Buying and Selling on Craigslist

The whole city of San Francisco is only 7x7 square miles, and very densely populated. Therefore almost all places within San Francisco proper are accessible by bike. Traffic is a nightmare, public transportation, while effective, is not very efficient. It can take over an hour to cross town via train and/or bus. Naturally, bikes are the most efficient means of transportation. There are tons of people on bikes. One would think that the larger number of riders per capita would dictate more used bikes on the market, which would drive the price down, right? Wrong.

The used bike market in SF is ridiculous. Its capitalism at its finest. More riders= more demand for bikes = higher prices (both in shops and by private parties). High rent and overhead attributes slightly to the high cost for a used bike at a shop. Sadly, these factors also lead to more bike theft.

In today's used bike market, you have only 2 real options. 1) Craigslist, or 2) Ebay.

Sure, there are other bike-related internet forums out there that you could sell your item on, but they are often slow and are only going to attract someone who is interested in your item. This only happens quickly if your item is 1)low or under- priced, 2) highly collectible or rare.

On top of all these factors, is the strongest deterrent to non-local sales is shipping. Shipping a bike doesn't have to be super expensive, but its always a hassle. Boxing it up carefully takes a bit of time and finesse, and the possibility of the buyer receiving the item damaged in transit may render your sale null and void, therefore making the seller lose time and money.

So, in a nutshell, if you are selling a pretty common used bicycle or part, it may not be worth your extra headache and/or wait.

Craigslist is the most commonly used local sales website. Its great. However there are certain unspoken rules of etiquette/common sense that apply when buying and selling bicycles.

Here is my rant about the sale of Melissa's bike (pictured above) that occurred over the last couple days.

1. This transaction is typically between 2 private parties.

What does this mean? This means that the seller cannot and will not be expected to receive payment in check or credit card. CASH ONLY. I know its the old fashioned way and kind of archaic, but its the only way to be safe out there. Its simple. Please come ready to pay if you intend to buy. Don't be surprised when I decline your offer to accept either of the other payment methods. Have you never bought used crap off Craigslist before?

*Side Rant: Who the fuck uses personal checks anymore? They are only good for paying rent. If my bike shop doesn't accept checks, I sure as hell won't from some dude I don't even know. . . The only people that use them is people who don't have the money to pay (yet), and are hoping they will acquire more funds by the time the transaction is finalized, by nature of the fact that this payment method takes forever to process. I'm not a gambling man, and I'm certainly not willing to get involved.

2. Selling your car and deciding to commute by bike is an admirable and noble thing to do. Buying a bike is a step in the right direction that many should take, and I applaud your commitment.

However, I'm just a guy selling a bike. You cannot expect me to teach you how to ride a bike. I understand that riding road bikes is a little weird at first, but still, 45 minutes of my time is a lot. I did everything short of putting training wheels on it for you. If the bike fits, you should buy it and have a good friend hold the saddle for you and push you off like your dad did when you were younger.

3. A bike mechanic friend or any "bike guy" can definitely be a useful resource when purchasing a used bicycle if you don't know anything about bikes.

However, if you plan on having your "ex-bike mechanic" friend take a look over the bike before you buy it, please bring him with you the first time you meet with me. That will save you the trouble of having to make 2 trips to meet me, and will save me a lot of time as well.

Bikes are not like cars. They are much simpler machines. Its not like there are some hidden defects or repairs going on that you don't know about. If it works, it works. If something is messed up, it can be replaced. On a steel frame, you can reweld it if its cracked.

I AM a bike mechanic. Bringing your friend over as a scare tactic isn't going to make me disclose other pertinent information I might have otherwise left out. I'm not trying to sell you a fucked up bike, that would be seriously morally reprehensible, and bad karma at that.

4. Lastly, if you are going to bring an "ex-bike mechanic over," please bring one that actually knows stuff about bikes. I've been doing this for a long time. I could tell the friend you brought over didn't know ANYTHING about bikes. He didn't even touch the bike. Any competent person that knows at least a little about bicycles/componentry would have at least squatted down to see what type of deraillers/shifters/hubs the bike has, since they weren't visible from the photos. If it were me, I'd ride the bike, check the hubs and bottom bracket for play, check the shifters, squeeze the brakes, and look the entire thing over. I've done that before for other friends, it only takes a minute or two. I asked him if he was familiar with bikes like this, and he replied, "Uh, not really." That was like bringing over an "ex-car mechanic" who didn't even look under the hood.

OK, enough ranting for now. I'm tired and sick. Am I really this bitter?

I'm glad you were able to obtain $40 less than my asking price in cash from the ATM and cash-back from your debit card. I let you have it for cheaper because I was sick of dealing with flaky people and wanted it to be done with. Like I said, I was selling it for a friend, therefore the price isn't exactly flexible, and its not really my decision. Meeting you 3 times was 2 times too many for me- I'm a busy guy with 2 jobs. I hope you enjoy your new used bike. See you on the streets!