Heres the big secret. Are you ready?
Guys like me go to these places called auctions and buy last years discontinued models for less than a quarter of store price.
Then , people like me, put them on craigslist for $20 to half off of whatever new price was. We are called hustlers, flippers, etc.
I also buy new bikes from the scrapyard. It all depends on what the store wants done. Some send old stuff to auction,(Becoming more common) some to scrap, some just garbage.
If the seller wont give a bill of sale and show you their id for proof that ts them , then you have something to be suspicious about.
Sure there is thieves but you have to think, law enforcment watches craigslist. If bulk new bikes were being stolen, selling them on any website would be stupid. Thieves will get caught doing stuff like that. 75% of the population automatically assumes the worst because they want something to gossip about instead of asking the owner/seller a simple question. Assuming is a big part of whats wrong with neighborhoods like mine today.
Assume someone stole something , has something of someones, looked at your stuff or them wrong, something happened, assume someone is not ignorant enough to go off the deep end over some words. If you do you may assume the very wrong thing . In my neighborhood jumping to conclusions can get you put in a coffin . Ive learned not to jump to conclusions to fast.
Ill tell you what i pay for a bike and i tell you what i want for it if a person asks. Either way the bike is mine and what i want for it is what i want. Most people dont want to buy 30-50 new bikes at a time to get them cheap . I have storage and time so i can.
If you have never worked in the back of a big store, it might amaze you how many thousands of dollars go in the trash compactors a day. Ive bought truckloads of new bikes at a time from scrapyards. Some mint. Some cut in half.
The stuff that makes it to auction goes cheap, in bulk lots.
I personally have bought and sold over 200 new bikes on craigslist. All with store tags, barcodes, and prices on them. Unlike wally world, i tighten every bolt, grease them, and straighten the forks around.
As for trying to take one back to a store, thats a scam and theft . They were never really purchased from the store even though they have tags on them. They were sold through a auction for the stores.
