On a side note. I find I get the best buys by just emailing the group (iBOB, Touring, CR...) a "Wanted To Buy". I almost always get several offers that typically are lower than EBay auctions.
But I admit I do like the outings - most of the time I'm not bidding, I just enjoy seeing a bike or part that I might've missed. Seems that usually the outings are for some pretty interesting stuff ($600 saddles for instance).
John Price Denver CO
-----Original Message----- From: Jan Heine [mailto:heine@mindspring.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 8:43 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]E-Bay outing
I feel it is up to the seller to decide whether they want to attract the highest possible bids, or sell something among friends on the CR list for a fair price.
Once something is on e-bay, it basically is "outed" already. The really big bids come from people who aren't on this list anyhow. The same applies if something has been outed by another list, like the iBob list. Thousands of bike-people have read the "outing" - and we all know each other...
Discoveries unfortunately (or fortunately) are made the hard way: You talk to people, you find the bikes, and then you buy them immediately, rather than mulling it over and giving the sellers a chance to talk to their friends, who'll insist that a 1971 Paramount must be worth "at least $ 5000."
Jan Heine, Seattle