yoothgeye
I build stuff.
This is a Craigslist ad I put out about a month ago, I have gotten no calls or e-mails. Would this have worked in your area? I wasn't looking so much to make money, but to clear out some wheels and make some connections.
My failed CL ad, would this have worked in your area?
- Thread starter yoothgeye
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yoothgeye
I build stuff.
I doubt my prices are too high, and I'm not competing with any loyal LBS customers. Our LBS stopped stocking items and only orders if someone needs something, plus, tue-fri they are only open 12-5, *if* they open.
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
Tailwinds said:
The owner or the shop died last year, we had the funeral here at church. He started the business along with a few others, out of the bicycle shop they also run his Chimney Sweep business, which is their real bread and butter. One of the guys who works the shop (and also the homegoods/funiture store beside it) thought the wife was going to give the go ahead to close the business, but at my last visit I was told since the chimney business ran out of the same buuilding that the shop would remain open, but they wouldn't sell bikes anymore except what's left there. Sad, I was hoping they would close up and I could buy some tools from them. The demise of the store was they couldn't compete with Walmart bike prices, very few people around here seem to care about quality. On the upside, any repair work they retain is on Walmart junk. haha
Poor area, hard to sell anything, make that impossible.
Here's another one I never got a single call or e-mail from:
I take that back, I got a call from a guy in MA who wanted to pay for shipping it, I just didn't want the hassle.
A.S.BOLTNUT
He who dies with the most toys ,still dies No Fear
huh ya , i probably would have picked up everything !
Bicycle/chimmney sweep shop. Sounds like you live in a smallish town. Probably just not enough business to start with if people are doing multiple businesses in one and add on the ecomony people are really pinching penny's now no matter how much ieconomic up swing they are trying to make it sound like.
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
g-ratter said:
I know the condition of people around here, but even in a depressed area I think people would spend a few bucks to get a wheel or tire or both put on their bike.
This city is about 16,000 people, the last town I was in was under 4,000, before that about 7,000, and before that I was in a town with 85,000 (and growing rapidly). All of these towns/cities are in the same craigslist I am posting in.
There is enough activity on craigslist around here to think people are watching, but I'm pretty sure all the activity is just sellers, hardly any buyers.
First off, CL ads don't fail, they just need to be re-posted, and revised if you can think of a way to make them more appealing.
People don't like to have to do work any more, so 90% of them want a wal-mart bike ready to ride, I don't care how poor they are, beyond that, they don't care, they don't have tools, they live in a 1 bdrm apartment. They just just want to chain it to the railing next to the bbq. I see parts ads here all the time, they list forever. The folks don't have time, money, or inclination to build their kid a good bike.
List your parts on Forums like this or eBay. I'm thinking CL is your wrong audience.
I don't mean to B-smack you or anything, but you had a $150 bike sale, and you didn't want to take the trouble to charge him an arm and a leg and ship it out..... I guess the result speaks. Maybe you did and he didn't want to pay your price to ship? Every eBayer knows to make a small profit on shipping. Would have worked the same for you in this case, I expect.
Just my .02 based on what you said, and in the hope that my .02 is helpful to you.
People don't like to have to do work any more, so 90% of them want a wal-mart bike ready to ride, I don't care how poor they are, beyond that, they don't care, they don't have tools, they live in a 1 bdrm apartment. They just just want to chain it to the railing next to the bbq. I see parts ads here all the time, they list forever. The folks don't have time, money, or inclination to build their kid a good bike.
List your parts on Forums like this or eBay. I'm thinking CL is your wrong audience.
I don't mean to B-smack you or anything, but you had a $150 bike sale, and you didn't want to take the trouble to charge him an arm and a leg and ship it out..... I guess the result speaks. Maybe you did and he didn't want to pay your price to ship? Every eBayer knows to make a small profit on shipping. Would have worked the same for you in this case, I expect.
Just my .02 based on what you said, and in the hope that my .02 is helpful to you.
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
jerrykr said:
The one guy who wanted the bike offered me my asking price and $100 for shipping. I know I could have, but I just don't want to ship bikes. The bike isn't costing me anything to keep, I got it for free and have zero dollars in it, but I sure would hate for it to be damaged or lost in shipping or dealing with hassle once the person opens the box and starts complaining about something not seen in a photo. I've been burned before. I did tell the guy about an actual vintage Stingray on Richmond, VA craigslist with a 5 speed and in as good a shape as mine for only $80.
Like the other ad, I'm not in this for the money, but to make connections and keep some bikes in this area.
It was your bike, and your sale, and you did what you wanted to by keeping the bike.
I have to respect you and your decision that you didn't consider the offer enough to take a chance on having a hassle on the deal.
I have to respect you and your decision that you didn't consider the offer enough to take a chance on having a hassle on the deal.
yoothgeye
I build stuff.
jerrykr said:
Thanks, it's just a different approach that I take to selling something if I don't need money. Sometimes I look around and say "Well, I'm not using that, and someone might appreciate it." Sometimes I give stuff away, sometimes I try to sell it. It's my attempt at not being a hoarder, I've really had to teach myself to throw away stuff in the past few years.
On this bike, I know it's worth some money so I offered it up for sale. Offered to give it to a friend too, but he wasn't incredibly interested. To make sure it went to a good home I had to put a price on it, I guess I am a little selfish, I don't want someone else going through the trouble and making money off of me! haha
