AndreyT

Sigh... How many times has it been explained to overexplained to people already? It is one of the best-known facts of life: about 75% of the people who advertise in classifieds do so exclusively out of loneliness. They are not planning to sell anything. They don't have a room to rent. They seek human interaction, nothing else.

These are the rules of the game. When you respond to ads in classifieds, you have to keep that in mind before you even begin. Otherwise, you will see "liars" everywhere.

Outrider1

Interesting data point. Hmm.

Maelochs

Do you have any actual data to back that up? I have bought and sold a bunch of stuff using classified ads, starting way back in the day when "Classifieds" were actual small ads in newspapers. Have not found the phenomenon of which you speak.

Any actual data? Or are you as lonely person whop puts ads in papers to meet people?

You know, there has always been a section in the Classifieds, "People seeking people" and many varieties on that.

Pratt

I think we have discovered one of the causes of bike theft. If you steal a bike, at least you know what you are getting.

BikePower

Ive never heard that before but I wondered it. Ive never met someone selling on marketplace who didnt have something to sell. So what happens? You go there and instead of a bike for sale there is a table with playing cards and snacks?

3alarmer 

...+1. They're never set up the way I will eventually configure them, so a test ride tells me nothing.
And I don't have that much faith in the mechanical skills of a seller I just met, not to hurt me.

3alarmer 

...I must be in the 25%. I would be happier if I could avoid these interactions.

Herzlos

OR more excitingly, they'd ride it like that. Your idea of rideable and theirs may not be the same.

I think every bike I've bought used has at least needed a servicing, occasionally a new tire and the story is almost always "I bought it, used it a few times and then it's been taking up space in the shed". No malice, just no interest.

RoadWearier

I guess you didn't read the whole post. I specifically ask about whether the derailleurs work, brakes work, tires hold air. Pretty sure you need those things to ride it at all.

PDKL45

I must admit I get frustrated by buyers. BB7s aren't the most common of brakes around here (South Korea), but they're certainly not unknown, and you can use the pads for Juicy 5s or whatever as well, they're the same. I sold a bike with BB7s and the pads seemingly destroyed minds, but the buyer was going to the type of shop that deals in the local version of Walmart bikes and was being vibed away from the higher end MTB places that would actually have the pads. So I tell her she needs BB7 pads, but then some guy at a shop orders BB5 pads. I get her melting down on the phone screaming in frustration about how the BB7 pads don't fit and finally get her to send me a photo of the BB5 pads that the shop guy insists are BB7 pads. Just nonsense due to incompetence, language barriers and lack of understanding. Poor woman finally got new BB7 pads, and then worked out that the old pads were still just fine, she just hadn't been adjusting the pads for wear. I get these meltdowns because she thinks I have sold her a dud bike, when she just needed to watch a couple of YouTube videos or go to better shops.

soyabean

If you think folks lie when they sell their bikes, try buying a car, or a house.

Herzlos

And to someone who isn't bike smart, they may work in that the gears change, the bike stops, and they put air in and it stayed inflated for the 5 seconds they were looking at.

Or are you saying the brakes did nothing, you couldn't change any gears and the tyres wouldn't inflate at all? Because whilst I've seen an awful lot of bikes I'd want to fix before using, I haven't seen many that bad.

smd4

People on this forum should have enough knowledge and understanding about bikes to not have to rely on the seller’s representation at all.

spdntrxi

got a wheel set off eBay... advertised with tires I've been meaning to try. Wheelset comes and no tires to be found ? Message the seller..nothing..let another day pass by and message again..nothing. Open a case on eBay after the 3rd day of no response and I get oh I removed them so the sealant would not dry out. I'm thinking ok so why not throw them back in the box?

Seller is going to send tires now, but I fully expect them to have pin holes in them or something.

Aardwolf

Hmmm, that didn't occur to me.
So I should restore a ladies bike and advertise that ?

(just to be clear - that's a joke)

shelbyfv

This seems to be the root of OP's frustration. With any item, buying and selling for a profit is a hard row to hoe w/o a knowledge base. Got to be able to sort the promising from the junk.and resolve minor issues like tires and cables w/o drama.

RoadWearier

Did you even read the original post? Geez.

George Mann

The biggest problem in the used turnover game is finding people who will sell their used items at the items actual fair market value, determined primarily by the actual present condition of the item.

Most people bulk at it, want too much followed by any excuse they can think of to justify it.

I have learned to deal with most of these people by finding a compromise we can both live with. But it takes a lot of diplomacy and reasoning.

smd4

Yeah. I read it. You asked dumb questions that the sellers may or may not have had a clue about, when you should have been making those judgments yourself as a presumably knowledgeable cyclist. Then you determined they were liars. Geez.

I admit that maybe you’re not as knowledgeable as I assume, and needed to rely on the answers of strangers.

zandoval 

Yep... It's called artificial intelligence...

RoadWearier

Sorry that makes no sense. Why wouldn't you test ride it? How does researching take the place of test riding the specific bike? That makes no sense. A thorough look isn't going to replace a test ride either. But hey whatever makes you happy

RoadWearier

How is "do the brakes work?" a dumb question? How is "do the derailleurs work?" A dumb question. You are a complete moron. Don't waste bandwidth with your stupidity.

smd4

Are you kidding? I’m gonna trust some schmoe’s ascertation of brake function? Who does that??Some people don’t even know what a derailleur is. And to them, they squeeze the brake lever and think that’s sufficient.

Do yourself a favor and learn not to believe what sellers tell you, and learn enough about bikes to be able to judge them yourself when you see them.

RoadWearier

​​​​Uh...I did. that's why I didn't buy them. Are you really that dense? Guess so.

smd4

Then what’s the problem??