|
All good info guys, thx!
Mark Montreal |
Originally Posted by oldlugs
(Post 22009014)
I'm more than two hours from New York City here and about 45 min out of Philly, I list only bikes I happen upon that are too small for me or just not old enough.
Since this pandemic started CL, FB, and eBay have been pretty much dead for me. I sold two cheap bikes all last year, and both were ready to ride with good tires. I listed a 1979 Raleigh Sports in chestnut brown all last year, the bike was one of those amazing survivors, complete with original tires that looked just fine. The paint was near perfect and the chrome was clean and shiny, I put it up for $275 obo. I never got a single email.I figured if I can't get at least $250 for it I;ll junk it for parts and make my money piece by piece but I hate taking apart nice bikes because no one is willing to pay a fair price. To top it all off, its a taller 23" frame. Someone here made the comment that people have forgotten how to bargain, and that's very much the case here. If you list something for $250, in hopes to get $200, and someone only wants to pay $180, they don't email and make an offer, they just skip over it, Like I read above here, I've listed things for $500, and gotten no replies, only to sell it when I dropped the price by $5 and having the buyer say they had been looking for months for one. If I see something I want or have been looking for, I don't much care what they're asking for it, I'm going to make an offer for what I think its worth, usually I'll shoot a bit low in hopes we can negotiate to where I want to be. More often than not lately, instead of a counter offer, I get either no response, or a nasty comment in return. Its gotten to the point where I'm actually surprised when I meet a personable seller who is willing to listen to a reasonable offer, or one that can even decline an offer without insults and nasty comments. I had a buyer reply to an ad on CL two years ago for a mid 60's Hercules I was had listed. The bike was in good working order with new tires and looked pretty good overll with no rusty chrome anywhere. The wheels were perfect, it had two new tires and tubes on it, a Dynohub, and a Prestube rear rack. I had price it at $125.. After a few months I got an email from a woman who said the bike would be perfect for her husband and if I'd be around after work she'd like to come get it. She called me around 5pm and said she was on her way, and I waited around till 7 and no one showed up. I called her back and asked what happened and she tells me she's stuck in traffic. It turns out she was 400 miles away. She finally gets here at after 11pm that night. I roll the bike out of the garage, she looks it over and hands me $40. I said the ad was for $125. She said she knows but she spent the rest getting here in gas and tolls. She didn't realize I was so far away. She had driven from upstate NY to southern NJ. I told here I would let the bike go for $100, but no less, (I had priced it a bit higher to leave room to negotiate anyhow). She hen told me I should give it to here for free because of all the trouble I caused her. I made it clear to her that I wasn't giving her anything for free it was her who said she'd be there at 9pm and now at after 11pm she shows up without the money. I pushed the bike inside, closed the door and told her if she wants it, to let me know if she came up with the money but she went home empty handed. A few days later I got several nasty messages from her about how unfair I was and that there was no way she will ever buy anything from me in the future. I little peeved about the whole ordeal, I raised the price of the bike to $150 the next day. Two days later the same woman messages my ad on FB, tells me she'd like to look at the bike and goes through the whole story about it being a gift for her husband again. She showed up around 7pm, handed me $150 cash and left with the bike. She acted as if she had never been here before. Same car, same phone number, etc. (Her phone number and plates were from upstate NY). Maybe she just forgot to take her meds that first day? A year or more later I get a message saying that the bike has a flat front tire, this time from a guy, presumably her husband, who tells me its lost air ever since his wife brought it home and will I make good on it if he brought it back here. Wanting to see if someone would actually drive that far to save $12 on a bike tube, I said sure, bring it by, I think I've got a couple of used tubes here to fit it. The following weekend he shows up with the bike on a rack behind a Chevy Tahoe SUV with NY plates. The first thing out of the guys mouth was that he didn't realize how far away I was. I pumped up the tire, noticed the valve stem was leaking, I tightened the valve stem and all was fine. He loaded the bike back up and left. At that point I prodded him a bit to see if he had really driven that far to get a bike tire pumped up and he showed me the receipts from the turnpike and bridges from the trip for that day. He likely spent $60 in gas to drive here to save $12 at the local bike shop. |
You want a real cross section of humanity? Try posting stuff for FREE on CL. Have a good breakfast and take your meds before the crowd shows up.
|
Not a 3-speed but just look at that finish!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...73463321286800 https://scontent.fric1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...82&oe=6098DCFA |
Originally Posted by thumpism
(Post 22009541)
Not a 3-speed but just look at that finish!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...73463321286800 |
Assembled in U.S.A
Was making some adjustments yesterday to the '77 3 speed Sprite I picked up last fall and saw this decal that I didn't look closely at previously. Under "Made in England" it states "Assembled in U.S.A"
This is what I believe is a one year only (hub dated 76 12) 3 speed Sprite. Not shown, but is described in the 1977 catalog. (see my post about it in this thread) https://www.bikeforums.net/21843265-post23586.html I've had lots of Nottinghams but this is the first time I've seen this label. Anyone familiar with Raleigh's program on bikes being assembled here with British components? https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...eb6f9912ea.jpg |
Originally Posted by IsleRide
(Post 22010140)
Was making some adjustments yesterday to the '77 3 speed Sprite I picked up last fall and saw this decal that I didn't look closely at previously. Under "Made in England" it states "Assembled in U.S.A"
This is what I believe is a one year only (hub dated 76 12) 3 speed Sprite. Not shown, but is described in the 1977 catalog. (see my post about it in this thread) https://www.bikeforums.net/21843265-post23586.html I've had lots of Nottinghams but this is the first time I've seen this label. Anyone familiar with Raleigh's program on bikes being assembled here with British components? -Kurt |
I have the same label on my 1974 Sports - Made In England Assembled in USA. My bike has a Nottingham serial number. I wonder if these were broken down further than the normal bike, imported basically as a box of parts, and more fully assembled in the USA than other models had been. The quality seems the same as any "Made in England" Raleigh Sports from that era. I love my '74 Sports and it's a frequent rider for me.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZnHTkArP...406_181622.jpg |
Originally Posted by IsleRide
(Post 22010140)
Was making some adjustments yesterday to the '77 3 speed Sprite I picked up last fall and saw this decal that I didn't look closely at previously. Under "Made in England" it states "Assembled in U.S.A"
This is what I believe is a one year only (hub dated 76 12) 3 speed Sprite. Not shown, but is described in the 1977 catalog. (see my post about it in this thread) https://www.bikeforums.net/21843265-post23586.html I've had lots of Nottinghams but this is the first time I've seen this label. Anyone familiar with Raleigh's program on bikes being assembled here with British components? https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...eb6f9912ea.jpg Tariffs on imported bicycles in the 70's was 25-30% and on bicycle parts approx. 10%.. It would make sense to Raleigh to bring the bikes in as "parts" and finish the assembly in the US and Canada. To what degree the bikes were re constituted is unclear. |
Originally Posted by gster
(Post 22010318)
I know this was done in Canada. Tariffs were placed on imported bicycle to protect domestic manufacturers.
Tariffs on imported bicycles in the 70's was 25-30% and on bicycle parts approx. 10%.. It would make sense to Raleigh to bring the bikes in as "parts" and finish the assembly in the US and Canada. To what degree the bikes were re constituted is unclear. As SirMike said it might have been just a different level of completeness in assembly. |
Root beer 23" with a torn Brooks for a C-note!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...17535283131858 https://scontent.fric1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...3c&oe=60983EE6 |
|
That's an early-1960's Sports. Someone ought to grab that; it looks like something that will clean up very, very nicely.
-Kurt |
Originally Posted by thumpism
(Post 22009438)
You want a real cross section of humanity? Try posting stuff for FREE on CL. Have a good breakfast and take your meds before the crowd shows up.
I was just glad he wasn't putting anything from that place in the trailer he borrowed from me. Bicycles though don't seem to get picked up here, most bikes I get that were thrown away come from the trash guys themselves. A cold 6 pack once in a while on a hot day seems to encourage they bring them to me first. I take anything they bring me, worst case scenario its scrap metal to pay for another 6 pack or two. |
Put 10 miles on the bikes, riding to the next town over for lunch. Was a great day for a ride.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...59239af15.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fed00050f.jpeg |
Originally Posted by oldlugs
(Post 22009014)
I listed a 1979 Raleigh Sports in chestnut brown all last year...After a few months I got an email from a woman who said the bike would be perfect for her husband and if I'd be around after work she'd like to come get it. She called me around 5pm and said she was on her way, and I waited around till 7 and no one showed up. I called her back and asked what happened and she tells me she's stuck in traffic. It turns out she was 400 miles away. She finally gets here at after 11pm that night.
I roll the bike out of the garage, she looks it over and hands me $40. I said the ad was for $125. She said she knows but she spent the rest getting here in gas and tolls. She didn't realize I was so far away. She had driven from upstate NY to southern NJ. I told here I would let the bike go for $100, but no less, (I had priced it a bit higher to leave room to negotiate anyhow). She hen told me I should give it to here for free because of all the trouble I caused her.I made it clear to her that I wasn't giving her anything for free it was her who said she'd be there at 9pm and now at after 11pm she shows up without the money. I pushed the bike inside, closed the door and told her if she wants it, to let me know if she came up with the money but she went home empty handed. A few days later I got several nasty messages from her about how unfair I was and that there was no way she will ever buy anything from me in the future. I got another "meet me half-way" from selling a Schwinn Collegiate years before that. This type of jerking around seems to happen when I would list a too-low price for the bike. In the instance of the LHT, I had it at $500, which is an obscenly low price for a bike like that and with the componentry on it (Sugino crank, nice Jandd front rack, dynamo wheel!) But I was in a pinch: I needed money RIGHT NOW for a rental move-in. And it was in December, possibly the worst month to try to sell a bike, even in bike-crazy Portland. I should have charged more, but no one was biting. So I had to lower the price, and that draws the weirdos out... |
Originally Posted by adventurepdx
(Post 22011456)
Wow, that's a story. I've gotten something similar to that when I was selling my Long Haul Trucker several years back. A guy who lived in Olympia, WA (100 miles north) emailed me to ask if I'd lower the price to make it "more worth it" for him to drive down, or could I meet half-way? Urgh.
I got another "meet me half-way" from selling a Schwinn Collegiate years before that. This type of jerking around seems to happen when I would list a too-low price for the bike. In the instance of the LHT, I had it at $500, which is an obscenly low price for a bike like that and with the componentry on it (Sugino crank, nice Jandd front rack, dynamo wheel!) But I was in a pinch: I needed money RIGHT NOW for a rental move-in. And it was in December, possibly the worst month to try to sell a bike, even in bike-crazy Portland. I should have charged more, but no one was biting. So I had to lower the price, and that draws the weirdos out... I listed two black large flange hubs, (I had 200 pair, all new in bulk boxes), I sold 130 of them pretty fast at $60/set. Then I get one guy who returns one who says its the wrong color black and it don't match his 40 year old bike. He dings me with a negative and says he's going to return the hubs. A week later he's reselling them on his account for double. I had another guy buy two pair and claim they were counterfeit because Suntour is no longer in business. I guess the title "Vintage Suntour BMX Hubset circa 1976" didn't compute to him. He returned two battered and broken used hubs. eBay did nothing about it. I was selling a ton of vintage BMX grips, I was half way through the 8th case of one particular grip when a guy bought 9 pairs, then didn't pay for two weeks. He finally pays, he sends me cash wrapped up around a brick, wrapped in tin foil, then in newspaper, in a cardboard tube 2ft long. I ship the grips to him in his own cardboard tube. He left me a negative because he felt I should have discounted him the shipping amount because I used the same packaging to ship him his grips. They were listed with free shipping. Since they stopped letting sellers call out bad bidders and started only allowing a seller to leave positive feedback, the predatory buyers got so bad so I just gave up on eBay. CL is full of flakes with a 50% no show rate or better and everyone wants it for nothing and they want you to deliver it too. Facebook has been a waste of time, I see items for sale but most sellers never bother replying. Sold items never get marked sold or removed. I think quite a few ads these days are just people mining for phone numbers and email addresses. If list on CL I get a dozen emails early on all wanting to buy the item asking me to text them at some number. I don't text, never will. Calling the numbers just gets you a bunch of beeps and noises and then a ton of spam calls afterward. I also get a lot of calls from people who don't seem to know where they are at or where I'm at. I constantly get people who call from far away who don't seem to understand where NJ is located. On the flip side, I've also had quite a few people drive really far to buy some pretty run of the mill items. |
Originally Posted by cudak888
(Post 22010473)
That's an early-1960's Sports. Someone ought to grab that; it looks like something that will clean up very, very nicely.
-Kurt |
Originally Posted by IsleRide
(Post 22010140)
Was making some adjustments yesterday to the '77 3 speed Sprite I picked up last fall and saw this decal that I didn't look closely at previously. Under "Made in England" it states "Assembled in U.S.A"
This is what I believe is a one year only (hub dated 76 12) 3 speed Sprite. Not shown, but is described in the 1977 catalog. (see my post about it in this thread) https://www.bikeforums.net/21843265-post23586.html I've had lots of Nottinghams but this is the first time I've seen this label. Anyone familiar with Raleigh's program on bikes being assembled here with British components? https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...eb6f9912ea.jpg I remember seeing three speed Sprites before, but not that decal. From what I remember, they were 100% British until 1978 when Rampar came about here, those models were made in Taiwan, then the next year some of the Raleigh branded bikes were from Taiwan too, we started to see Grand Prix and Super Grand Prix models made in Taiwan. There was also some Sports models made in Malaysia in 1972. I've run into two of those myself. When Huffy came in, around 1983, the headbadge changed to Raleigh USA or Raleigh of America and all 'England' markings were gone on most bikes. I was helping out at a shop for a bit around that time then and when the shop owner saw the 'Welcome to the Huffy Family" he flipped out and swore never to put another Raleigh on the showroom floor. He absolutely refused to deal with Huffy and feared that eventually it was going to lead to cross branding of some models. They kept up with Schwinn as their main brand until they too sold out to Pacific Cycle. That was the last straw and he just gave up and retired. For some reason I seem to remember 27" Sprites earlier than 1977, they weren't a big seller but there was a footnote in the earlier catalogs where you could order them. Most just never did because it was sort of a duplicate of the Sports but with a slightly larger wheel. We all thought a an AW equipped Grand Prix would have made more sense with its drop bars. Raleigh tried crossing between the upright and drop bar styles in 1974 too with the Super Tourer, which was basically a Competition model with upright bars and fenders. |
I'm not seeing any shortage of bikes either, and certainly no one rushing to buy any here. With almost no bike shops around, used is the only ticket in my area. The nearest bike shop is an hour away and sells only high end bikes. Nothing under $700.
All of the local shops closed up years ago with the exception of a few that sell mostly department store brands for double the money and Dick's Sporting Goods. Here's a few from a quick search on FB, none are very close to me, but it seems they're in the area where folks are saying they can't find any bikes. Parts are a different story, for some reason all the online sellers jacked up their prices, but a buddy with a shop where I used to live told me he can get me anything I want but the prices have gone up a couple dollars per tire from the last catalog I had looked at about a year ago. He just got me a few pair of Kenda 26x1 3/8" tires and four cruiser tires all for roughly what I paid just over a year ago. Its the retail sellers online who are gouging. If people continue to pay that much, they will keep listing them higher and higher. If the supply chain was broken from China, fine, go buy from Vietnam, India, or any other country pumping out cheap bike tires. For some reason we don't see half as many of the bike tires that are available worldwide here in the states. We only seem to see Chinese tires these days. I've gotten good tires from India and Vietnam that simply are not sold here for some reason. The only size that's hard to find in some places is 26" or 559mm, everything I see listed is 684, 622, 630, or 590mm sizes. Here's a few bikes I see on a quick FB search: In Brooklyn, NY: Bycicle vintage - $150 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/904226010431930 https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b7f2b96591.jpg In MA, North of Boston: Robin Hood 3 speed vintage pristine $175 https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9ea038a501.jpg Clinton, NJ: 1960s Robin Hood $150 https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...524d1a74b6.jpg Another in Brooklyn: Vintage Red Robin Hood three speed bike https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...695a61c79d.jpg One in CT: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f7e5d251db.jpg (Probably not a 24", looks like a full size bike to me just looking at the pics). |
Originally Posted by gster
(Post 22009111)
I've often though I should teach young people a quick course on how to
buy something like used a bike or a car: 1- Decide what you want to buy and do your research 2- Find the thing you want to buy 3- Call the owner and ask about the thing DO NOT negotiate by email or on the phone DO NOT make a ridiculous offer by email or on the phone 4- Make a plan to see the thing 5- Go to the bank and get some CASH! 6- Show up on time. 7- Look at the thing, ask questions, drive/ride the thing 8- If you like the thing make an offer. 9- Negotiate. Be polite and reasonable. 10- Agree on a price 11- Take the CASH out of your pocket and pay for it or leave a reasonable deposit. 12-Take your new thing or arrange for the seller to deliver it and offer him/her a ride back. In turn, I've delivered cars to the buyer, taken the plates off and gotten a ride home. That's all I gotta say about that. Myself, I have no problem delivering something if they paid a fair price for it and it its not too far away. I'm not driving for hours though to deliver a $100 bicycle. Most emails I get off CL and FB start with a low offer, most will offer a fourth of what I'm asking. Any counter offer gets ignored or you get some ranting email back about how they can buy it for less elsewhere. My answer to that is usually 'Go Buy It'. There's also a rash of emails lately about 'Donating the item to some charity', its always something like some bird sanctuary or save the dolphins or something, they want to trade your item for an inflated receipt to some fake charity. Those are best deleted. If I feel the need to donate any of my hard earned cash it'll be to something I deem worthy. The max dollar amount here for a bike, any bike, seems to be around $100. Any more and you get no replies. If its a cheap bike, something like a Huffy, newer Schwinn, or Murray, then if you keep the price under $100, its gone in a day. List a Trek, Raleigh, or any shop brand and you get no replies unless it happens to be cheaper than a Walmart bike. This area seems to love full suspension cheap mountain bikes for some reason. Just so one or two lower gears work and they have to be cheap. Schwinn Varsity 10 speeds will bring more than a high end chromoly road bike, and a good Huffy with Positron Shifting will sell before all of them. Most here seem to ride whatever they buy till it won't go any more, and buy something else. there's no bike shops that'll work on anything they didn't sell, so when it no longer able to manage at least one speed or the tires go flat, they go shopping for another $50 lump of iron. If I list something of quality, I get nothing but either lowball offers or nothing at all. With CL, FB, and Fleabay all getting to be a waste of time, i really don't see any good options these days. The phone apps don't work for me, and many others who don't have smart phones, and I've had someone list things there in the past with zero results. I don't usually buy bikes to resell, but I also hate parting out those that don't fit me, and if they could help pay for this hobby, it wouldn't hurt any either. |
Originally Posted by dirtman
(Post 22013228)
If it was assembled in the USA, buy who? I didn't think there was an American factory until they were bought by Huffy in the 80's?
I remember seeing three speed Sprites before, but not that decal. From what I remember, they were 100% British until 1978 when Rampar came about here, those models were made in Taiwan, then the next year some of the Raleigh branded bikes were from Taiwan too, we started to see Grand Prix and Super Grand Prix models made in Taiwan. There was also some Sports models made in Malaysia in 1972. I've run into two of those myself. When Huffy came in, around 1983, the headbadge changed to Raleigh USA or Raleigh of America and all 'England' markings were gone on most bikes. I was helping out at a shop for a bit around that time then and when the shop owner saw the 'Welcome to the Huffy Family" he flipped out and swore never to put another Raleigh on the showroom floor. He absolutely refused to deal with Huffy and feared that eventually it was going to lead to cross branding of some models. They kept up with Schwinn as their main brand until they too sold out to Pacific Cycle. That was the last straw and he just gave up and retired. For some reason I seem to remember 27" Sprites earlier than 1977, they weren't a big seller but there was a footnote in the earlier catalogs where you could order them. Most just never did because it was sort of a duplicate of the Sports but with a slightly larger wheel. We all thought a an AW equipped Grand Prix would have made more sense with its drop bars. Raleigh tried crossing between the upright and drop bar styles in 1974 too with the Super Tourer, which was basically a Competition model with upright bars and fenders. American Raleighs usually had an RA prefix to the serial number. RC was Canada. RB Britain. Can't speak to the others. I had a Malaysian single speed sports with rod brakes but the chrome was all gone and it was a mess that needed recycling. The bottom line is that each market had different models tailored to the consumers. |
I have a three speed Sprite with 27" wheels in the shed out back, I bought it with a bunch of other bikes and just assumed it was another 70's Sports until I dug it out one day to see if the tires held air. Its got wider than usually steel rims with no markings, 27x1 3/8" Raleigh scripted CST tires, and a hockey stick chainguard attached with a clamp, around the down tube. The frame is dark metallic brown, the decals are identical to a 1970 Sports other than the DT decal that reads Sprite. (Not Sprite 27 like most I've seen).
The rear hub is dated 1971, the wheels are 36h front and rear. It shares everything with a Sports model except the wheel diameter and frame. Unlike another Sprite 27 I've got, its got a tubular fork crown too, and a heron crankset. I always just assumed it was factory, never gave it much thought because its been in my possession for at least 30 years now. It came to me through a local police auction back in the 80's. I've not dug it out in some time now, it just sort of got forgotten behind a few dozen other bikes over time. |
Originally Posted by dirtman
(Post 22013341)
Maybe they should make a video game out of it, then maybe it'll sink in a bit. ..................... .................. .
There's no such thing as negotiating these days, everyone wants it cheap, there also seems to be no such thing as retail anymore, no wonder all the bike shops are closing up. No one works for free, and if the internet beats the local guy in price, they don't have a chance. People also won't pay for labor either, they want to buy the part for nearly nothing and get it installed for free. A local shop here, back in the 90's got tires of explaining to people that its $10 to fix a flat, plus the cost of the tube and/or tire. Most just complained or walked out. He changed the sign to Flats fixed, $25 with new tube and no one complained. The average cost before was $18.50. People would rather see a 'special' board with services that include parts listed then to pay actual value. Years ago I worked at a car dealer, they ran the usual $19.95 oil change and lube special all year long, with a free 100 pt check. Most wouldn't pay for anything else you found wrong with their car or thought it should be included for the $19.95. They added a $49.99 chassis lube special with a free oil change. They sold ten times more Chassis lube specials than oil change and lube jobs because people saw the word "Free". |
FWIW, here in the Boston area I’ve sold 4 bikes via CL in the last 6 weeks. No flaky buyers, all paid what I was asking (I set my prices relatively low compared to the flipper crap that makes up most of what’s available), all transactions via Venmo. No complaints from here.
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