iab

You don't need a bricks and mortar to have ethics. Buying and selling by definition is a business transaction. But the OP bought at one price and doubled his/her money. To me, that is buying at wholesale and selling at retail. That's just good capitalism.

Biggziff

He's simply saying that if someone comes to your car lot to trade a 1954 Corvette and tells you they want $500 for it, you could be morally and even legally obliged to inform them that the vehicle is worth much more.

It doesn't apply to the situation the OP described, but as this is an internet forum I'm sure this thread will degrade to a complete debacle in no time!

KoNP

If you can more power to you

a guy just bought a bike from me (70s rollfast delex) today for 30 bucks

I just checked craiglist and he re listed it for 120 saying its a great for fixie conversion a few hours later

superflylondon

Fair play! I do this all the time with items I know of are value and then flip them in the right market, with the right marketing.

Don't feel bad, you have to get paid and you did the leg work...etc.

Aussie_Al

ricebowl

I would tell someone the truth if they asked me how much something is worth. If they tell me I'll take $X for an item, I'm under no obligation to tell them it's actually worth $Y.

Biggziff

Well..at least you're honest about it and we all know how you think now.

RT

You can see it two ways.

I have encountered this quandary in the past and decided that it was best to give the seller more than what they were asking, minus a discount for doing what was right. Karma will return to you, and it is up to you to determine how good/bad that karma will be.

Another possibility would be that the seller was willing to take much less as a convenience discount for ensuring they got rid of the property before moving.

Case by case situation, but you aren't going to Hell.

urbanknight

The nasty emails probably come from people who think you just sold it without doing anything to it. If you took the time to tune it up and make it more presentable, you're entitled to get paid for that. I know a few people who flip bikes as a side job to get extra spending money.

cleon

It's just stupid silly to think it's WRONG to buy something that is severely under-priced, clean it up, then turn around and sell it at an appropriate price point. Tell those emailers to go burn down all their local pawn shops. Hell..might as well burn down the bike shops too..cuz guess what...they buy stuff cheap and sell it higher..oh my!!

Dan The Man

My room mate once paid $270 for an old Peugeot ten speed on Craigslist. He wasn't happy when I pointed out to him that his bicycle had sold for $70 about 5 days earlier. The flipper hard-balled him on the price. I guess that's just reason to do your research.

topflightpro

Do any of you guys watch Pawn Stars? It explains how people buy and sell things for different prices all the time.

And OP, I live in your area and saw many of the comments. People were just being stupid.

DScott

There are "Craigslist people"? What do they do? Sit on the net and critique the buying and selling?

Do they look like this?

RT

Evil, Izzard style.

Bacciagalupe

Yet another agreement that as long as the bike wasn't stolen, you did nothing wrong.

No matter how good the bike looked, the bottom line is you took a risk in purchasing it and spent time and effort into fixing it up. Anyone who doesn't like it should go suck it.

I concur it's also entirely possible that the people chewing you out also flip bikes, and don't want the competition. Heck, it could be one person with a couple of sock puppets. And it's not like these individuals can have any effect on you -- CL hardly has a reporting system like eBay.

That said, I'd ignore the CL ninnies; engaging them directly will only make things worse. Just keep on flippin'.

K&K_Dad

so it's you! I've been wondering and now I know.

jim p

By the time you finish doing all the tax returns on your profit, you will know who the evil one is. You are going to report this aren't you?

elzy0000

Enjoy the free market. F the people that hate on craigslist.

baj32161

Of course you're MORE than evil....YOU are the Antichrist j/k.I see nothing wrong with what you did

tadawdy

No, but it reminds me of an Onion headline: "Southerner either looking for pawn shop or porn shop"

Nachoman

When it comes right down to it, the fact that you worked on the bike, before you flipped it, should be irrelevant.

Phantoj

So you're as evil as a pawn shop... does that make you feel better, or worse?

zigmeister

Anybody who has a problem with this should run down to WalMart and start protesting, or the local car dealer, gas station, clothing store...shall I go on?

That is business. You get it for less, you mark it up 10%, or 100% or 1000% depending on the product to make a profit. It is called capitalism.

EvenKeel

What do you tell a potential buyer when they ask you about the bike's history? Depending on how you answer this question will aid you in determining the answer to your query.

Phantoj

There is a difference... Walmart, the gas station, etc. do something to earn your money. They make the wholesaler's goods accessible to the ordinary person. Even the guy who buys stuff cheap at yard sales and sells it on ebay or at a thrift shop is doing something of value -- making the goods accessible; you can find and get the stuff you want without waking early on a weekend and driving to every yard sale.

Whether the Craiglist flipper actually does something of value to earn his $$$ is debatable, and varies from case to case. IMHO.