Interesting Trend at Pro's Closet

[dustyrider]

I remember my grandfather talking about this sort of thing way back in the 80s. He said it used to be little shops everywhere, and then big shops took over, but then they lost the customer service war, so little shops made a come back, and then they started getting bought up by the big ones. I would like to know what he thought of the internet and consumer spending over the last few years. My guess is he'd of thought of the old Sears catalogue days and said, "what's old, is new again!".

I'm not sure there's anything to worry about with the pro's closet recent listings. They've always excepted offers, so it's not like anyone is being forced to pay the listing prices, right?

[benb]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Always hated their white background photography. Take the stuff out in natural light and the buyer will have a much better idea about what the item will actually look like. But that's not the idea........

The white background studio style shot can be outsourced and end up cheaper.

You hire the photographer for one day to set the thing up and then anyone can wheel a bike in and push the button. It's essentially setup of a "bike photo booth".

Outdoor photography in natural light is going to require someone to adjust the camera to different conditions and different bikes and then maybe edit the files in the computer.

The white background has higher initial costs but then becomes easier/cheaper.

These are all weird. I guess they maybe assume they can save money by not putting a chain on or whatever until they have a buyer and can guarantee they've recouped the labor cost to put a chain on.

The turned up brifters indicating bad bike fit always get me. A lot of the pictured bikes with that look like most people would not be able to reach the brakes from the drops.

[jimoots]

Surely the photos of bikes with no chains and tape as well as the fact they aren’t buying more bikes has something to do with the fact people on these forums and in the media are complaining that its really bloody hard to find a chain and presumably other consumables in America?

[HenryA]

In a former life I was a high volume product photographer. "**** on white" made a lot of money for a lot folks. Its as down and dirty as will allow a decent view of the item, on a high speed production line model. If you expect PC (or anyone in this genre) to adopt some kind of high style photography you will be sorely disappointed. They likely do this in a corner of the warehouse. One set-up, an assistant rolling a bike in every few minutes, another guy shooting. Never move the lights. Its all based on throughput. "if you can't do 300 shots a day you're fired".

[HenryA]

The problem here is that many seem to want the PC to care about bikes as much as you do.

They don't.

If I can't hang out and shot the breeze about bikes with other bike people in a bike shop, I have little interest in what the big time business model promises. This has little to do with bikes and everything about dollars.

[Hank Scorpio]

I had a odd experience with TPC on the buying end. A few years ago they had a Factor One Chpt3 edition. I don’t remember the specific price but I made and until a offer and it was rejected within a few hours. I made a second offer a couple hundo more and that was also rejected within a day or so. Before I could even make a third offer the listing price was decreased below my second offer buy at least $100, maybe a bit more I don’t remember the exact figure. They took another decrease about a week later but it never got down to my original admittedly low ball price and it disappeared within a another week or so. I emailed and asked why they didn’t accept my second offer and dropped the price below without emailing me to see if I was still interested. I was told that it was two separate departments and neither knew what the other was doing. Oh well I wish I bought it but it did have one of those weird under bb direct mount brakes.

[harvestlaser]

It will be interesting so see where they land able this “bubble.” They just paid me more than I than I was trying to sell my bike for locally.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by harvestlaser

It will be interesting so see where they land able this “bubble.” They just paid me more than I than I was trying to sell my bike for locally.

I predict they will open "used bike shops" in certain markets within a couple years or so.

[raygunner]

I bet you’re right.

Originally Posted by charliedid

I predict they will open "used bike shops" in certain markets within a couple years or so.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I predict they will open "used bike shops" in certain markets within a couple years or so.

This makes a lot of sense……very interesting 🤔

[savechief]

My only dealings with TPC was an attempt to sell my Felt F3x frameset a few months ago:

TPC Offer
$358 store credit
$327 trade-up credit
$311 cash value

Sold it on Pinkbike for $800.

[pdonk]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I predict they will open "used bike shops" in certain markets within a couple years or so.

At least here, the red tape would kill it. As a seller of used goods you are basically considered a pawn shop and need extra business licenses and paperwork. A buddy of mine had sn issue for doing trade ups on bikes he previously sold and reselling them without the proper vendors license and backing paperwork for each bike and part.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by savechief

My only dealings with TPC was an attempt to sell my Felt F3x frameset a few months ago:

TPC Offer
$358 store credit
$327 trade-up credit
$311 cash value

Sold it on Pinkbike for $800.

Well, ya know they try to operate at some sort of 'profit margin'...'Pinkbike or similar is pretty much 'retail'. not 'wholesale'...YMMV and all that.
TPC is growing in leaps and bounds. They, like lotsa places, have a hard time finding good people, in the numbers they need. If they weren't successful with a viable future, they wouldn't be attracting the $ they do. They were growing at this rate way before Jan/Feb of 2020.

[BryanE]

Just went to their site.
Buying is temporarily paused.
Too many people wanting to sell their bikes they say.
Who wants a deal on a 2021 Salsa Cutthroat?

[Zackus]

I must have come in just under the wire. I was debating on if I wanted to sell my Viathon R.1. As I debated, I sent TPC some photos thinking they'd lowball me. They offered $500 more than I paid for it. This was the opposite of my experience in getting an IF Ti crown jewel quoted last year. I shipped the bike out last week and just received my payment today. They must have stopped buying bikes in the last week or so

I'm curious on if/when it will get listed. Which may show how much of a backlog they're working with.