Kona (really badly listed) London £40 bin

[lrh]

I'm not saying ALL trading is bad. I've bought a load of parts recently split off bikes and no one would be able to upgrade/fix old bikes without it.

I can understand most people do it because of a passion for bikes and to see people get the bits they need. Personally I make enough from my day job to not make it worthwhile, plus I take pity on rough old parts and spend far too long cleaning and restoring them. I've thought about buying up worn cranks to restore (because I'm getting rather good at polishing them) but it would only be as a hobby because the profit per hour spent would be tiny!

In this case someone might have got a nice original Kona road-worthy for £75-100 but to buy the frame and missing parts back now will cost more like £175-200. I don't think anyone likes to see that happen?

 

[Midorimage]

I see nothing wrong with this....

Looks like the new ebay lister researched what he had, cleaned up the frame and parts... took better pictures and is willing to ship worldwide.(It is also listed in the US ebay) None of this the original owner was willing to do.

---Michael

 

[Can of Coke]

Too many examples of stuff posted here (badly advertised, Gumtree) that sell within minutes to All Things Split .com and reappear at 3x the cost.

Plus examples of them gazumping members once private sales have been agreed, so it's tough convincing me they're an "ethical" trader serving the community

It's the way of the world mate.

This forum is breeding ground for it too, so a bit like the pot calling the kettle......

 

[Charlieboy28]

yeah well im with lrh on this, i just avoid all things bike dot crap like the plague.

I have no issue with splitting and trading its the obscene and completely unjustified mark up that is put on these things.

Can you imagine a newbie posting up that frame as his first build here, then finding out the frame he bought £115 was bought as a complete bike for £40.

I also remember the same seller and forum member spotting fictitious damage to outed bikes to deter other forum members from buying them on numerous occassions then buying them himself to split and sell at huge profit.

again good luck to him, i just feel sorry for the mugs who actually buy his stuff

ignore the responses IRH, there is politics at play here , this same theme has been done to death, and those in supprt of your ethical position just cant be arsed to respond.

Bargains in London are pretty much sown up now, but the rest of the country is your oyster and rb members a plenty who will collect and pack a bike for you

 

[ellillowladex]

yeah well im with lrh on this, i just avoid all things bike dot crap like the plague.

I have no issue with splitting and trading its the obscene and completely unjustified mark up that is put on these things.

Can you imagine a newbie posting up that frame as his first build here, then finding out the frame he bought £115 was bought as a complete bike for £40.

I also remember the same seller and forum member spotting fictitious damage to outed bikes to deter other forum members from buying them on numerous occassions then buying them himself to split and sell at huge profit.

again good luck to him, i just feel sorry for the mugs who actually buy his stuff

ignore the responses IRH, there is politics at play here , this same theme has been done to death, and those in supprt of your ethical position just cant be arsed to respond.

Bargains in London are pretty much sown up now, but the rest of the country is your oyster and rb members a plenty who will collect and pack a bike for you

+1

Retrokona has turned a fair trade hobby on the forum, into a high mark up business on eBay, quite often at the expense of a genuine bike hunter in need of a decent runaround :evil:

Good luck to him...maybe, though non of this is in the spirit of the forum which is why I believe he no longer posts, apart from on the eBay thread of course

And as for cleaning the frame and bits up, if only... :roll:

 

[lrh]

Unfortunately their grubby, over-hyped, over-priced stuff keeps appearing in my RSS feeds so hard to ignore and bound to wind you up after a while.

Not a personal vendetta against this guy, there's a few other pro traders almost as bad and if people didn't pay those prices...

Oh well, it's not for me to police a free market, it's a symptom of the retro MTB scene reaching its peak. A lot of people doing it for profit only started in the last 2/3 years. They better make hay while the sun shines because I don't think it will last.

 

[brocklanders023]

Agree with elli/charlie/lrh. I've had many bikes that I pinch one or two bits off then sell the rest and have no problem with that but if selling on here I'll always try to pass things on for a good price and am always open to offers. I like buggering about with old bikes and am certainly not in it for the money. Certain bikes I'd never strip.

What I think is a bit naughty is what's mentioned above. It's the cold blooded, buy cheap, sell high with no interest in what your doing style of sellers like this. Isn't the seller in the link formally 12-28? They're not doing anything illegal but it has taken some of the fun out of the search that I used to get when first on the site. Much like retro radio controlled cars that I used to collect, the innocence of retrobiking is going for me to be replaced by a more corporate business. I lost interest in the r/c gear when it went that way and retrobikeing's going the same way for me.

 

[Anthony]

Isn't the seller in the link formally 12-28?

I think maybe 12-28 was his previous eBay identity, and he is retrokona when on here. Funnily enough, call himself retrokona or not, he doesn't seem to know all that much about Konas - e.g., this frame is a 1988 Cinder Cone, not a 1990.

I don't really see much of a problem in him making a living in this way. The original sale was too cheap, but that isn't his fault. Somebody was going to take advantage of it, even if not him. It's only rare and perfectly-surviving bikes that it's a shame to see split up, but a 1988 Cinder Cone isn't anything all that special. I'd be surprised if he made his asking price on this, as such early Konas below Explosif level don't generally fetch much. But then I've been surprised before.

Given his travel costs, time spent and eBay fees, I doubt whether he makes all that much per hour worked. I don't think I'd buy anything off him myself now, although I would say his descriptions are generally more over-enthusiastic rather than dishonest. He does seem to forget to mention relevant points sometimes, but you certainly can't fault him on his photographs of what he is selling - they are among the best on eBay.

 

[Charlieboy28]

Again Anthony I agree with much you have said,

It is the grossly inflated price that galls me, the imaginary newbie I mentioned is likely to be put off retrobikes by being fleeced in this way, in the same way that seasoned others mention being put of retrobikes by these very sellers.

I also reckon that his market, is the people who like retrobikes but have yet to find this site which is a shame.

Sooo ridiculously inflated prices is not good.

Gazumping people on agreed sales with better offers is also pretty crap in my book.

Spotting fictitious flaws and damage to deter others, before buying them yourself again is crappy crap.

Its all amounts to immorality I reckon and should not and can not be condoned.

The only thing I can think of that is worse is selling Karma items.

RB is a real community, and a community will police itself and set its own standards

As long as this info is out there, and people can make an informed choice, then its all good.

 

[brocklanders023]

I agree 100% Charlie.