Buying then splitting at profit? Opinions?

[johnnypie13]

flipping

hmmm very interesting thread so i will add my tuppence worth

1/ I have bought stuff from Ebay and sold it on here but then tend to use the money to buy stuff from other RB members who i would presume don't care less where the money i send to them came from.

2/ If you overcharge, people wont buy it simple

3/ In my earlier RB days i collected a box of Karma parts and i sold some to recoup some of the petrol money used to collect it as i was broke, but this was frowned upon by some RB members, I learnt my lesson and i wouldn't do it again. (honesty is the best policy )

4/ I have given some Karma away and frankly i don't care what the other person does with it as i gave it away, but it just isn't right to sell it.

5/ I have no problems with people making profit from stripping bikes and selling the parts, it makes my life easier when i need a part and i don't mind paying extra for it as i then don't have to take any risks on it or clean it,

6/ I had two bikes when i joined this community i now have about 15 in total and enough parts to probably build them all properly i would say about 10% funded by selling a few items i no longer wanted wheres the problem ??

If you provide a service IE parts shouldn't you be rewarded for the effort and risk involved in sourcing and supplying them ??

 

[jonnymcenroe]

isn't this place a (ahem!) gentlemans club?

 

[markwashington]

As said before, a fantastic thread. I'm pretty new on here and enjoy learning all I can about bikes from my youth. I'll be attempting my first proper build this winter and I've been slowly collecting parts for it. I have no problems with someone who knows more about bikes than me (everyone here!) stripping a bike because they recognise a decent part or two. If anything these people should be praised for their knowledge.

The simple fact is that none of us will look on a for sale thread and think "wow, that's overpriced, I must buy it". Everything I've bought on here I've been really pleased with, both in terms of the price and much more importantly the product. I've been on car forums for years, and you get the same sort of thing there, although some are pretty harsh when it comes to outing people who either buy on ebay and sell on the forum for a profit, or buy on the forum and sell on for a profit as they see the membership as a community not just a load of random people who happen to have one thing in common.

I haven't sold anything on here yet, but I know that if I want to I'll need a decent description, photo and to price it right. If I've done that I can't see many people worrying about whether I'm making a profit or not.

I am however against selling Karma'd stuff and would be happy for anyone doing this to be outed post haste.

 

[EarlofBarnet]

I've sent a few people small karma parts. I don't mind, happy to help etc. Just wish they'd send a thank you when they receive the parts.

 

[highlandsflyer]

It is all kind of self regulating anyway.

If a bike is a real classic, and the parts all add to that, it is often worth keeping together to sell at best price.

Back in the day, whatever that means, we upgraded our bikes as soon as the new shit came out.

There is no reason to be precious about whatever came on a bike being somehow rigidly attached to that bike.

Each to their own, I say!

 

[jamabikes]

I've sent a few people small karma parts. I don't mind, happy to help etc. Just wish they'd send a thank you when they receive the parts.

amen sister.

 

[Barneyballbags]

If a bike is period-correct, and nice and original, then it's a real shame to split it and from my point of view, something which I would never do unless I really needed to. I say this because I had an original 1995 Kona Kula which I had to split to raise some bills money ... However, when I did this, I realised that not only could I get the money back which I paid for the bike (£330), I could also generate more money on top as a result of selling the bike as parts. I think I ended up with around £600 in total which went a long way towards keeping SWALEC and Welsh Water happy!

However, if the bike is simply built from a collection of nice parts, and someone wanted to buy it, strip it and sell the parts for a fair price and net him/herself a little bit of money in the process, then that's A-ok with me.

As has been said lots of times before - honesty is key, especially on a forum where everyone knows the life story of every bike on here! If I'm buying a bike with the intention of splitting it, then I will let the seller know, and pay their asking price rather than trying to haggle them down, and I will also let buyers know who I bought it from, when the time comes to sell the bits. That way, everyone is happy and those who aren't don't buy my stuff. It's not something that I'll lose a great deal of sleep over.

 

[BoyBurning]

Check me buyin all the 70GS equipped Townsends.

Quick strip an flip...

By this time next year Rodders, we'll be...


BB

 

[Woz]

Would like to put a slight twist to this - especially related to market economy and all. I have parts I can't shift. Not particularly ace or rare stuff, used but life left in them - I'm at a disadvantage with sky high Swedish post prices and Sweden's vast ( :!: ) population is generally not retro savvy nor particularly interested in used tat. Yes, before any one starts I've made a generalisation. Ebay is generally cost even with access to the global market. Local Sotherbys won't give me a look in

So, does it make sense to do the opposite? Put spare part bin stuff together on any frame and flog a complete bike? Recover some cash and have fun building it rather than arsing with the post office, non-paying buyers and what-not? Karma is interesting, but again there isn't people interested in paying the postage. Comments welcome and trust I'm keeping on-topic-ish.