I have been in the cycle business on and off for nearly thirty years, and yes I can safely say that profit has always been a dirty word.
Standing as one of the accused - ie one of those Brits who's selling things on ebay, I can say that we too are also astonished at some of the prices that some of the items we sell achieve, and yes, quite naturally we prefer an item which goes well rather than those which sit on ebay without a single bid. As far as it being a living, let me say that even if I could get a sufficient supply of components I could still earn far more teaching IT at my local college!
However, in my opinion this profit margin on some of these items allows us a little more leeway to do things properly and hopefully this will benefit CR members in the long run. We all come from backgrounds of years of involvement and a love for the componentry and bikes we are handling. I know it's been often said, but it's true that a lot of these items would simply have disappeared if we hadn't unearthed them.
Recently I have been able to offer a number of frames on the CR site which I was selling as a favour for someone else, ie no profit. It has taken time and effort but I did it because I just enjoyed the chance to have these items in my possession for a short time.
Like most other UK ebayers, I get asked a constant stream of questions about technical matters, some of which I'm able to help with, sometimetimes not. I don't mind doing this. I also hold a list of parts which CR subscribers are looking for and if I can find them I will offer them at 'non-ebay' prices.
I am also honest with the people who offer me parts and tell them that they will be ending up on an internet site and will probably achieve such and such a price. This means I probably pay more than I should at times, but it means that I don't alienate my lifelines. I've only been to one bikejumble in the last few years because I know that the situation has reached the point where the prices in some cases are equal to anything on ebay!
If anyone has the idea that these parts are easy pickings in the UK, think again. There is the occasional bit of luck, but just because some of these items originated from the UK, does not mean we have a ready source of supply. Anyone who does this fulltime has to work really hard. Just remember that stuff exported to the west coast in the 60s and 70s will have lasted much longer because in Europe we have a phenomenon called rust!
Perhaps things have reached a point where CR needs to be tightened up a bit. I have to admit that one thing that has put me off offering things on CR is the pricing policy. I totally agree with it, but just what is an acceptable price these days? For every item that has doubled my estimated selling price, I could name three that have achieved half my estimate on ebay. It's really hard. Do you make a rule that unless an item is offered to CR members first, then it can't be outed? Maybe.
If nothing else, the feedback has brought ideas out into the open, and I already think that this has helped to clarify things.
Thank you Mr Webmaster for your very diplomatic interventions.
David Blight
Exeter UK