Buying on retrobike...your personal rules?

[Tootyred]

Ive found selling on here a very good, overwhelmingly positive experience. Far better than ebay or face book. (I dumped ebay when they dumped PayPal and frankly Facebook is a last resort for cheap parts and job lots of clearance stuff when selling). But then Im totally honest about the stuff I sell, put plenty of close up photos and try to answer all question to the best of my ability.

Buying has been a slightly more mixed bag, but then the sage words of @jimo746 ring very true....."assume it's probably not quite as nice in real life as it is in the pics"......its not that people are trying to pull a fast one (or so i prefer to tell myself) its more people have differing standards.....what exactly is good / excellent/ poor!

For me excellent is basically new or totally refurbished to the best available standard.....but hey....thats my issue not the sellers in reality......so dialing down the expectation is sound advice. That or ask for better ( in focus and having the object somewhere near the camera is a good start people) photos is always an option.

 

[amoto65]

For me I will only sell or buy in person, no posting and no Paypal, cash on collection and if it doesn't sell so be it. Prefer to meet the buyer or seller and both parties be happy with the goods.

 

[Tootyred]

For me I will only sell or buy in person, no posting and no Paypal, cash on collection and if it doesn't sell so be it. Prefer to meet the buyer or seller and both parties be happy with the goods.

I suppose that is basically the belt and braces answer, but unless you live in a metropolis, that's going surley very much reduce you audience? Completly understand how you feel though!

 

[The History Man]

Pay promptly. Post promptly. Pay with PayPal adding fees until you have a track record/relationship with the seller. Accept that this is not a commercial enterprise. Treat it like a very large car boot sale.

And support the site. Some have had karma from me and were never seen again. That’s not the spirit. Post your builds,questions, Successes and failures.

 

[Vesatoro]

For me I will only sell or buy in person, no posting and no Paypal, cash on collection and if it doesn't sell so be it. Prefer to meet the buyer or seller and both parties be happy with the goods.

Yeah, it works when there is population in the hobby. When trying to find rarer parts in a smaller vintage mtb culture country (Finland), there often are few choises:
- Ebay, ussually trustworthy but the price is often just too much, and customs from outside the EU...
- German ebay kleinanzeigen. Mostly have had great experiences using PP F&F.
- Here, the folks are geat, no disappointments so far. Even in three party swap transactions have been succesfull.

 

[FluffyChicken]

I tend not to buy or sell much, my sell is very rare and then usually to help out.

But if I've ridden with them or k ow of people who have ridden a few time with them, then no problem.
That was easier back in the day of regular national and regional rides (that are posted on here with aftermath etc.)
Something that doesn't really happen now unfortunately.
Many of my locals or local ish ride modern now and have moved on from retrobiking nd retrobiking.
So the sale n swaps don't happen much.

After that it is just caution, regual poster who also buy from others creates a network of 'we know where you live', so helps out.


Go to go, wife nagging about boxing day food a... Bla blah blah... Goes of in hufff... Best go, eek.

 

[greencat]

My main red flag is if someone won't do PayPal.

 

[Mod-Master]

ive done bank transfer before, it was fine

 

[Woz]

For a while I closed my Paypal account due to rip-off fees and bad exchange rates. Bought and sold here several times with Bank Transfer, plus in every case it was international shipping. Simple matter of using the feedback threads and a judgement call. I no longer actively buy here, and may respond to a wanted ad to sell something from time to time (just to be clear, not due to bad experiences).

 

[The History Man]

For a while I closed my Paypal account due to rip-off fees and bad exchange rates. Bought and sold here several times with Bank Transfer, plus in every case it was international shipping. Simple matter of using the feedback threads and a judgement call. I no longer actively buy here, and may respond to a wanted ad to sell something from time to time (just to be clear, not due to bad experiences).

He can no longer focus on the keyboard.