Buying then splitting at profit? Opinions?

[shogun700]

If people didn't split bikes for profit, where the hell would we all get parts? I mean, you may not like it, but how else is it supposed to work?

I don't buy things off Retrobike to re-sell them here. I don't use the forums exclusively to sell stuff-mostly I use ebay-even though I hate it. I never talk about any bike I pick up, no matter how interesting, if there is even the off chance that I'll be selling it in the near or far future. If I do end up selling it after I've posted something here, I certainly don't notify anyone it's for sale. Do I get chafed when people don't follow the same basic rules I do? Damn right. A classic example is this month's BOTM-I finally get time to take a few pics of my Santana and enter it, and of course I pick the month when some twit enters his GT just to sell it, and kills the whole thing. Same over at MTBR-I never, ever post anything there I may be selling, but over and over again I read threads about bikes where people are basically just fishing for a sale, and nobody says a damn thing about it.

Another thing-not every person splitting bikes for profit is doing it because the want to. I only work part time here in the USA, and am using my knowledge of vintage bikes of many types to keep paying my bills. I flatly refuse to collect unemployment/go on the dole, and could give a rats ass what anyone thinks about my buying/selling. I'm good enough at it that I've been able to hang on to a few treasures, but most of what I'd like to keep has to be sent along. Anyone who thinks flipping bikes isn't a ton of work is crazy-sure you can do it the lazy way and just strip and take a few pics, but the time and effort involved to inspect, clean and get the stuff ready for sale is astonishing....if I calculated the hourly wage, it would be pitiful.

I suppose I'm ranting a bit here, I shouldn't post when I haven't eaten all day and my blood sugar is low. I just think it's a mistake to lump everyone who flips bikes into the same category. If you don't like what someone is doing, get yourself some balls and call them out on it, period.

 

[john]

If people didn't split bikes for profit, where the hell would we all get parts? I mean, you may not like it, but how else is it supposed to work?

I don't buy things off Retrobike to re-sell them here. I don't use the forums exclusively to sell stuff-mostly I use ebay-even though I hate it. I never talk about any bike I pick up, no matter how interesting, if there is even the off chance that I'll be selling it in the near or far future. If I do end up selling it after I've posted something here, I certainly don't notify anyone it's for sale. Do I get chafed when people don't follow the same basic rules I do? Damn right. A classic example is this month's BOTM-I finally get time to take a few pics of my Santana and enter it, and of course I pick the month when some twit enters his GT just to sell it, and kills the whole thing. Same over at MTBR-I never, ever post anything there I may be selling, but over and over again I read threads about bikes where people are basically just fishing for a sale, and nobody says a damn thing about it.

Another thing-not every person splitting bikes for profit is doing it because the want to. I only work part time here in the USA, and am using my knowledge of vintage bikes of many types to keep paying my bills. I flatly refuse to collect unemployment/go on the dole, and could give a rats ass what anyone thinks about my buying/selling. I'm good enough at it that I've been able to hang on to a few treasures, but most of what I'd like to keep has to be sent along. Anyone who thinks flipping bikes isn't a ton of work is crazy-sure you can do it the lazy way and just strip and take a few pics, but the time and effort involved to inspect, clean and get the stuff ready for sale is astonishing....if I calculated the hourly wage, it would be pitiful.

I suppose I'm ranting a bit here, I shouldn't post when I haven't eaten all day and my blood sugar is low. I just think it's a mistake to lump everyone who flips bikes into the same category. If you don't like what someone is doing, get yourself some balls and call them out on it, period.

Couple of good point in that (semi) rant

1. 'Flipping bikes' properly is indeed hard work.
2. If someone picks up a bargain, flags up their good luck then tries to sell at a huge profit a few short days later that does indeed grate.

 

[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"...

 

[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?

 

[drcarlos]

Have to admit I don't agree with it. Just avoid their FS threads usually, not cce though as he isn't a prolific as some and contributes more.

Carl.

 

[shogun700]

After reading the initial posts, and having a few bites of an extremely late lunch, I think I may have misinterpreted the intent of the thread-it's more about buying and selling from RB than flipping in general. I feel fortunate that RB has maintained an open 'selling' section that has NOT become overrun with profiteering dirtbags.

It's one thing to find a bargain on the 'open internet' or ebay, but another thing entirely to get a good deal from some like-minded chap here at RB and then turn around and sell it here for a profit. Sure it will happen occasionally, plans change and such, but to do it consistently is sort of low.

 

[cce]

for the record, i have never flipped anything i've bought here. My stock in trade is the local pickup "mowntin bik" on ebay, for which a keen eye and a lot of chances with your cash is required. I've lost money on them before, but them's the breaks. one of them, the only worthwhile part was a pair of thumbshifters - the rest went in the bin.


Also i NEVER take karma stuff unless i have an immediate use for it on one of my bikes, which is more than some people can say. Something about that bugs me quite badly.

 

[Barneyballbags]

I don't see a problem with it. So long as the person doing it is open and honest and not overpricing or mis-describing the items when they split the bike, then it's fine by me.

In a way, they're doing lots of people a favour by buying complete bikes and splitting them. There's always a market for parts - more and more so as they get more difficult to find.

If somebody on this forum was selling a complete bike with a host of top-end parts on it, then I bet there would be a loooooooooooooong line of people registering interest "if you were to decide to split"... No? And then if someone else bought the bike, and decided to split it to sell the parts and make a quick buck because they can see that there is a demand for the bits, I bet there wouldn't be one single complaint.

If I had the time and money, I'd do it. One thing I wouldn't do is beat the seller's price down. I'd pay what they were asking. That way both parties are happy if/when the bike was split, further down the line. Nobody will ever make a living doing it, but for some people it can be as much of a hobby as riding the bikes that they own themselves.

I wouldn't ever sell bits that are karma'd to me though (the bike build in my signature being a case in point).

 

[Tazio]

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.

 

[legrandefromage]

I've been riding more than building this year and have just about sold all that there is to sell and given away all that there was left after that.

Building got into a bit of a frenzy with more money than sense being thrown at disappointing builds. One of my tip finds has wiped the floor with everything else and has me out riding the dirty bitch every available opportunity.

Opportunities to 'flip' the tip find stuff has become less and less so the budgets have dried up.