Dale wrote:
"In this case, the seller forgets to mention that a seat tube had to be replaced, hence a trip to the repaint shop. Hardly guesswork. Now that does tend to make one cynical doesn't it?"
Atta boy, Dale. In addition to the post that suggested that folks who are suspicious tend to have sinister thought themselves, there was one that suggested that the seller wouldn't have mentioned the repaint if he was hiding something. To this I respond: WHAT? Obviously if the frame is being sold as X-Heiden, and it shows up with completely fresh paint, the seller would have a lot of explaining to do. Moreover, any repainted frame would almost certainly have evidence of wheels clamped into the dropouts, brakes to bridge and crown, etc showing beneath the new paint. If the frame were sold as unused, the seller would also have had some 'slapining to do.
I also thought it was interesting that someone from Serotta chimed in about the repairs. While one listmember suggested that this might have been a planned "endorsement" I suspect that the seller was surprised by the post. It seems more like someone familliar with the bike's history, someone at Serotta, went out of his way to politely point out that the condition hadn't been completely disclosed. Sure, I guess the seller might not have to show the questions on the auction (or does he?) but he probably either felt a pang on conscience or felt that he would be turned in to the Ebay police.
I'm with Dale on this. Big huge gaps in an aution discription are a perferctly reasonable basis for suspicion. Ebay is full of scammers, and even when we consider folks who aren't outright scammers, we all have a different standard for appropriate disclosure. Just last week I received an SR seatpost with a tiny little scratch, barely visible, but the seller had made a point of mentioning it. He was nobody I know, just an especially forthright seller. On the other hand, guys on this list, guys who are probably generally honest, have sold me stuff that I think was really poorly described, in some cases to the point of seeming a little shady. I know people who I consider to be of good character, who are honest people, who throw stuff on Ebay with pics and a "what you see in the pics" discription. They aren't scammers, just jaded by all the Ebay BS, and they feel no compulsion to be in that tiny minority who actually highlight every little flaw. In other words, there is a huge gray area, and it is equally simplistic to suggest that Ebayers are generally to be trusted as it is to suggest that they are all scammers. You just need to be careful of what you bid on while also not jumping to conclusions about anyone's character. Character assessments won't change the outcome of your auctiuon, and we're not going to raise the standard of Ebay listings sitting here talking about it.
Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA
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