So Friday evening I saw a road bike I’ve been after for a while advertised on ebay
Price seemed reasonable and it was actually on display in a local bike shop to me (the shop let’s a third party display bikes in there, he sells on ebay or does them a bit cheaper if sold via the shop. In turn the shop takes a 5% cut)
Saturday morning I went down had a look at it, took it for a quick spin, it fitted all seemed good. Some slight chip to the paint (was mentioned in the ad) but this had been touched up so looking closely was a bit worse than the ebay pictures suggested. Still no major drama, for a 2015 model that had been upgraded from base spec to Ultegra it seemed a reasonable deal with a few £ knocked off as no ebay fees for the seller to deal with
I messaged the seller that morning, had it confirmed it was a 2015 model so I arranged to collect it Tuesday, paying in full then

This morning I was doing a bit of research when it hit me that it had external cable routing, which I thought put it pre 2014
After a while on google and Facebook owner forums I’ve confirmed it’s actually a standard 2011 model, so 4 years older than I was advised and standard spec

I’ve pulled out of the sale as while it’s still a decent bike. I’m not prepared to drop £1k+ on a 7 year old carbon frame, especially given one chip had been touched up, what else could be hidden that I didn’t see. I’ve explained this to the seller (who runs a business buying and selling secondhand high end bikes so I would expect to know this already really) and just received a ‘ok no problem’ response, no apology, no explanation as to such a difference in age from what he told me to what it actually is, no offer to renegotiate price etc

His response leads me to think he knew all along that it wasn’t as he was describing, or could this have been a genuine mistake?
Do I let the shop know this, they are associated with him by allowing the bikes to be sold in the shop, doing services on them and providing a warranty if he is miselling people the shops reputation will potentially also be dragged into it?

I’d talk to the shop and see if they knew/inform them.

Would prevent someone else getting shafted if nothing else.

His response leads me to think he knew all along that it wasn’t as he was describing, or could this have been a genuine mistake?

could be either but the lack od debate makes me think they know

Do I let the shop know this, they are associated with him by allowing the bikes to be sold in the shop, doing services on them and providing a warranty if he is miselling people the shops reputation will potentially also be dragged into it?

I would then its up to them what they do

Nothing wrong with letting the shop know, however it could still have been an honest mistake. Some people just aren’t very communicative!

If this thing is 1k+ why not buy a brand new ribble or similar ?

Because I don’t want to
and because a comparable spec Gran Fondo would have been £400 more, with cheaper wheels and not available until 5th June or an R872 (probably a closer comparison frame wise and same wheels) would be £1974 so nearly double the price

well one of our local shops tried a similar stunt on a new bike with a lady of a certain age in my road club. She’d had her bike nicked and was shopping for a replacement. They offered her a Cannondale “300 quid off because it’s a year old”. She went off to think about it and do a bit of Googling, and it’s a 2014 model 🙄

Just shows you did the right thing and google the bike not great for people new to cycling to get stitched up.

Wasn’t going to name and shame as part of this post but it’s back in ebay and still listed as an upgraded 2015 CF7.0 model

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/332223258158

Here is Canyons 2011 road bike catalogue
Same frame, same graphics, same bars, stem and all other component parts on page 60 – a 2011 CF8.0, as I pointed out to the seller
https://issuu.com/canyon_bicycles/docs/canyon_roadbikes_2011

Beware if you come across http://www.webuycycle.co.uk or http://www.Bikeworksderby.co.uk in Derby (formally Park Bikeworks)

Report to ebay.

I’ve sent him a message telling them to change the listing as it’s misleading.

You’d think it wasn’t worth the shop giving him floor space or putting staff time in for a 5% margin.

You sure the ownership of the two entities isn’t shared?

Both companies are named at the same address !

Got this reply:

New message from: bikeworksderby (63Blue Star)
Thanks for that information – we will be amending the listing accordingly.

BW Derby

ok so I have had a call this morning from Paul at Webuycycle apologising and explaining his situation, which I can understand
He is aware of this thread and also a review I placed on their Facebook page
He assures me it was a genuine mistake in the first instance, he bought the bike in good faith as a 2015 model and simply re-listed it yesterday with the re-list function on ebay
Now this has been pointed out to him he has amended the listing
I guess he has been conned by the person selling the bike initially so all he is guilty of is being a bit too trusting and relaxed in his business diligence himself

He promises me he was not trying to defraud anyone and it was a genuine mistake, I suggested a bit more diligence is needed both before he buys bikes and when he is selling them on and he accepts this and I believe his side of the story and am prepared to accept his apology and move on

He accepts his response to me on Sunday was a bit brisk and understands how it could be misconstrued but explained that he is receiving lots of calls and messages daily with offers for his listings and this is not his full time job

At the end of the day looking at other ebay completed listings it is a pretty fair price for the spec of the bike (it just wasn’t for me) given it comes with a bit more security than a normal private sale (full service, a free follow up service and a 3 month warranty backed by a shop)
Looking at the other items sold or for sale on the same ebay account it does seem to be a one off so I have no reason to doubt his side of the story and have accepted his apology and apologised myself for not taking it further with him directly myself before posting on here last night

(and yes the two businesses are linked)

Basically I guess the moral of the story is to do your research if your fishing in the 2nd hand market, buying or selling regardless of who you are dealing with