I just have to comment -
Last year at the Cirque Ralph was a blessing at my table. Early in the day he bought a bunch of stuff, and I said come back at the end of the day to sort through leftovers at a great price. I also put up signs around my tables that said to make offers, that everthing must go!
Ralph came by, we did some old-fashioned horse trading in the most pleasant of ways, and he bought a bunch of stuff. A few days after I came home Ralph emailed me to "appologize" for bargaining so hard at the bargaining. I chuckled a bit as I was the one who begged him to make offers and to not worry if they were too low. I had signs on my stuff saying to make offers for heavens sake! I smiled as I was able to take all my remainders back on the plane in one checked box - something that Ralph's efforts helped make possible. The bottom line at the time was that Ralph bought stuff that I wan't up for selling on my own on ebay or other venues at that time. I wanted to sell, he wanted to buy, and everyone was happy!
Of all my years in the bike biz, my dealings with Ralph were among the most pleasant I've had. He clearly likes to conduct biz in a way that all parties feel good. Well done and keep up the good work! And if I wan't in a sell-off mode right now, I'd be a serious looker at that headset!
Mike Kone in Boulder CO
> hello all,
\r?\n> I put the crazy headset up on Ebay for that crazy price. Remember a
\r?\n> few years ago the threads involved with some Midwest seller that
\r?\n> listed a $10,000 UNiversal brakeset on Ebay? Sure we chatted about, it
\r?\n> did not sell and he did it for sheer publicity.
\r?\n> I, on the other hand, listed this not for publicity but to actually
\r?\n> sell it. As it was pointed out a few times, my prices are overpriced
\r?\n> or what one list member wrote as the upper end of the price range of
\r?\n> its' value. But as Steven Maasland also wrote, sure I can list the
\r?\n> item for a lower bid to maybe attract more bidders, but what if the
\r?\n> serious bidders are on vacation? Remember, it takes two bidders. I
\r?\n> love the hobby and I am a collector myself, but like other sellers on
\r?\n> Ebay, I get paid to list items on Ebay. That is my job in the winter
\r?\n> to keep the guys at the shop working and getting paid, where as most
\r?\n> shops, especially as you get into colder regions, lay off there
\r?\n> employees or significantly cut back their hours. Ask any bike shop
\r?\n> about winter hours. Well bike shops that don't sell skis! Selling over
\r?\n> 200 items on Ebay a month, allows for the guys to work, and for people
\r?\n> otherwise would not be able to find some these items, the access and
\r?\n> knowledge that we have about them.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I really don't understand Peter Jourdain's disdain for the caveat -
\r?\n> WYSIWYG. I have been selling on Ebay for a long while, and as much as
\r?\n> the CR community is the most bike knowledgeable group on Earth, I can
\r?\n> list a set of cranks on Ebay, with a photo of the cranks, with a
\r?\n> description of the cranks, and when the winning bidder gets the cranks
\r?\n> in the mail, they ask where is the Bottom Bracket? Where are the
\r?\n> pedals? Anyone who as bought from us before knows, that if we ever had
\r?\n> a problem with an item, we will completely work it out. I have no
\r?\n> problem refunding money, exchanging items or whatever. As much as we
\r?\n> are in the business of making money, we are also keeping the hobby
\r?\n> alive for people who don't have the resources that we have. We travel
\r?\n> all over the East Coast and as far as Michigan(My boss has also
\r?\n> attended VeloSwap in California), buying and trading and creating
\r?\n> connections with fellow bike collectors. I just returned after a 6
\r?\n> hour drive from a swap meet this morning and bought items that I will
\r?\n> soon list for all those people (CRers included) that did not attend.
\r?\n> Paramount front hub, various Campy derailleurs, and other bits that
\r?\n> would have ended up back in somebody's pile, or in the trash. And to a
\r?\n> preemptive defence to those people that dislike buyers like me going
\r?\n> to swap meets and "buying up all the good stuff," talk to the sellers,
\r?\n> I never haggle over prices, if the seller wants a certain price for
\r?\n> it, I pay it. plain and simple, if it is too much, I say it is not for
\r?\n> me. From my experiences, sellers are generally happy to see me at
\r?\n> swaps as they know I will spend money. I also generally drive all
\r?\n> night to get to the swap meet, sleep in the cold van, and have to load
\r?\n> the 30-50 bikes we buy.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I am not sure either what questions Peter might also have about the
\r?\n> headset, other than stake height, that is not available in the title
\r?\n> of the headset- "TA french threaded headset NOS new" It is sealed in
\r?\n> the original package. Sure I can open it, but that is part of the
\r?\n> charm of it- the French air. As it came from France. What auction
\r?\n> pictures are not clear? As much as I do not have a Ray Dobbins setup,
\r?\n> most of the pictures are clear and fairly accurately describe the
\r?\n> condition.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I take offence at Peter Jourdain attacking a fellow CRer. Your blanket
\r?\n> attack aimed at me for the disclaimer is malicious and unjust. Your
\r?\n> use of the phrase "these dealers" in the same email about me puts me
\r?\n> in the category of sellers that you feel are trying to get over on the
\r?\n> customer. CR sweetheart sellers that fail to deliver a package in a
\r?\n> timely manner are given a warm receiption as "wait and it might come,
\r?\n> if you remember to remind the seller." But someone that list items for
\r?\n> what they feel the market value is, after buying and selling on Ebay
\r?\n> for the last 8 years, having all worthwhile items descriptions and
\r?\n> selling prices on Ebay since 2000(like CR market high x10000) on file,
\r?\n> is distasteful and upsetting and incomprehensible. How does that make
\r?\n> since?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> If an item on ebay needs more than one picture to accurately describe
\r?\n> the item, then I generally have more than one picture. I give a brief
\r?\n> description for most items, as it seems that most Crers already know
\r?\n> what it is and what they are looking for. I am not playing "20
\r?\n> questions" or any other game, or trying to hide anything.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> last point, as Joel Metz states, and others, when was the last time,
\r?\n> if ever did you see a TA headset on Ebay. Well, to an be exact, about
\r?\n> a year and a half ago, I had one, just like this, never installed but
\r?\n> no package that sold for $450. So as much as the price seems
\r?\n> astronomical, it is rare. Stronglight headsets are a dime a dozen. I
\r?\n> have seen at least double the amount of 1st generation Campy headsets
\r?\n> on Ebay in that time, and they are super rare. Of course more people
\r?\n> seem to value Campagnolo more this week. If it doesn't sell, so be it.
\r?\n> But I already have people knocking so. . .
\r?\n> ralph
\r?\n> philadelphia PA
\r?\n> ebay handle -senditnow
\r?\n> auction in auction-
\r?\n> http://ebay.com/