Crazy deals on our Classifieds

[weisan]

I am tellin' you, we got some crazy deals that surfaced recently on our Classifieds. Many times, we are talking about a complete bike for the price of just the frameset alone, it's nuts...you hear me?? NUTS!!!

I can understand the appeal of getting something NEW or the latest offerings....but a high-quality bike is a high-quality bike regardless of whether it's 2 years old or 10 years old.

Whoooooo....!

Rant over.

[Ronsonic]

Never mind the unusually high quality of the people and products involved.

[bcroslin]

The market here on the PL is flat unless you're giving things away. I've listed several items here for fair prices recently and no bites. Ended up selling everything on eBay for more than what I was asking here. The fact that Salesguy's Guru frames are still sitting around is crazy. If I wasn't saving my pennies for a Moots I would have bought the SL a week ago.

[MaraudingWalrus]

The market here on the PL is flat unless you're giving things away. I've listed several items here for fair prices recently and no bites. Ended up selling everything on eBay for more than what I was asking here. The fact that Salesguy's Guru frames are still sitting around is crazy. If I wasn't saving my pennies for a Moots I would have bought the SL a week ago.

People get too used to crazy deals. Then "good" deals don't seem so good...

[akelman]

Someone (not someone I know) sent me an e-mail scolding me about the low prices in my recent ads. I explained that the classifieds are, for me, a place to pass on good deals to friends. I didn't hear back. Oh well.

[weisan]

..

[Bwana]

The market here on the PL is flat unless you're giving things away. I've listed several items here for fair prices recently and no bites. Ended up selling everything on eBay for more than what I was asking here. The fact that Salesguy's Guru frames are still sitting around is crazy. If I wasn't saving my pennies for a Moots I would have bought the SL a week ago.

I was so close to buying one too. I want to learn how to build a bike, but didn't want to start on one of those awesome frames. If I knew how already, one would have been mine.

[donevwil]

There have certainly been some great deals on some awesome bikes, but as far as bikes and framesets go everything is one size, "too small for me". I long for something with ample clearance and a ~62 TT, because buying new is not an option.

[11.4]

Bike shops have been doing fire sales on brand new bikes. The overall number of bike buyers is apparently down. Most bikes have groups that are going one version past current (or more than one). Bike cosmetics and features are changing rapidly. Buyers are a bit nervous about buying something with a bottom bracket shell, braking system, shifting system, skinny headset, outmoded axle setups, or whatever else will further diminish the future value of their bikes. I'm not surprised this is happening, and surprised only that it hasn't been worse.

If you don't care that you're riding on 7950 cranks or on 10-speed Chorus, you can find some great deals. For gravel, cross, fondos, and most of the rapidly growing cycling events, there isn't much point in state of the art equipment and even an argument for riding 9 or 10 speed instead, in older configurations. But that's a smaller audience for a lot of great equipment that languishes out there.

[Lanternrouge]

The general issue of how soft the market is on bike stuff has been the fodder of conversation on our rides here. It's great if you are buying, especially if you don't need the latest and greatest. I also think part of this is because we are in the midst of a shift to more and more bikes being disc brakes and that being the main thing for the higher end bikes in the near future.

[shovelhd]

Someone (not someone I know) sent me an e-mail scolding me about the low prices in my recent ads. I explained that the classifieds are, for me, a place to pass on good deals to friends. I didn't hear back. Oh well.

Flippers don't like fire sales. Screw 'em.

[GT2R]

I have to agree the deals are always good on the PL. It is and has been a buyers market for some time which makes adding a bike easy but selling one a bit difficult. I have a nice Look 585 that is both classic carbon and smooth riding stiffness that is proving more difficult than I thought to sell.

[mhespenheide]

Having downsized from a 1200s.f. house with full-sized basement to a 950s.f. apartment with carport but no garage and no basement, I simply don't have room for more bikes at this point. It's almost physically painful when I consider some of the gorgeous bikes/frames I've had to pass up... (and still pining after that XXL Look 585 :bike:)

[oliver1850]

I was so close to buying one too. I want to learn how to build a bike, but didn't want to start on one of those awesome frames. If I knew how already, one would have been mine.

Don't sweat building it if the frame is what you want. Plenty of step-by-step coaching is available here.

[likebikes]

Flippers don't like fire sales.

why not?

[beeatnik]

Flippers don't like fire sales. Screw 'em.

why not?


buy low, sell high aka arbitrage. not in their favor for there to be a depressed market as by definition they're paying pennies on the dollar hoping for general resale prices to remain near retail.

[oldpotatoe]

I am tellin' you, we got some crazy deals that surfaced recently on our Classifieds. Many times, we are talking about a complete bike for the price of just the frameset alone, it's nuts...you hear me?? NUTS!!!

I can understand the appeal of getting something NEW or the latest offerings....but a high-quality bike is a high-quality bike regardless of whether it's 2 years old or 10 years old.

Whoooooo....!

Rant over.

For a business to sell below a margin to keep the lights on, THAT'S a big deal to sell really low, unless it's a cash flow gig ..BUT that could still be a path to OOB. BUT for riders/cyclists/consumers, selling for less than ya paid, in order to get something else..really is no big deal.

[unterhausen]

I'm sure there are flippers that buy here and sell elsewhere. Just like there are flippers that buy in any market and sell elsewhere.

My LBS sells some bikes with no margin to avoid dead inventory. Pretty standard retail technique. It's ok as long as you aren't too predictable. However, most long-time cyclists realize they can get better deals at this time of year.

[CMiller]

I would always prefer to deal with someone from these forums rather than ebay or a craigslist stranger, which is a good incentive to give a solid deal haha

Craigslist can be so so so so terrible sometimes. Spam emails, dumb questions, "is this still available?"

[fuzzalow]

Someone (not someone I know) sent me an e-mail scolding me about the low prices in my recent ads. I explained that the classifieds are, for me, a place to pass on good deals to friends. I didn't hear back. Oh well.

Dunno what this guy's issue with you would be. I'd doubt he knows why he's whinging. Pricing variances happen all the time - is it an anomaly or is it indicative? If he fancies himself a player he should know his market, so deal with it. Poor baby.

buy low, sell high aka arbitrage. not in their favor for there to be a depressed market as by definition they're paying pennies on the dollar hoping for general resale prices to remain near retail.

There's not enough liquidity in bike stuff to call anything an arbitrage. And they're not market makers either - these guys are probably just hobbyists that wanna try out all kinds of gear and move it along with minimal costs to fund their hobby.

I don't think anybody gets bike stuff for pennies on the dollar on the used market because every serious cyclist that buys good gear knows good gear and what it is worth. Even as those parts languish in the used market awash in all the other good used gear. Simple solution: restructure pricing to reflect the market or hold out & hold on at wishful pricing levels awaiting the perfect buyer that will never come.

[brockd15]

Craigslist can be so so so so terrible sometimes. Spam emails, dumb questions, "is this still available?"

On multiple occasions I've emailed someone from a CL ad that says "Don't ask if it's still available, if the ads up it's available!" only to get a reply back of "oh sorry, I forgot to take the ad down, it sold."

[etu]

over the past couple of years with some nice purchases on the used market, i thought i would be "trying out" a lot of different bikes through this venue and not losing too much money buying and then selling each bike. but the reality is that it's easy to buy, but definitely a much bigger hassle to sell. this fact with the great fortune of acquiring ones i'd rather not sell has me on the sidelines, at least for bikes and frames.

[jc031699]

On multiple occasions I've emailed someone from a CL ad that says "Don't ask if it's still available, if the ads up it's available!" only to get a reply back of "oh sorry, I forgot to take the ad down, it sold."

Likewise

[nmrt]

Likewise

+1

I would rather not ask "is it still available". Then I write an elaborate email on the mileage of the frame, the groupset, wheels etc. Any significant dents etc...

Then I get the reply, "it was sold".

So, I do ask, is it still available.