E-bay madness

Zounds!

My 2003 Trek 4100 ridden at least 500 miles just sold for
177.50 on e-bay. And that doesn't count shipping. I
mentioned all of this in the ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBa-
yISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3664187071

My buyer has e-mailed me back and says, "I can't believe I
got the bike for so cheap is there anything I should know
about it." Uh, yeah, me either. I'd better go to bat for
this guy on shipping I want him to save *some* money over
the store.

Anybody knowledgeable about that sort of thing?

--
- Joel C.

 

Joel Crum wrote:
> Zounds!
>
> My 2003 Trek 4100 ridden at least 500 miles just sold for
> 177.50 on e-bay. And that doesn't count shipping. I
> mentioned all of this in the ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/e-
> BayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3664187071
>
> My buyer has e-mailed me back and says, "I can't believe I
> got the bike for so cheap is there anything I should know
> about it." Uh, yeah, me either. I'd better go to bat for
> this guy on shipping I want him to save *some* money over
> the store.
>
> Anybody knowledgeable about that sort of thing?

eBay seems to be hit or miss for bikes. I've had better luck
selling on MTBR.com. That being said, I still look to buy
(if so inclined) on eBay for overlooked deals like yours!

I bet yours sold so low because it's just not a really in-
demand bike. It would be fine for a relative newbie, and a
lot better than a department store bike. The problem is,
those newbies don't know the difference and see they can get
a new bike for $200 (with full suspension) so why get yours?

Matt

 

"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
86156.news.uni-berlin.de:

Hi Matt,

> That being said, I still look to buy (if so inclined) on
> eBay for overlooked deals like yours!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I was actually
thinking my bike sold for more then it should have. My LBS
is unloading it's 2003 Trek 4100s for about $225, and
they've never been ridden. After shipping I'm worried the
guy I'm selling to won't be any better off then buying new.

--
- Joel C.

 

Joel Crum wrote:
> "MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
> 86156.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
> Hi Matt,
>
>> That being said, I still look to buy (if so inclined) on
>> eBay for overlooked deals like yours!
>
> Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I was actually
> thinking my bike sold for more then it should have. My
> LBS is unloading it's 2003 Trek 4100s for about $225,
> and they've never been ridden. After shipping I'm
> worried the guy I'm selling to won't be any better off
> then buying new.

Well, I did no research at all, so I was guestimating it was
like a $4-500 bike. Sounds like I was wrong.

I guess you suckered someone into buying your worthless
crap! Good for you! ;-)

Matt

 

Joel Crum wrote:
> "MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
> 86156.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
> Hi Matt,
>
>
>>That being said, I still look to buy (if so inclined) on
>>eBay for overlooked deals like yours!
>
>
> Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I was actually
> thinking my bike sold for more then it should have. My
> LBS is unloading it's 2003 Trek 4100s for about $225,
> and they've never been ridden. After shipping I'm
> worried the guy I'm selling to won't be any better off
> then buying new.
>

Well, at the moment he may not be able to find any better
deals and your bike is really clean. It may be a good deal
for both of you. I'd cut some slack on shipping for him if
you got more than you expected.

Greg

 

"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Well, I did no research at all, so I was guestimating it
> was like a $4-500 bike. Sounds like I was wrong.

It was when it was new and a current model year.

> I guess you suckered someone into buying your worthless
> crap! Good for you! ;-)

I didn't mean to; I assumed it would sell for around 100
after I posted it a second time!

--
- Joel C.

 

Joel Crum wrote:
> "MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
> berlin.de:
>
>> Well, I did no research at all, so I was guestimating it
>> was like a $4-500 bike. Sounds like I was wrong.
>
> It was when it was new and a current model year.
>
>> I guess you suckered someone into buying your worthless
>> crap! Good for you! ;-)
>
> I didn't mean to; I assumed it would sell for around 100
> after I posted it a second time!

Just giving you a hard time! My opinion on eBay is that if
someone is going to bid an item beyond the reasonable going
rate, it's their loss. The information is out there. All
they have to do is look around for what similar items are
going for before they get all caught up in the moment. I've
sold stuff on eBay for more than I believe it's worth and I
don't feel bad about it. It wasn't misrepresented so there
was nothing dishonest going on. Just something stupid!

Matt

 

"G.T." <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Well, at the moment he may not be able to find any better
> deals and your bike is really clean. It may be a good deal
> for both of you. I'd cut some slack on shipping for him if
> you got more than you expected.

I hope that's the case. It is a good bike. I road it 8 miles
( http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/United,States,Trails/Ne-
wMexico/,Dona,Ana/ PRD_169147_4565crx.aspx ) just Saturday.

The bike *will* be spotless when it gets to him. BTW I think
I've found a neat trick for that. I used foaming tub and
tile cleaner on it the other day and boy did that ever get
off the grit! Windex is good at cleaning oil biased dirt but
it'll leave mineral based junk behind, the tile cleaner
removes that.

--
- Joel C.

 

Joel Crum wrote:

> The bike *will* be spotless when it gets to him. BTW I
> think I've found a neat trick for that. I used foaming tub
> and tile cleaner on it the other day and boy did that ever
> get off the grit! Windex is good at cleaning oil biased
> dirt but it'll leave mineral based junk behind, the tile
> cleaner removes that.
>
Windex, sure. Tile cleaner sounds kinda harsh though,
especially for Aluminum parts (on a bike you're not selling
on e-bay ) Look to see if it has sodium hydroxide in it.
Its drain cleaner. Good job on the sale BTW.

Cheers, Shawn

 

On 8 Mar 2004 21:05:48 GMT, Joel Crum <[email protected]> wrote:

>"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
>berlin.de:
>
>> Well, I did no research at all, so I was guestimating it
>> was like a $4-500 bike. Sounds like I was wrong.
>
>It was when it was new and a current model year.

A Trek 4100 at $4-500? <G>

Our LBS was selling them new for $279 or so. The 4100
replaced the 820 as Treks lowest price mountain bike with
front suspension.

Barry

 

> Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I was actually
> thinking my bike
sold
> for more then it should have. My LBS is unloading it's
> 2003 Trek 4100s
for
> about $225, and they've never been ridden. After shipping
> I'm worried the guy I'm selling to won't be any better off
> then buying new.
>
> --
> - Joel C.

Just goes to show you....."There's an ass for every seat".

 

B a r r y <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On 8 Mar 2004 21:05:48 GMT, Joel Crum <[email protected]
> deja.com> wrote:
>
>>"MattB" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]
>>berlin.de:
>>
>>> Well, I did no research at all, so I was guestimating it
>>> was like a $4-500 bike. Sounds like I was wrong.
>>
>>It was when it was new and a current model year.
>
> A Trek 4100 at $4-500? <G>
>
> Our LBS was selling them new for $279 or so. The 4100
> replaced the 820 as Treks lowest price mountain bike with
> front suspension.

It lists for 399 and I think the new 2004's sell for
something close to (but below) that. But, yeah, the LBS is
selling their 2003's for $225. When I told the owner what
mine had sold at he looked a bit jealous.

--
- Joel C.

 

Shawn Curry <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]_s53:

> Joel Crum wrote:
>
>
>> The bike *will* be spotless when it gets to him. BTW I
>> think I've found a neat trick for that. I used foaming
>> tub and tile cleaner on it the other day and boy did that
>> ever get off the grit! Windex is good at cleaning oil
>> biased dirt but it'll leave mineral based junk behind,
>> the tile cleaner removes that.
>>
> Windex, sure. Tile cleaner sounds kinda harsh though,
> especially for Aluminum parts (on a bike you're not
> selling on e-bay ) Look to see if it has sodium
> hydroxide in it. Its drain cleaner. Good job on the
> sale BTW.

I doesn't say it contains sodium hydroxide. Whatever
cleaner it does have is strong enough to polish the metal
though, so I suppose that means it might also pit if I left
the cleaner on a long time or used it too frequently. But I
wouldn't clean the bike that way more then once every
couple of months.

--
- Joel C.