I met a stingy bicycle seller today

[dumpster_diver]

I found this guy in the next town over who has literally 200 bikes and 1000 extra parts and tires in his back yard. I went over today to buy some of rusty frames and he stated everything is for sale. As soon as I started picking stuff out, he claimed those things werent for sale. Then he started saying piles of bikes werent for sale.
So I was running out of options, so I piped up and said " so what is for sale?"
He replied " these and those 1970s 3 speeds"
I said " Okay, I'll take that one and that one"
"Okay....wait this neck and bars arent for sale and this shifter isnt either"
I replied " But I need the shifter for the wheel. there's no point in buying this wheel if I dont have a shifter."
"Well I just cant sell it, and also these brake levers arent for sale."

"Okay, hey how much for this Prewar Hawthorne"....
"It's not for sale."
" Hey, you have 2 hawthornes, how much for just the really rusty one"....
"it's not for sale".......
"but you have 2!" I exclaimed.

"Hey how much for this 1960s Western Flyer?"......
"Its not for sale".....
"Hey here is the same Western Flyer but only the frame, how much?" ......
"Not for sale."

He told me later that he was at a local car show about 10-15 years ago and those old cruisers were selling for $600+ and so he has to keep those older frames.
My reply "But you have 2 of them....please sell me one!"
"They arent for sale."

At that point I tossed the 3 speed bike back in the pile of other bikes and checked out with 2 schwinn's for next to nothing.

 

[Larry]

Some people are crazy that way. Stay friendly with him and I bet you can work him. I recently got a bike that I had been trying to buy for 6 months. The seller was sure he had a collectable bike and wanted a fortune. He relisted it on C/L a few times and I let him know I was still interested in it and what it was worth to me. He caved.

 

[Mr. Farrell]

wow. at what point does he expect to sell all those?? so what if some old cruiser sold for $600. its not worth that sitting in his yard. what. a. douche!!!!

i woulda told him to keep his pile of *$%& and good luck making any money that way.

 

[CCR]

lol, ive sold stuff on craigslist before, when they come by they say "what about that one, i like that one better"

 

[tlaing1]

theres a guy like that around me. he's got some older bikes nothing I haven't seen at the swap meets for 40-100 bucks but he's always around twice the price of others and complains when people offer him fair market value. I'm about done with the collectors here (where I live, not RRB), because they are jerks.

 

[lurker]

I've noticed that, unfortunately, the same people who have the drive to collect and store old stuff, like bikes or cars, often have trouble getting rid of it. It's a hoarding disorder, and it comes in degrees - most of us on the RRB board have it to some point, or we wouldn't be here. But if they had never collected and kept the stuff, it wouldn't be around, so....I guess it's sort of a catch 22. Try working with them, don't get agro, and they will probably come round. Sometimes they won't and will let stuff rust into the ground rather than sell it for a fair price. Or sometimes ANY price. It's sad, but whaddya gonna do?

 

[Lightfoot]

I've noticed that, unfortunately, the same people who have the drive to collect and store old stuff, like bikes or cars, often have trouble getting rid of it. It's a hoarding disorder, and it comes in degrees - most of us on the RRB board have it to some point, or we wouldn't be here. But if they had never collected and kept the stuff, it wouldn't be around, so....I guess it's sort of a catch 22. Try working with them, don't get agro, and they will probably come round. Sometimes they won't and will let stuff rust into the ground rather than sell it for a fair price. Or sometimes ANY price. It's sad, but whaddya gonna do?

You hit the nail on the head on that one. My wifes grandparents were hoarders. When they were living we tried to help them clean up the property many times at their request, and they always started feeling uneasy when they actually saw stuff leaving the property and would promptly abort the cleanup. After they both passed away the cleanup job fell on our shoulders and it took us a couple years of yard sales, donating to charity etc. to get rid of their 60 years of accumilation.

 

[Rustinkerer]

I've bought a couple bikes out of the local Trading Post, and CL, that started out pricey, and slowly came down. There was the guy w/the red & white Hawthorne, Iver Johnson,(both pics in the Gallery), and a Columbus-badged Columbia, (which I sold on ebay). I forget what he wanted originally, but when they got to all 3 for $100, I jumped on it. I think there are people who look at ebay, but don't understand the difference between a 1938 Schwinn B6 and a 60's Western Flyer! To them, they're just both rusty bikes worth a lotta $... ~Adam

 

[StephenH]

My mom died in 1980, so after that, my dad started doing the grocery shopping. He got to where he'd pretty much go to the store every day for that day's groceries, which meant he got a nice new reuseable paper grocery bag. Which he kept. So after a while, he had cabinets crammed full of grocery sacks. He had absolutely no use for them, and wasn't saving them for any particular use. He didn't plan to recycle them. They were just "perfectly good grocery bags" that he couldnt' stand to throw away. A collecting disorder as you say.

I've heard people say "Well, he grew up in the Depression when times were tough, that's why he's like that". Only thing is everyone his age grew up in the depression, and they're not all like that. And the actual hardships of the depression fell on his parents, not him, and they weren't like that. It's just a personality thing, has nothing to do with the value or lack thereof for the item in question. I've got a friend that at one time had 3 storage units packed full of junk he didn't need, and like you say, we're all like that a bit.

By the way, my dad is cheap in some ways, but not necessarily stingy. If you needed it, he'd give it to you. The bicycle guy you mentioned, that doesn't want to sell that stuff- don't be surprised if he doesn't turn around and give it to you, either. If you have a chance, take a very nice restored bike by there just to show him sometime, that might change his outlook on it a bit.

 

[dumpster_diver]

Yeah he is stingy in what he is willing to sell, but the stuff he does let go, is cheap. His prices were like $5-7 for 16'' -20'' bikes and 7-10 dollars for the 24''s and 26''s.
I am working on a resto that I'll be showing off and hopefully he will come around. Problem is that is claims he does his own restorations (and I've seen his work--aweful!!) so this might actually create more tension and hoarding.

Yall are talking about hoarding, you should see my shop, I have stuff that I dont need like old car parts, antique furniture, old toys etc but I make sure I keep the stuff that has value! But literally, you cant work in my shop or on my carport or my other shed... :shock:

 

[Rustinkerer]

...talking about hoarding, you should see my shop, I have stuff that I dont need like old car parts, antique furniture, old toys etc but I make sure I keep the stuff that has value! But literally, you cant work in my shop or on my carport or my other shed...

Well, you're handle is Dumpster diver after all! I'd bet most of the members here have shops/sheds/etc. that aren't exactly TIDY! (Self included!) :lol: ~Adam

 

[Pappy]

Oh...so you finally met Ponytail Mike in person!!!!!HaHa...just kidding,Mike!!!