Re: [CR]ebay outing: cool Masi

(Example: Production Builders:Pogliaghi)

From: <"brianbaylis@juno.com">
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:22:13 GMT
To: BobHoveyGa@aol.com
Subject: Re: [CR]ebay outing: cool Masi
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

Bob and all,

This is an interesting situation. Even though I've been ridiculously busy since even before the Framebuilders Show, which was BTW outstanding; nonetheless I hear about these types of auctions, usually from someone wanting some information or my advice or input. In this case, I received a call from one of my regular friends and infoseekers. He told me about the bike but wanted to be sure it was the real deal and original paint and all that. I didn't even look at the auction nor see the photos, since I was driving to work at the time. I told the caller, hang up the phone and hit the buy it now button without further delay or he will hate himself for the rest of his life. He did as I suggested. He is the new owner of the bike. There is a network of information available. Hopefully you are the one who calls the correct person at the correct time and gets the correct advice, and just in time. I'm sure within a few more minutes, if not seconds, that bike would belong to someone else.

Since the seller did OK on his purchase, and the buyer did well also; this would be a rare case of good luck for the new owner even though it came through eBay. Just the right circumstances and choices of action to win the deal. It can happen!

Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Vintage Cycle Studios and Baylis Cycles are moving!


-- BobHoveyGa@aol.com wrote:


In a message dated 3/28/07 4:50:03 AM, Grant writes:


>
> Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:30:32 -0400
> From: Grant McLean <grant.mclean@sympatico.ca>
>
> Wowie Zowie!!
> Glad it's too big for me, or I'd have cried myself to sleep for a mont h.
> My favorite part of the seller's listing is:
> "I am not sure of the exact year of manufacture and I cannot find
> a serial number (unless it is 1.S1 as seen in photo #7)"
>
> Yup, that "1" there would be a clue to something...
>
> Grant McLean
> Toronto, Canada
>
>

Indeed.

A few of us have been having an interesting off-list conversation about this

auction... If the seller had not put a "Buy it Now" on the bike, there might

have been a few individuals (myself for sure) who would have written him and

told him what he had. Just out of consideration.

In this discussion, the question was posed that if the seller had posted the

bike on the CR list instead of eBay, would he have had dozens of emails

telling him either not to sell it, or that his price was too low ... or would those

folks have been outnumbered by those reaching for their checkbooks?

Most of

us agreed that the former would occur, since this list has been, by and large,

all about fellowship and fairness and educating each other.

But eBay's a whole 'nother deal... maybe I'm wrong, but I think that mos t

folks are very quick to write a seller when he has described something

incorrectly in a way that places the object in a better light, but not as likely to

write when he has described an item in a way that would tend to undervalue it and

thereby benefit the astute bidder.

When it comes to Masis, I tend to write the seller in either case, to correct

any glaring inconsistency whether it might be of benefit to the bidder OR the

seller. But in this case, the seller made that impossible because I wa s

dead certain that by the time he read my email the bike would be gone, gone,

gone.

So when you don't have a friendly group of pals to help you out as he

probably would have had if he had posted the bike on the list, the only alternative

is a few minutes of what many would term "due diligence," which in this case

could mean as little as typing a few words in Google and exploring the results.

Most sellers are willing to do this, at least with Masis, since I've gotten

dozens of emails from folks who have stumbled across my web site and either

want more info on a Masi they're selling or want permission to post my link in

their eBay description. Some might suggest that there might be too much info

on my site for the mere passerby (and I'll freely admit that the site was not

created for them, but for the more rabid Masiphile), but I still don't see how

it would take more than about five or ten minutes of skimming to discove r

both the year of his bike and the significance of a "1S1" serial number (either

on the USA Registry page or my article on US serial numbers).

So if you combine a lack of basic research with his "Buy It Now" which might

have discouraged others besides myself from dropping him a cautionary email,

it's probably safe to say that the seller deserved to get exactly the amount of

money he asked for and not the amount that the bike was really worth.

Bob Hovey Columbus, GA http://bhovey.com/Masi/

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