Perhaps less likely to offend, but I'd like to point out that mentioning what a bargain someone had got on a particular item could conceivably give offense to the seller who could take it as a swipe at their business acumen for not knowing the true value of their offering. I think the real problem with the post that set this off wasn't as much the opinion offered on value but the disparaging personal characterisation used to express that opinion.
I'd hate to see politely expressed opinions on value and good/bad deals made taken off the table completely in an effort to ensure that no offense is given or taken on this list. Values are actually quite an interesting topic in our hobby and can be discussed tactfully I'd think with appropriate forethought and consideration prior to hitting "send".
Kurt Sperry Bellingham, Washington USA
2009/5/11 donald gillies <gillies@ece.ubc.ca>:
> I have learned from Dale NEVER to question the money people are
> willing to pay for an item, and NEVER to criticize someone for paying
> large sums. I'd like to point out two important things about the
> bidding.
>
> 1. There are not one, but THREE people willing to pay above $5900.
> So if you think $7700 is too much, how about $5900 ?? Are you just as
> willing to call THREE people irrationally exhuberant ?? What if the
> auction had been more widely publicized, we might have had 5 or 10
> people bidding above $5000 !!
>
> 2. One should be glad that it did not sell too cheaply !! It's quite
> unlikely to have "it's braze-ons removed!" and then turned into a
> FIXIE !! The person who has acquired the bike probably has the means
> and committment to go all the way and restore it fully !!!
>
> 3. Once upon a time after a CR dinner I saw a 1930's Jim Cunningham /
> Cyclart frame that MIGHT have been a Caminargent, but I'm not sure.
> Other than that frame, I have not only NEVER seen another Caminargent
> I have NEVER EVEN seen another frame constructed in this manner!
> Compare this frame to any KOF frameset costing similar $$$, and
> offered nowadays on this list. As a curiousity the Caminargent puts
> them all to shame, the construction methods of this frame a quite
> simply, spectacular.
>
> - Don Gillies
> San Diego, CA, USA