'Too good to be true' bike deal
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Found a listing for a used bike - 2 years old, and it looks pretty new in the pics.
Retail is $1300, dude is selling it for $400.
Anything I should be on the lookout for when I go check it out? I smell a scam - but I don't know what it is. (Stolen bike? How can I tell?)
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You can’t tell if it’s stolen unless you ask for the serial number and check it with local police.
When. I lived on Mission Beach there was a bike theft gang that lived downstairs. They’d grab a bike off the boardwalk, strip it, paint it and have it back out there for sale in less than an hour.
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Yeah I would expect it to sell for 700-900 maybe, but 400 isn't out of the question. You could be straight up and say, I've heard of stolen bikes being resold, mind if I get the serial number so I can do a quick search on it? If too direct, maybe ask him about his buying experience with it, to see if he gives normal or shady details.
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@Mik said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
You can’t tell if it’s stolen unless you ask for the serial number and check it with local police.
When. I lived on Mission Beach there was a bike theft gang that lived downstairs. They’d grab a bike off the boardwalk, strip it, paint it and have it back out there for sale in less than an hour.
Yep. More of 'em use vans now, so they can collect more per hour.
I saw a guy clocking mine in DC once. @89th
I shit in my hands andI let him know that yes, I saw him. And yeah, I was going inside Starbucks but I'd be watching his ass. Asshole even kept tabs on me while I was inside to see if I'd ever be away from the window long enough. -
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@Klaus said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
Ask for a receipt of the original bike sale. If it's stolen then the seller won't have it.
I doubt I have receipts for such items, but that's just me, I suppose.
Also, if the seller lives in a family home or something (as opposed to: meeting you in a parking lot), then it's also a good sign.
Nope. I'd never meet someone in my home for a sale. The closest I've come is the lobby of my condominium.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
Nope. I'd never meet someone in my home for a sale. The closest I've come is the lobby of my condominium.
I once bought a used sax from somebody on Craig's List - I had to go into his house because I had to try it out, but I could sense he was getting increasingly nervous about it as we were texting. I don't think I'd do that - I'd managed to find him online as he was a regular poster to a forum like this one, so I wasn't too worried. Once he saw me in all my glory, it was all ok of course.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@Doctor-Phibes your menacing presence would make anyone nervous. Brrr.
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@George-K said in ['Too good to be true' bike deal]
Nope. I'd never meet someone in my home for a sale. The closest I've come is the lobby of my condominium.
Why? I've both sold and purchased probably hundreds of things from the door of my home or from the door of other people's home. I've also very frequently entered other people's home, or let people enter my home. Never has anyone proposed we meet somewhere else, and of course I wouldn't either. Why the hysteria? Creeps are actually pretty rare. Most people are just normal people. And even if you'd meet a creep, chances are very low that anything bad could happen. It's not good for a society if everybody is scared to death from everyone else.
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@Mik said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
@Doctor-Phibes your menacing presence would make anyone nervous. Brrr.
When I arrived I told him I’d come to look at his horn, then the police arrived and, well, I will spare you the details.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@Doctor-Phibes not to mention you’d come to blow it.
"My pronouns are FA/FO." - Mik, 2024
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@Mik said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
@Doctor-Phibes not to mention you’d come to blow it.
"Horn."
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
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Worked out great! Met the guy at his house. He bought the bike during COVID to ride with his boys, and the boys weren’t interested in biking anymore.
He gave me a bunch of extra tools and threw in his $85 bike lock.
He had the original manual and all.
Funny enough my son getting his first real bike prompted me to buy this.
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@xenon said in 'Too good to be true' bike deal:
Worked out great! Met the guy at his house. He bought the bike during COVID to ride with his boys, and the boys weren’t interested in biking anymore.
He gave me a bunch of extra tools and threw in his $85 bike lock.
He had the original manual and all.
Funny enough my son getting his first real bike prompted me to buy this.
