AITA For Reselling this Old Trek Hybrid? The Previous Owner Sure Thought So!

[@peterskalak7844]

check your front quick release, it looks like it is open instead of closed.

[@LebronPhoto1]

It is. That is the type of mistake that allowed front wheels to fall out, lawsuits to happen, and “lawyer lips” (the little tabs at the bottom of the fork opening that doesn’t let the wheel come off unless loosened) to be added to the frame. The main reason quick releases are no longer quick.

[@LebronPhoto1]

She asked for a price, you paid it. That’s a “meeting of the minds/contract agreement. After that, the bikes are no longer her concern. Morally, should you have offered more? No. You didn’t know how much time, parts and effort you needed to get these back up to speed or what people would be willing to pay for them after they were repaired. You took the risk she was unwilling to take.

[@stockton350]

That's kind of what I thought but clearly we were on a different wavelength. There's definitely the cost of parts/labor with these bikes but there's also the cost of tools, storage, gas, time transporting the bikes, answering questions, meeting potential buyers, getting stood up by potential buyers, etc. It's a hustle that comes with hidden costs and risks.

[@astral_brain]

I'm fipping bikes for a side hustle too, and I think it's the sellers responsability to know what they are selling. I'm putting in 5-8 hours work on average on every bike, which includes transportation, maintenance, cleaning, taking pictures and doing the ad. Profit is usually around $50-$100, which is really not much if you divide it per hour. Any less and it wouldn't be worth it.

[@stockton350]

Yes, if you factor in all the hidden costs beyond parts and labor the margin gets pretty thin. Answering questions, meeting up with people, etc that's as big time suck also. Good luck with your projects.

[@astral_brain]

@@stockton350 Thanks! Luckily my livelyhood doesn't depend on it, otherwise I would be screwed lol. I'm seeing a slighty decreasing interest in classic/vintage bikes in Stockholm, Sweden, where I'm based. It seems electric bikes and scooters are what everyone wants now.

[@stockton350]

@@astral_brain similar thing happened to be in New York when the citybike program rolled out, but it also got a bunch of people into cycling so eventually the demand came back.i bet it's a great biking city though.

[@astral_brain]

@@stockton350 Stockholm is an awesome biking city, you can get anywhere on a bike lane.

[@richards4422]

You overpaid for the bikes to begin with !!!!!!!!!!! She owes you a refund.

[@stockton350]

She took advantage of me.

[@BicycleDud]

200 for the work alone is fair.

[@bigjohn2811]

The woman doesn't understand fixing up an item isn't free. Parts and time (fast food employee wages start around $15 an hour) have costs. She's a kind person that would have a rear seal oil leak on a car and would think it should only cost the price of the seal and $30 for labor. She probably would give a quarter to mow her lawn.

[@tjchad1]

Got my wife a Trek Navigator off of Offer Up a year ago for 80 bucks. It was in GREAT shape! I was a little surprised... thought I would have to do some work on it but it only needed wiping down and I had to do a slight adjustment of the brakes- just turning the adjusters and that was it! Solid little bikes. Your seller was just upset that she didn't get more money. She agreed to the price and then you put tie and effort into it to increase the value that she either was not willing to do or not able to do. Fair play.

[@stockton350]

That sounds like a good deal. Nice one. I think you're right about why she was upset. I guess she felt like I should have volunteered to pay more?

[@jamesconroy7030]

"Profit" is not a dirty word.

[@stockton350]

I agree. I can see if I charged way over market price and swindled someone, but I always shoot for slightly below market rate. Still, I'm sure some people will feel differently.

[@RoldanRR00]

People want to get the premium price without putting any money or effort into it. She's just bitter.

[@StayZero556]

She named her price and you paid it. If I sell someone a clapped out beater car and they put the time into fixing it up so they can flip it, I have zero business thinking they took advantage of me. Same thing goes for bikes or anything else.

[@stockton350]

That's what I thought and why I was shocked at the reaction.

[@VyantQuijt]

Never heard of nor seen this dial-gear indicator system before. I watch this video, and an hour later I spot it at a thrift shop. Crazy coincidence

[@dgriffinm]

Maybe the person that owned the bike should've sold it for more money,

[@stockton350]

I think that's what she was thinking - that she missed out on making more cash.

[@270ie8]

The lady is clueless! You paid way too much for that Trek. By the time you finished the maintenance, you had $300 bucks in the bike. You sold it for a loss.

[@stockton350]

It's true. I overpaid. Even without the drama it was a dumb choice on my part.

[@oreocarlton3343]

​@@stockton350live and learn it's not a problem if it happens it's a problem if it's happening

[@undertheradar001]

If you needed to work on the bike to make it saleable and it cost you; you are well entitled to add that to the original price. The parts and labor would have, at least, cost the markup dollars. Was she expecting to get it back for what she sold it for after work had been done to it?

[@stockton350]

I think she was just offended for some reason. Maybe she felt like she lost out on some money but in my view she actually did pretty well. 🤷🏼

[@zwicker5585]

@@stockton350or maybe she just thought it would go to someone who would use it? Some people love to give a deal under the assumption that person will use and value that item 🤷🏻‍♂️ just a thought tho

[@bikenraider99]

Not in the least. You did what any flipper would do; added value to thr product. I have bought bikes for $50 and overhauled down to the frame and relist them at $200. A few sellers come back and offer me $50 again because it is usable. Nope, not happening.

[@stockton350]

That’s what I thought but, like those sellers, I guess my seller didn’t get the value of the work/parts put in. Offering an additional $50 definitely shows how people don’t get it sometimes.

[@___Bebo___]

Only thing I like about the bike is the fork but it's unicrown and not even lugged. The only reason this isn't a 50 dollar bike is cause of the Trek sticker. No one who buys this bike is gonna get a good value for their money so morally, you can't act like Ms Save the Neighborhood selling this for 175.

[@stockton350]

I agree. I personally wouldn't spend more than $50 but lots of folks like these hybrids and the Trek brand as you pointed out. $175 was overpriced but I figured I was already there so it'd be easy enough. Little did I know.

[@zwicker5585]

Nothing wrong with unicrown. Lots of good forks are unicrown. People are usually willing to pay extra for a bike that works and is clean. 175$ is cheaper than most low end new bikes from a department store which I would argue are far lower quality than an old low-mid range trek. And thus, value is subjective to everyone

[@___Bebo___]

@@zwicker5585 Used aluminum bikes are never a good value because aluminum welds are weak and fail suddenly. Paying 200 to crash on an old hybrid is not a good Idea. An aluminum bike with wide tires is gonna be same quality from AliExpress for 25 brand new for the frame or from trek zero difference.

[@___Bebo___]

@@zwicker5585 Unicrown forks suck because the welds are vertical. If that snaps you crash hard. You always want a lugged fork. If the lug breaks il the weight of your body will keep the fork leg hooked to the lug and you won't crash. Getting rid of this safety feature is no good.

[@ulysset.9981]

I think part of the choice of selling old stuff on facebook marketplace or other second hand platforms isn't to try and get as much money as you can out of it. It's about trying to find someone that can make use of it to give back to your local community. If I were to flip bikes or any other items on these platforms I would make my intentions to fix and sell clear to the seller. She might not know much about mechanics and think you haven't done anything to it. And to be frank you haven't replaced anything. Is a clean and tuneup with no replaced parts worth $50? What about the $50 bike you plan to sell for $200 too? If you're not spending more than a couple hours on each, can you really claim your work is worth 3x the price you bought it for?

[@keithalexander7189]

Yes, a few years ago I had an old keyboard I didn't have space for and put it up for free on my local community facebook page hoping someone local could still get some use out of it. I was quickly inundated with enquiries and the first person told me he wanted it for his daughter. I was quite disgruntled then, to see it for sale that evening on the facebook page of another town 30 miles away for £125. @stockton350 was not so dishonest, but it seems like the woman he bought the bikes from was still not aware of what his intentions were, and that's what he should do differently to avoid the same situation again. Or perhaps she just felt his markup ($200) was unfairly steep for 2 hours work + time collecting and selling + risk.

[@stockton350]

I respect your opinion and I have given stuff away add volunteered at bikes events but for these projects I price the bikes at what the market will bear. I genuinely get what you're saying but for me this is basically a side hustle. I do stuff for the community but I flip bikes to turn a profit. I can understand people seeing that differently though.

[@stockton350]

I think it was both. I have given stuff away for free and have taken stuff for free as well, but I don't personally think we're obligated to do that but it's great if people choose to. To be fair, she wasn't exactly giving it away for free either. Had I known. It was upsetting, I would have said something. I just assume people don't care as long as they're getting paid. Maybe that's on me.

[@Ronald-qj5nx]

Prices of 2nd hand bikes are also dependent on the condition that they are in, so not an issue if your markup reflects the amount of work and new parts needed to get them into whatever condition you are selling them in. With regards to the bike in the video, it needs more work before being resold, from just a quick visual from this video, there are a few things still to be done: front brake does not appear to be properly adjusted, front wheel quick release inserted on the wrong side, those dangling cables for the gear indicator should be removed.

[@stockton350]

Yes, I did more work on it after shooting this.

[@zwicker5585]

Yeah weird to me to be posting it before any actual work has been done. That front brake is a safety hazard forsure

[@stockton350]

@@zwicker5585 weird to post a video with some stuff to left to do? Not sure why that matters.

[@zwicker5585]

@@stockton350 i meant posting it on marketplace

[@stockton350]

@@zwicker5585 ah gotcha. Yeah I do that sometimes. Maybe I should do a video asking about the ethics of that.

[@chuckaluck123]

Don't fret. I'm super liberal but it's easy to call out "free market" baby. It's called flipping. Lots of folks do it. Somethings worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. You said it, if she'd have asked 400 for the two of them, you'd have said no way. Taylor swift this one and Shake it Off!

[@stockton350]

Lol yeah, just didn't want Bad Blood

[@dahuman]

transaction happened, you put in the hours, so no problems here, if you just resold as it is then it's an ethics problem but you are not so I don't see an issue.

[@stockton350]

That's interesting. If the bike was brand new, but under priced and someone was to turn around and resell it at the market price, do you think that’s ethically wrong? Genuine question.

[@zwicker5585]

@@stockton350i would say yes, its ethically wrong. Just because you can flip something doesnt mean you should. Plenty of things can be bought at a lower price and resold for more. But these things are a spectrum. Definitely dont think its as unethical as theft per say

[@stockton350]

@@zwicker5585i think I see what you're saying. It's not theft but it's potentially denying the opportunity to someone who could benefit from it more.

[@Taduuuu]

But they had no problem selling it to you but have a problem selling it someone worse ? Make it make sense . Once you sell something that’s it buddy

[@stockton350]

Yes. She sold it and named her price but felt taken advantage of because of the price difference.

[@Taduuuu]

@@stockton350 well that’s not your problem. Once it’s sold it’s SOLD

[@mattjones783]

Nahhh. I sell stuff on marketplace all the time. If she thought she could get more she should have asked for more. Plus the fact that you put work into these bikes to make them usable. A 100% markup (in total) might seem crazy but I am sure that you put more than $100 worth of labor into these not to mention the materials that you used. It’s like if I sold you raw wood and you milled it and built a house out of it. Then I came back and said you swindled me because you are selling my wood at a 1000% markup. It’s ridiculous! I’m sure you’ve already explained this to her but if not I would calmly do that (via message only) and if she can’t accept that she can kick rocks! Block her if necessary.

[@stockton350]

It's funny. I wondered the same thing about other instances where people resell or build things from wholesale material. I tried to explain the situation politely and did block her. I don't need the toxicity and maybe there are some things we just won't agree on.

[@sagehiker]

I have bought a number of 90s mountain bikes and had the seller be miffed later when seeing the transformed bike. And I had given them a fair market price for our area for the too often unrideable bike at the sale. Only one pressed it and I did get to back off when I told him there was $300 in parts and 12 hours of labor; only the frame and fork remained of what he sold me for $100.

[@stockton350]

Did you resell or just customize or for yourself?

[@sagehiker]

@@stockton350 The one in question was built up and resold to our mutual neighbor.

[@corbinthyforman4848]

No not wrong at all. It’s life

[@stockton350]

Life and capitalism.

[@devfishe]

You're not in the wrong at all. But, I don't think this bike is worth anywhere near $200 or even $175. At least not in my area. But it sounds like you've been doing this for a long time, and if there's a market for it then go for it.

[@stockton350]

Bike prices vary a lot by area, time of year, local supply. The margin on this will hardly be worth it and that's only because it's peak season now. I don't set the market price but I do aim for it while staying competitive. Maybe that makes me greedy but honestly anything much less than market price and it's really not worth my time. Others might disagree and that's cool but we all value our time differently.

[@AgalmicAutomata]

​@@stockton350 Not being worth the price doesn't make you greedy. People are taxing themselves for stuff they want, and you're simply selling it for what they will pay for.

[@bigjohn2811]

The woman doesn't understand fixing up an item isn't free. Parts and time (fast food employee wages start around $15 an hour) have costs. She's a kind person that would have a rear seal oil leak on a car and would think it should only cost the price of the seal and $30 for labor. She probably would give a quarter to mow her lawn.

[@stockton350]

I'm not sure if she realized that I had put work in but tbh I think she still might have had an issue with the price increase. Like you said, I don't think she realized the value of labor/parts and thought that money was entitled to her when I bought it.