[Closed] Traders on the classifieds .... yes or no??

nope, i for one was significantly haggled down with a sob story, only to see the same item on sale, on here, using my pictures and text, for significant profit.......

I really can't see the problem. If someone wants to sell at below market price so be it and if someone else buys it and sells it on at what should be the going rate then who is the injured party?
I have seen some items sold on here with no effort to clean or make serviceable then resold in a clean and serviceable condition. Again no harm done.
If you don't like it stick to eBay 😕

Drac - I've highlighted a certain traders activities to the mods and it has always been ignored. As someone already said, I suspect that the extra page impressions are all good for STW when they are attracting advertising spend. A bit like the move to 35 posts per page.....

nope, i for one was significantly haggled down with a sob story, only to see the same item on sale, on here, using my pictures and text, for significant profit.......

Wow, assuming no mitigating factors on the other chaps end, that's disgraceful.

I really can't see the problem. If someone wants to sell at below market price so be it and if someone else buys it and sells it on at what should be the going rate then who is the injured party?
I have seen some items sold on here with no effort to clean or make serviceable then resold in a clean and serviceable condition. Again no harm done.
If you don't like it stick to eBay

I thnik there's more of an expectation that people on STW are friends and therefore the classifides often opperates more at mates rates than full market prices, often people sell stuff at 15-20% less than ebay both because it's easier and you often know, or know someone that knows, or will probably meet inthe future the guy who you bought/sold to and a bit of karma goes a long way.

bastid....... i am a changed man.......

So's hora, but there's a recession on and no one else seems to have steped upto keep the bike industry going. I was always slightly bitter that you always sold big frames and Hora tiny frame, there wasn't an average habitual bike swapper on the forum!

Drac - I've highlighted a certain traders activities to the mods and it has always been ignored. As someone already said, I suspect that the extra page impressions are all good for STW when they are attracting advertising spend. A bit like the move to 35 posts per page....

Not always it hasn't trust me on this.

nope, i for one was significantly haggled down with a sob story, only to see the same item on sale, on here, using my pictures and text, for significant profit.......

i dont sell much, even less since... i would rather parts rot in the shed or i just give them away through friends. This week saw me take a £60 hit on a pair of tyres, rather than run the risk of "XXXXX", whining and then profiting.

Why did you sell to him and not someone else getting the money you wanted. I sell and buy stuff on here. I sell at what it's worth unless linked to and offer for the same item. I have declined silly offers regardless of what sob story is given, it's my right to do so. I'll make and offer to a seller at what it is worth and it's up the seller to accept or decline, I can't force them to sell.

If the person hadn't resold the item and gone to pub with the money he'd saved would that make it OK, as they would still be profiting from the purchase at a reduced rate.

I thnik there's more of an expectation that people on STW are friends and therefore the classifides often opperates more at mates rates than full market prices,

ive sold a camper van dropper post, pair of wheels and 2 bikes over the last couple of weeks. The couple that bought the van were super cool and stoked to buy it.
Its been awesome getting emails from the guys who bought the post and wheels how much they like them, makes me feel good. One buyer of a bike sounds super excited about it, only posted yesterday!
However, I sold another last night and I felt a bit miffed when I found out the guy who bought it runs a website selling on second hand bike parts so the bike I spent (well actually g/f as its hers) cleaning, making look nice, setting up etc... is now going to be stripped apart for a profit. Now obviously I got the money I very much needed and wanted but it just doesnt feel right, its nice selling things to a good home.

I sould like a bit of a dealer myself doing all the selling, i've just bought my first home to various extra's have had to go 🙁

I thnik there's more of an expectation that people on STW are friends and therefore the classifides often opperates more at mates rates than full market prices, often people sell stuff at 15-20% less than ebay both because it's easier and you often know, or know someone that knows, or will probably meet inthe future the guy who you bought/sold to and a bit of karma goes a long way.

I understand that but at the same time the seller shouldn't be paying for someone else's hobby by given large discounts. I'm all for the community aspect of it and send bits I have no use for free of charge so long as the other person wanting those items pays postage. As for ebay it's not 15-20% less as that is what they are taking in fees. Selling on here just bypasses those charges and sells to someone, who like you say, you may meet in the future.

people see it differently criagxxl, i did a nice thing for someone and was treated like a c***

wont happen again

to put the ball back in your court. Those bits you give away, for postage..... are you happy to just send them to me, so i can charge a few pence less than the CRC listed price, days later?

depends are you a poor student who needs the money to pay for books 😉

@rob, well pointed out Yep Renton is a stalker.

I rest my case with the Yeti. Yes I bough the frame for £210 and build it up to a decent spec fox, mavic, avid, xt etc. the frame was large and the geometry did do suit me. I could have stripped it and bough another frame but decided on selling the bike as a whole - was sold for £780 in the end on bikeradar. Way below the value I could have sold it on eBay.
Also if anyone has build a bike would know that the cost of the frame and the components did not leave much change from the selling price. Sold and moved on to try something else - how does this make me a trader?
Yes I have a 2012 trek remedy 9 and am looking to build a second bike - for which I have been buying parts slowly, hopefully will find the right frame. Again what is wrong with that, I am not allowed to own a second bike.
Also @renton just looked at your post - trying to sell a Thomson seat post at a bargain price of £40!!! and then getting annoyed if other are buying or selling too much!

soobalias - Member
people see it differently criagxxl, i did a nice thing for someone and was treated like a c***

wont happen again

to put the ball back in your court. Those bits you give away, for postage..... are you happy to just send them to me, so i can charge a few pence less than the CRC listed price, days later?

I questioned a seller on here and got this reply.

No I am not a trader but build ,buy and strip bikes as a bit of a hobby.Semi-retired now and it keeps me out of trouble.

[s]looking [/s] stalking his selling history hes bought/sold a huge amount of bikes/parts,IMHO this goes way beyond a "hobby" and verging on a trader.

I pay SCANT regard to that sort of reply.

how does eh get away with it? scant that is!

However, I sold another last night and I felt a bit miffed when I found out the guy who bought it runs a website selling on second hand bike parts so the bike I spent (well actually g/f as its hers) cleaning, making look nice, setting up etc... is now going to be stripped apart for a profit. Now obviously I got the money I very much needed and wanted but it just doesnt feel right, its nice selling things to a good home.

Well, you could easily have stripped it and made more money yourself, yes? So why didn't you?

You didn't really need a huge amount for it?
Couldn't be bothered?

There are many, many serial bike/component strippers around. I can think of 5 or 6 people I know off the top of my head. Not all of us have the money so spend out on expensive stuff but by canny buying and selling (and being a good mechanic!!) we can have a great bike for little or in many cases no outlay. I have a set of Lyriks that cost me £30 but I'd be a pillock to let them go for under £200..... There's a pair of wheels on Mrs PPs commuter that owe me about £20. I could sell them for £50 and the buyer would be amazed at the price. I have DT Swiss 240/Mavic 717 wheels on my bike that I built up from used parts and Internet offers that I'd struggle to NOT make £100 on if I sold them.... All of that and more.

To me it's part of the game. Some like to spend thousands on top kit, to me it's a game to spend as little as possible and a bit of canny buying and selling is fun and profitable 🙂

@peterpoddy - well summed up totally agreed what is the harm in that.

Also @renton just looked at your post - trying to sell a Thomson seat post at a bargain price of £40!!! and then getting annoyed if other are buying or selling too much!

erm , I went through previous for sale threads for the same thing and matched my price to that, as it happens it didnt sell for that but I sold it to a lad from here last night for £30 posted.??

if you are looking to buy a second bike then why in your ad do you say you are after frames and not just a frame??

If you are not a trader then how come you have no input on the other sections of the forum apart from the classifieds?? oh hold on you have one thread about a seatpost.......

As for ebay it's not 15-20% less as that is what they are taking in fees.

That's what I meant to say (but my mind wandered down a tangent mid sentance), stuff usually sells for the ebay price minus fees, on the basis/expectation that the seller got his price and the buyer got a bargain, I'm annoyed if I do that and then the same components appear again a few days/weeks later at the top price

I agree, the traders should be shot.

They could spend all day scouring the classifieds and picking up all the bargains, only to sell them on at a profit. This is a business, they should be taxed.

I bet they never make any donations to STW world either.

Sometime soon Im going to scam one of the little ****ers, I'll donate the money to STW. I'll be a modern day Robin Hood, everyone loves him. Morally, Im in the right.

All depends on the definition of a trader.

If you buy and sell bike parts as a key form of income, i.e. your main job or to heavily supplement existing wage/benefits, then I'd say that person's profile should carry a "trader" tag. After all, they're a 'trader'.

If you buy and sell the odd bit of kit because you have a higher turnover of parts than average, then fine. Sometimes you'll make a few quid, sometimes not. No issue here.

I agree, the traders should be shot.

They could spend all day scouring the classifieds and picking up all the bargains, only to sell them on at a profit. This is a business, they should be taxed.

I bet they never make any donations to STW world either.

Sometime soon Im going to scam one of the little ****, I'll donate the money to STW. I'll be a modern day Robin Hood, everyone loves him. Morally, Im in the right.

+1 hear hear!

As Drac says, we don't have time to look closely at the full history for every reported trader. If it does look suspiciously like they're trading for a profit, rather than just clearing out a shed, then their account will often be suspended until we get them to explain themselves.

However, just like where we say that we don't have time to look into individual disputes: 'I bought some forks and they were scratched and now he won't give me my money back' kind of scenarios, so we don't have time to spend trawling through posting history. Obviously if everyone paid us a 2% commission on everything they sold, then we'd be able to follow this kind of thing up, but they don't. One solution would be to charge for the Classifieds, but then that's unfair on the occasional users who use them to shift a seat post now and again. Or perhaps we make a Premier Classifieds? That would take some work, but might work.

Suggestions always welcome 🙂
By email though - I don't get time to look at the forum more than once a week...