Hmm, that's potentially a new legal principle: "Caveat Vendor" instead of "Caveat Emptor".
I'd like to hear from anyone who goes to buy at a cycle jumble who ISN'T hoping to pick up a real bargain.
Is there a moral difference between someone who buys an item way below what they know to be the (eBay) market value for their own use, and someone who buys to re-sell?
Nigel, if you see someone selling something you really want for £10, when you know it will fetch £200, will you insist on buying it for £200? Or at what level will you feel that you can ethically complete the transaction?
The person who bought the Shellwins partly relies on trading in cycle parts for his living, and is very well known for this in the British cycling scene. I buy from him, and I have no problem with whatever he paid for the item, only whether I'm happy to pay the price for it. Likewise, if I were to sell to him, I would consider that whatever he sold the item for would be no concern of mine. As vendor, I have the opportunity to ask others regarding the value of what I'm selling, and if I sell without doing so, then it's down to me - I'm not going to whine about being the victim of someone making a substantial profit, if I haven't taken the trouble to find out what my stuff's worth, old guy or no.
As far as ASC's are concerned, I'll be selling one or two myself shortly. Regrettably, the most recent one I bought, at what I thought was a good price, looked like a ball of mud, and when I cleaned it off, I found that one of the spoke holes was pulled out. I bought a shell on eBay for over £100, and am paying for the hub to be completely overhauled by a well-known specialist. I'll sell it with the correct trigger, which has been similarly overhauled, a quick-release connector which cost me £15, and a pair of Sturmey wingnuts. If I don't get the going rate for it, I may well be selling at a loss, depending on what the overhaul costs me, but then, I should have checked it more carefully - my problem!
Having said that, if it had cost me far less, I'd be delighted to sell it at whatever profit I could make. - I have a hungry collection to feed!
Neil Foddering Weymouth, Dorset, England
>From: "NIGEL LAND" <ndland@btinternet.com>
>Reply-To: NIGEL LAND <ndland@btinternet.com>
>To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]ASC Sturmey Hubs
>Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 17:56:27 +0100
>
>Hey North America, what is happening? $456 for a Sturmey ASC? What's going
>on? Investment bank bonus declarations or a subtle finger to UK buyers
>given
>the proximity of Independence Day? I just don't get it. Mind you, I did
>hear
>of a pair of Shelwin hubs being bought at York Rally Saddle Bag Sale a
>couple of weeks ago for £10 and sold on eBay by a 'renowned' CR member
>after
>a quick polish for in excess of £200. So there you go. York Rally is very
>much a riders' event, but the businessmen are always around, looking for a
>quick buck. Is that a problem? Personally I don't think much of it, given
>that the seller was probably an old guy with no idea of the value of what
>he
>had. So, what are the feelings of this august group on prices and making
>big
>bucks from fellow cyclists?
>
>Nigel Land
>Barton on Humber
>UK
>PS anyone want an ASC for $2,000? Used notes please and I promise airmail
>delivery.