Buying then splitting at profit? Opinions?

[Neil]

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.

Like you, those just in it for profit leave me cold. But surely you could argue the "these are at CRC for half the price..." are also providing a service to the community that several or many may benefit from?

 

[suburbanreuben]

If anyone's making a decent wedge from buying and selling old bike bits, good luck to them!
The dodgy ones, who misrepresent their goodies, though, deserve a dose of the pox, especially the ones who delete your posts pointing out their "mistake"...

I'd agree to a greater or lesser extent on the first point.

The second I'm unsure on, there's a fairly direct accusation there levelled at the moderation team. Care to expand on that one?

The inference is not levelled at any of the current moderators.
Suffice to say that the willingness of the ex moderator to delete posts that challenged his erroneous beliefs was disgraceful, and it came as no surprise when he was later temporarily banned.

 

[brocklanders023]

I don't buy bikes from here to flip but I have from ebay. Usually get bikes with a couple of bits I want, keep them then flog the rest. If I sell bits on here from said bikes I try to price them low or accept low offers. If I want decent money I'd stick 'em on ebay.

I've not got a lot of spare cash atm so things I buy are funded by selling other things. I just fully updated my Orange 5 without spending any extra cash. Didn't want to sell some of the gear I had to though. If I see a badly listed bike going for £25 anywhere but here that has £200+ worth of parts (has happened ) then you can bet I'll flip it. The money would pay for me to make my Orange Elite usable.

 

[daj]

I don't buy bikes from here to flip but I have from ebay. Usually get bikes with a couple of bits I want, keep them then flog the rest. If I sell bits on here from said bikes I try to price them low or accept low offers. If I want decent money I'd stick 'em on ebay.

I've not got a lot of spare cash atm so things I buy are funded by selling other things. I just fully updated my Orange 5 without spending any extra cash. Didn't want to sell some of the gear I had to though. If I see a badly listed bike going for £25 anywhere but here that has £200+ worth of parts (has happened ) then you can bet I'll flip it. The money would pay for me to make my Orange Elite usable.

Pretty much sums me up to, I wouldnt have the bikes I have without buying and selling on ebay certainly dont buy anything on here and sell for profit though

 

[suburbanreuben]

If I have a decent part I would tend to sell it through here as I don't have much storage space in my flat. I always have the worry though if it something I bought here as I can never remember how much I paid and I wouldn't want people to think I was profiteering.

I should start a record system, though then my spending would be on paper and depress me.

+1 !
I can never remember how much I asked last time something was for sale either, so I just make it up as I go along.
Probably why I've got a shed full of stuff no-one wants.

 

[Rumble]

I'm totally OK with whatever people do, even if it's someone buying and selling on here for a profit. No-one has to buy or sell at a price they're unhappy with, and once you've let a part go (for a price you're happy with) you don't have any comeback if someone manages to get more for it.

For the record, I don't trade much, but when I do it's really just the odd part I'm not going to use or I'd rather have money for.

As for "flipping" bikes, no problem here either. These people aren't doing anything that any of the rest of us could do if we had the time or inclination.

 

[northerndave]

Ahh, some nice debate... Thought the thread might get some mixed opinions.. I'm a reasonable kind of guy but something twigged me tonight into starting the thread. NOTE TO JON: Jon, if this thread get's messy do please just shut it down.

Don't get me wrong, we're in an open market and particularly in the retro world, stuff is very subjective and one mans rubbish is another man's gold. I've paid over the odds for stuff and also paid well under for parts in the past, I also think i'm quite fair selling stuff on at what I think is fair. To be open I once bought a bike with a few parts I wanted and then split the rest and it was a mission even to get the money back when you factor in postage, effort and the invariably unsellable/broken part. Out of principle I don't sell on anything I've bought on RB for more than I remember paying for it, but I will quite happily take more then I paid on Ebay - i guess it's the closeness of the RB community that makes me do this.

Where I do get the rub, and there's a bit of this happening here is where the distinction between private a psudo trade sales gets a bit blurred. There's a few who seem to quite regularly buy cheap, but high end bikes on eBay and then ping them on here as parts with roughly a 100% markup. I'm sure no one's gonna retire on the profits but it feels like there should be some open distinction on pure private sales and what i consider 'semi trade' sales for those less able to spot them.

 

[magicmistertea]

Personally i really dont care if people make a massive profit or a loss.... if people buy stuff cheap and sell it on here for twice the money... fair play to them, If you dont like it then dont sell your stuff too cheap.
What is all the fuss about ? :?
As in the previous posts if i buy something from here for £20 and then decide i dont need/want it a few months later.. then sell it for £40 i dont think there is anything wrong with that... it just gives me more money to spend on other bike parts.
selling on specific cheap/karma items... now that is out of order !! but generally i reakon everything else is fair game.

just for the record in the years i have been on this site.. im probably a few hundred quid down !!

If you like the price then buy it... if not then dont..... simple !!

 

[john]

If anyone's making a decent wedge from buying and selling old bike bits, good luck to them!
The dodgy ones, who misrepresent their goodies, though, deserve a dose of the pox, especially the ones who delete your posts pointing out their "mistake"...

I'd agree to a greater or lesser extent on the first point.

The second I'm unsure on, there's a fairly direct accusation there levelled at the moderation team. Care to expand on that one?

The inference is not levelled at any of the current moderators.
Suffice to say that the willingness of the ex moderator to delete posts that challenged his erroneous beliefs was disgraceful, and it came as no surprise when he was later temporarily banned.

Ah. Understood.

 

[SwanHouseNappa]

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.

I fall pretty squarely into this category, largely due to the fact that I have little else I think worth contributing.
For me Retrobike is a means to an end. The end being the bike I wanted when I was younger.
I will comment on something if I have something I feel is worth saying, but the internet is already quite full.
It saddens me that this upsets some people. Would that it were a world in which people only got annoyed by things worth getting annoyed by.

So there we have it, a rare opinion from someone who rarely opines.

As for selling on stuff at a profit... I'm afraid it doesn't really bother me. It's not something that I would be comfortable doing, but can see the reasons behind it. Rather like common ethical practice in industrial society.

Wow, three opinions.
Some one please God stop me, before I type more......