Selling Rant (disgruntled member content)

[Barneyballbags]

I have been buying bikes off this forum for a couple of years now. Some bikes and bits I've kept, others I've kept for a while and then sold. It has never failed to amaze me regarding the attitude of some forum members in relation to selling things on at a slight profit (not overpriced I might add, and in 99.9% of cases actually underpriced)...

Whilst I don't agree with haggling someone down to get a good deal, and then selling the exact same thing on immediately (flipping) to turn a quick profit, I have absolutely no problem with people who buy complete bikes or parts for the price that the seller has them advertised for, and then selling them further down the line - if a bit of money is made in the meantime, then fair enough.

To give an example:

I've recently bought a set of wheels off this forum.
The wheels were advertised for £75 plus postage.
In the end, I paid £85 for the wheels (including postage).
I no longer need them, so have listed them for £100 posted.
The wheels are worth somewhere between £130 and £150.

My asking price covers the price I paid for them (£85), plus £15 for fully insured postage. If I'm lucky, I might make £4-5 profit if I sell them.

I have pm'd the person who sold them to me, to ask whether he would like to buy them back for the same price as he sold them for. He doesn't, and has wished me well with the sale.

I have been completely honest in my for sale thread, and have told everyone exactly where I bought them from and how much I paid. It's also pretty clear that I'm not "profiteering", as my wheels are still for sale for a good £30-£50 less than what they're worth. Indeed, there is a very similar set of wheels (with non-matching hubs I might add) for sale on the very same forum for £25 more than mine.

If people actually took the time to read things properly, and got this stupid "profiteering" stigma out of their heads, then it would be a much better place. Incidentally, I'm not referring to any of the people who have commented in my for sale thread. I'm referring to the person who sent me a snide pm telling me that I'm "taking the piss"...

I've actually just bought another bike which I'm going to split and sell. It has a lot of bits on it which I know would sell very quickly on here (Cooks, Syncros Ti etc.), but I might just go and sell them elsewhere if people's attitudes are going to be like this.

It seems that honest sellers get a harder time of things sometimes... :roll:

Rant over, sorry..

 

[Chris]

Personally I think you shouldn't pass on your earlier postage costs to the next owner regardless of how good the price of the item. The postage part of the deal is between you and the original seller and you should take that cost on the chin regardless of if you sell them a week later or a year down the line.

If you'd just said £100 posted for the wheels they would probably of gone by now, but because you broke it down stating that the wheels were originally £75 plus postage is where you are having trouble. Why should someone in theory pay £25 postage?

Don't get me wrong I'm not having a go and admire your honesty, just offering some advice.

Chris.

 

[al]

Cheer up Ballbags.

I have no problem with anyone buying and selling at whatever price they like, It's theirs to do with what they want. I once had someone trying to beat me down on an XT rear mech, they were offering stupid money and I said I would rather smash it with a hammer than have to sell to someone taking the piss.

I smashed it to bits, It was a great feeling!

Now I'm not saying smash all your bits with a hammer, but you need to a have a sense of humour when it comes to dealing with people. Just remember most humans are eejits, and you wont go far wrong.

Respect

al.

 

[unkleGsif]

.....I once had someone trying to beat me down on an XT rear mech, they were offering stupid money and I said I would rather smash it with a hammer than have to sell to someone taking the piss.

I smashed it to bits, It was a great feeling!
........

Damnit Al, I'd have given you £2.50 (posted, obviously) for that.... all my money now has to go into my Beetle, to get it on the road for the summer (ahem.... wedding :shock: )

G

 

[matthew71]

in true vulture style, can you pm a list off the bit,s on the bike you are splitting, i just want to beat the crowd

and as for the wheels, they are yours , you bought them fair and square.people dont have to buy them . and if peopls have issue,s with the cost they can jog on to the next sale thread

 

[Barneyballbags]

Personally I think you shouldn't pass on your earlier postage costs to the next owner regardless of how good the price of the item. The postage part of the deal is between you and the original seller and you should take that cost on the chin regardless of if you sell them a week later or a year down the line.

If you'd just said £100 posted for the wheels they would probably of gone by now, but because you broke it down stating that the wheels were originally £75 plus postage is where you are having trouble. Why should someone in theory pay £25 postage?

Don't get me wrong I'm not having a go and admire your honesty, just offering some advice.

Chris.

Thanks Chris,

I completely see where you're coming from.

However as I'd bought the wheels from another Retrobike member (and, in theory it would have been easy for another member to find this out), I figured that it was much better to be honest and transparent, rather than hiding the facts.

In future, if I encounter this same situation again I think I'll throw the "honesty is the best policy" out of the window and just hope that I don't get caught out.

Or, people could just look at the bigger picture and realise that, regardless of how much I paid for them, I'm still selling them for less than they're worth. The fact that I may or may not make a few quid in the process (in this case, lucky if I make a fiver) is surely immaterial so long as I'm not ripping anybody off in the process, which I hasten to add I most certainly am not, and never have done.

Everybody had the same chance to buy the wheels as I did - they weren't just advertised to me. I had originally intended to keep them. Now I intend to sell them. I don't want to lose any money on them (who in their right mind would, if they had the chance to recoup it?) hence the reason I've added a postage charge to my original purchase price...

 

[al]

.....I once had someone trying to beat me down on an XT rear mech, they were offering stupid money and I said I would rather smash it with a hammer than have to sell to someone taking the piss.

I smashed it to bits, It was a great feeling!
........

Damnit Al, I'd have given you £2.50 (posted, obviously) for that.... all my money now has to go into my Beetle, to get it on the road for the summer (ahem.... wedding :shock: )

G

By the looks of your Signiture, you are doing missionary work over in Liverpool, and for that fact and your cheek, I'm going to send you a random free bike bit in the post as a gift.

Have you got the scousers eating with forks yet?

Send me your address matey boy.

al.

 

[Barneyballbags]

I'm sorry for my rant

This is just the one thing about this forum which really p**ses me off.

I swear to God, if I'd bought a NOS GT Xizang, with full M900 and NOS Judy SLs for £50, then I'd have trouble selling it for £100 if I'd been honest about how much I paid for it.

Incidentally, anyone want a nice set of Hope wheels for £100

 

[kase1983]

its happens so id not worry to much about it.

I sold a set off grafton rubbers to a memeber on here for £7 shipped.

the week went buy and he advertised them for £14 and they sold.

i could have had a moan but instead ill simply not sell such products to him again.

you know who you are.

Doug

 

[unkleGsif]

.....I once had someone trying to beat me down on an XT rear mech, they were offering stupid money and I said I would rather smash it with a hammer than have to sell to someone taking the piss.

I smashed it to bits, It was a great feeling!
........

Damnit Al, I'd have given you £2.50 (posted, obviously) for that.... all my money now has to go into my Beetle, to get it on the road for the summer (ahem.... wedding :shock: )

G

By the looks of your Signiture, you are doing missionary work over in Liverpool, and for that fact and your cheek, I'm going to send you a random free bike bit in the post as a gift.

Have you got the scousers eating with forks yet?

Send me your address matey boy.

al.

PMSL... literally! I need to get one of the slaveboys to clean me up now

G