StarBiker

I get on CL to list a bike, (I have flipped a couple hundred bikes on CL) and look around and see a dozen scams. All high end suspension bikes, all priced the same at $600. CL has become a real mess.....
I don't sell that much on there anymore since I don't have the finds like I did. Last bike I sold was March of 2020.
I guess I was just surprised by the level of nonsense. It really hurts legitimate sellers.
Sorry if this is posted in the wrong location. I rarely make appearances on here.

'02 nrs

agree-seems more could be done to stop the daily influx of scammers.Michigan is swamped by these same $600. scammers daily.guess all one can do is flag to sob's."We like to call Trek's Remedy 9 the "quiver killer." Going out with fast XC buddies? Take the Remedy. Ripping a shuttle run? Remedy. Doing an 8-hour ride with big climbs and bigger descents? Remedy again. This IS the 1 bike for it all with 150mm of custom front/rear Fox travel.

TREK Remedy 9
Very high-end, full suspension mountain bike
It was $600 new in 2011!! Has not been used much at all.
Fox and Shimano components
150mm Fox travel front AND rear suspension
Size Medium 17.5
Brand new Tubeless Tires Magic Mary 26x2.4 very nimble and easy to maneuver.
New black Chester flat pedals.
New fabric grips.
Always kept indoors.
Price is firm. Low ball offers will be ignored and blocked!
Call or text: (785) 3 six 3-94__42".

cb400bill

I flag them whenever I see them, as well. Quite annoying.

francophile 

This latest campaign of $600 bikes started in the ATL area about 7-10 days ago. They're making at least 6-10 posts per day, I have a specific keyword alert setup and I'm getting a couple to a few hits per day on that one specific keyword. All are 2000s-era MTB for the most part. All $600. All should technically be 50-100% more than ask price. Total BS.

The worst part is, I'm selling more during this past year, my problem is the opposite - dealing with scammers (or info harvesters) posing as buyers. I typically start/finish my ads with IF YOU SEE THIS, THE BIKE IS STILL AVAILABLE. Seems the scammer/harvester buyers like opening with "Is this still available?", so if they ask whether it's still available, I usually send the message straight to the trash.

That said, I just sold a full-size folder rebuilt for my "better 3/4" a couple years back. Seller opened asking if it's available, but also included some info about my location in the body. Took a chance, and it paid off with an extra $200 cash in my pocket. This ultimately has nothing to do with the $600 bike scams you posted above. I think we can all trust our gut, and I hope other humans are able to do the same. I'm like cb400bill , I flag for removal and carry on.

CL is only as strong as we make it. If we don't take time to flag fraudulent posts, people get suckered, and us sellers get screwed over. Do what you can to fight 'em!

StarBiker

One low ****** (Nothing unusual there) and two is it available, both deleted. One buyer who seems serious.

But I might want to buy something for myself (Happy with the old F700, but not for long distance) and with this scam nonsense it's not even worth looking on CL.

****** is a colorful adjective on here?

base2 

Yep. I've tried craigslist. The thing that sucks is when you actually find a thing that looks legit & you respond with "Interested. Is there a time/place you would like to meet?" complete with name, phone/text number & email only to have your response to the ad ignored.

I tried to sell a motorcycle on there for going on 3 years before I finally caved, took half what it was worth & sold it to a reseller.

The runaround game with harvesters/scammers/fraudsters/ & all manner of unsavory types is just too much trouble.

StarBiker

https://craigslistharvester.com/

bargainguy

I've abandoned CL in favor of Facebook Marketplace.

I have nothing against CL, it's where I started.

The advantage of FBM over CL is that buyers are no longer anonymous. If someone wants to purchase something and message me, I'm dealing with them directly, unless they've created a shill account just to deal with me. Haven't run into that one yet.

Therein lies the disadvantage. If I want to keep selling on FBM, I have to answer at least once for every inquiry, otherwise I get dinged in metrics.

The inquiries are all over the place, from sincere to wacko. It seems common for people to not read the text of the post at all. I had a guy yesterday ask me for a frame size, even though it was the first thing listed in the title and the text.

As always, there are those who want to play games. People sending me an offer after they've already agreed to purchase at my listed price, and refusing to show up unless I cave. People who don't show up and don't message to indicate they won't after they've made an appt., etc.

Anybody who plays games with me on FBM gets blocked and reported, and then I don't have to deal with them directly ever again. It's a different mindset than CL, but it seems to work so far.

StarBiker

^
And that is why I have not used FBM yet. If you seem like a nut why should I respond?
I don't take phone calls! Email only.

base2 

This explains a lot & confirms some suspicions.
Thanks!

Gunther20

Could be worse....I've learned to appreciate that the price is always $600. Makes it easier to ignore and focus on the genuine ads.

StarBiker

Bikes sell fast. An average condition Super V 400 $220? Sold. Reminds me of 12 years ago on CL.........

lostarchitect 

I am always mystified that people have so many problems with craigslist.

See a scam? Flag and move on. No big deal.

Don't put your phone number or real email in the ad, and you won't have to deal with yahoos calling / texting / emailing you. Use Craigslist's relay email, until you're sure the buyer is real and serious, then exchange numbers when arranging pickup. This also stops the harvesters.

I find if you just put something like "No checks, no shipping, cash in person ONLY. Scammers, don't even bother contacting me." you will hardly ever get any scammers emailing you.

Then meet up in a well lit, public place.

StarBiker

^
I am not having so many problems. It's just nonsense that I have to play a guessing game. Any games at all.

I never give personnel information out. That is not smart at all. Nor email, always use the relay.

Still does not make you immune from nonsense.

Sadly you may blow off a real buyer because of the scammers!

As francophile said he had to take a chance on an "Is it available" to sell something.

And just like FBM people are dense and don't read the ******g listing. Which is beyond dumb!

I had four scammers, a couple thumb suckers, and one serious buyer in 12 hours. Pure nonsense. CL wasn't like that.

Nor were there a bunch of scam listings.

Now to get moving, buy a couple parts, and list the other two bikes.......

(I see a potential Fuji Cross in my future. or Fuji Tourer.....)

2old

Guess I'm in the minority since I sold four bikes without incident in the last year (of course avoiding the individuals that only want to correspond through text) and purchased one. My gripe is all the shops that advertise and screw up the system with their multiple posts, while posing as individuals.

Clang

Using CL's price filter keeps me from seeing silly-expensive stuff that makes me grit my teeth. The downside to being cheap is the pages of kid's bike I have to slog through.

oldlugs

I've had more issues with FBM than CL when buying or selling.
I've sold 80+ bikes over the years on CL, but nothing on FBM.
Facebook seems to be a big joke, no one ever responds. In the last 4 years since I started looking at and listing on FBM I've had one legit response, which did result in me buying a bike, but it took me a week to get it through to the seller that there's no way I was driving an hour to come look at a bike without a contact number or address. The woman kept about how she couldn't figure out why I couldn't just come get the bike and leave the money in the mailbox, I had no address, no phone number, nothing but the town she had listed it in. When she did finally figure out that in order for me to find her, she had to give me her address. I did finally get a phone number, which matched the address. I then drove there, paid her and left with the bike. She went on telling me how she had gotten all sort of scammers, offers, and crazy emails after listing that bike.
As a seller, I've listed a dozen or so bikes, I've not gotten a single legit reply, I even went so far as having a buddy search for the ads to make sure it was visible.

CL is full of scammers and information miners but at least things sell there eventually. When I first list an item, I get a flood of BS emails, there's always the "Still Available" emails, which always come from the same sources, then come the lowball offers. The guys who offer $10 for a $400 Paramount or such. After that you get the page long dissertations on why you've overpriced that item and how its not worth anything, usually ending in either an ploy for you to donate it to charity or some stupid low offer.
Eventually if you hold to your price it'll eventually find a buyer or someone will drive to come get it.


The bottom line is that both CL and FBM are free, you get what you pay for, and most, including buyers don't want to pay for much. If you go to eBay, you eliminate those who won't pay for shipping, and still have to deal with a whole different type of scam.
If you go to the phone based apps you both eliminate those without smart phones and the many who just don't go there.
Everyone knows CL, and FBM has gotten a bit of a following but there's not much else. Fleamarkets and yardsales deal in pocket change, no one wants to spend a dime at either and the sellers think they have gold regardless of what its really worth. In 40 years I've only found five bikes at the fleamarket and one pair of bikes at a yardsale that were worth bringing home. I also found that if you have a yardsale, the dealers start knocking on your door the night before.

Part of the problem is that in the past, 'fair' profit meant doubling your money, now they begrudge you making anything. If it sold for $200 new, they now want it for $2. Then they expect to flip it for $400.
There's a seller not far from me who buys at auctions, they buy all and everything and put crazy prices on things in hopes of finding a buyer. Things sit outside till they sell, only getting reduced after they've weathered to the point of being worthless. That seller and two others clog up CL and FB with hundreds of ads every week for pure junk at crazy prices, and worse junk for cheap that's rusted away for a year in the rain. I'm sure sorting through the tons of garbage discourages a lot of buyers too. But I still feel that anyone who is really looking for a vintage bike will search all formats and find it, a real buyer also usually knows how to communicate and knows what their looking at. They don't email you and say only 'Still available".
If I'm interested in something and want it, I email with my phone number and leave it at that. I keep a $20 prepaid phone just for that reason.

zukahn1 

Haven't sold a bike on Cl in about five years sad to hear things have gotten this bad. Circa 2010 I was flipping nice mid level bikes off the front porch in Denver no issues flipped abot 50 bikesz and bilt another hudred or so at the the now gone bike coop.

jiangshi

I used to sell 6-10 bikes a week back in the day. I could buy consumables at a reasonable price and do total rebuilds before I sold. I was in a college town and most of my customers were by referral. One Summer I sold 60 bikes without an ad on CL. I equipped two workshops with everything but tapping/chasing tools, and went through dozens of high end bikes.

I still have two workshops, and a few Cinelli's and De Rosa's in each, plus a half dozen other bikes I'll keep. Everything paid for by one $100 flip to start.

Those days are gone.