decent ones, but not contributing anything else to the forum.

Who's that?? :? :? :?

I'd rather not say, as they appear totally legit in their sales. Of course there are people who sell a lot, but they also contribute in other ways.

 

[the_duke]

Personally I think if you buy something cheaply and dont need it why not sell it later down the line for a fair market value. Some things may even rise in value!

Having said that I wouldnt do this for the sake of making a few quid, any cheap BIN I see on ebay I flag up in the forum unless I have a use for it.

 

[john]

This discussion has reared it's head on occasion in the past. It is indeed a tricky one. If someone wants to go through the hassle of buying an entire bike, stripping it, listing the parts and posting them out then I've no problem them pocketing a few quid for their trouble. The line between this and blatant profiteering can be a thin one though.