General: Over priced crap!

I’d like your opinion on people’s prices for bikes on Crag’s list & at bicycle swap meets...

You know the type, some old neglected whatever and they want 300 bucks for it like it’s in mint condition or something, usually with an attitude that makes you want to slap ‘em. I’ll be going to the Annual Ann Arbor/Saline, Michigan Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet, April 26th as usual, (http://www.ann-arbor-bicycleshow.com/ ) and there always seems to be those there that are trying to make a huge profit on something. What’s your take on this perceived practice? I’m an enthusiast, not a collector, so it doesn’t mean much to me if what they have is “classic or rare”. (Personally I get no better joy than seeing those who wouldn’t lower there price at the end of the day forced to pack all there overpriced crap up and pay the cost to cart it back to where they brought it from.)

Funny you mention that, the most expensive frame in my house is an old schwinn madison, but I've got a short girlfriend who likes white bikes, and personally, I like bikes that weren't made in Taiwan, and have always had a thing for old madisons, so when I found one, I bought it. I myself, rarely have a bike that cost more than $300 complete. I still like nice stuff, but I'm patient about it, and I but stuff that's a great deal, even if I don't need it at that point in time, plus I'm always up for buying a complete bike, selling all the parts, and being left with a frame that technically only cost me $100 or so like my Rossin. There are two frames I've really been keeping my eye out for, a KHS aero track, and a 2002 cannondale cyclocross, one of the ones that's 2 shades of blue. Those I could probably let myself spend a bit on either if they were in great shape, anything else, I'd be hard pressed to spend much more than $100 on, and that's 100% based on supply and demand, as neither of those frames are any better than anything else out there. If that KHS didn't have a curve in the seat tube it'd be just as nice as any other khs flite 100 out there.

This website, as well as ebay and bike swaps don't bug me as much, because people know what's going on. I do get terribly upset when I see people on craigslist selling used tires for half of retail, or some other awful bike that they're talking up like it's something wonderful, not because they aren't allowed to charge what they want, but if you read the description, they're always blatantly trying to take advantage of people who just don't know the difference, and that just makes you an ass. There's one guy in particular in pittsburgh who's always fixing up shitty bikes and trying to sell them for $300, his ads are 2 paragraphs long and he uses tons of technical terms that really don't mean much, but they sound impressive. It's really just a drag on the whole situation.

Dude, the value is what someone will pay. That's the only way anyone every figures out how to price something.

I was at a tag sale last summer. There was a bike, beat to shit, but a nice 70s steel frame. Something racey, don't remember. Dude wanted $50 for it. I said I'd give him ten. He said no. I said OK and walked on. As I walked away, his girlfriend said to him, "See? I told you."

You see what happened there? I didn't pay more than I wanted to pay, he didn't get the money for something he wanted to sell. At the end of the day, he probably still had the bike taking up space in his garage and didn't have the $20 I'd have given him.

Well, just as surely as there are sales techniques, I think there are buyer techniques, too. Just what I observe at flea markets----Be friendly and likeable, if you're a dick, the price goes up. Find some common ground--for instance, notice if the seller is/was a marine, went to your alma mater, has a peg-leg like yours--whatever--people like to do nice things for those with common interests. When it comes time to make your offer, pull out your wallet. Don't worry if he can see how much money is inside. Try it--open your wallet and watch a seller's face change. Hold out the cash, and say "I have forty" and see what he says. Maybe he'll say no, maybe he'll say $60. If you can't agree on a price, wait till he's packin' it back up in the truck. Then run back over and wave $40 under his nose.

The buying price is dictated by the emotional reaction (usually fear, greed, or love), and so is the seller's (fear and greed).