When is it ok to buy a suspiciously under-priced bike at the swap-meet?
Is it ever?
Tags:
After making a good faith effort to determine that it's not stolen, and after making peace with the prospect of handing it over at a complete loss of what you paid for it when the owner does surface.
If your gut feeling is that the bike was stolen, regardless of the above criteria, the answer is a solid "never."
Thank you "ethical yardsticks".
I guess it's just me and my morals now.
damn.
Ok, I didn't realize that's what he was referring to.
Anyone who goes there to buy bicycles is scum, period.
Natalie said:
Is it a Jamis Aurora Elite? Someone saw it at the Swap-O-Rama but I haven't been able to find it myself.
Ok, I didn't realize that's what he was referring to.
Anyone who goes there to buy bicycles is scum, period.
Natalie said:
Is it a Jamis Aurora Elite? Someone saw it at the Swap-O-Rama but I haven't been able to find it myself.
Sorry you didn't find your bike.
If your theft matches the MO of the thieves who frequent the place the most (usually a cut U-lock) your best bet of finding it there is right away-- chances drop off rapidly with each passing week. Although there have been a few cases of a bike being spotted there, not seen for a while, and then turning up a few weeks later.
In your case, since the bike was spotted about two weeks after the theft as I recall, there's a chance an irregular vendor has it and it could pop up again the next time they deem it a good day to put bikes out for sale. I heard from someone who went recently that there was s total of 4 or 5 bikes for sale in the whole market (4 or 5 total, not just 4 or 5 desirable bikes).
Natalie said:
No, no, I wasn't implying that the original poster was going there to buy stolen bikes. But I did get a tip a few weeks ago that someone had seen my bike. I, however, have not.
H3N3 said:
Ok, I didn't realize that's what he was referring to.
Anyone who goes there to buy bicycles is scum, period.
Natalie said:
Is it a Jamis Aurora Elite? Someone saw it at the Swap-O-Rama but I haven't been able to find it myself.
Yeah. That's what my moral compass was saying as well.
I guess I was seeing if anyone had bought a bike there and how they had convinced themselves it was a decent thing to do.
I had been reading the posts about the swap-meet and had never seen it implicitly stated, that yes: if you go to the swap-meet knowing that (let's say it) pretty much all the bikes there are stolen and you buy one, you are not being a good member of the bicycling community.
ugh.
Laura said:
The way you wrote your question makes it obvious that you know the answer. "Suspiciously under priced" and "swap-meet" (assuming to be swap-o-rama or anyother place where most items are stolen.) Both key phrases. Your just giving them more reason to steal more bikes. I know its tempting, but don't do it!
John,
I seriously doubt you'll find a regular forum poster here who would even think about buying a bike at a place like Swap-O-Rama. It's been well publicized around here that it and other flea markets are a unloading ground for stolen bikes as you've read.
Many regular posters are also regular bike commuters and wouldn't want someone to get a "good deal" on their stolen bike.
John L. Jensen said:
Yeah. That's what my moral compass was saying as well.
I guess I was seeing if anyone had bought a bike there and how they had convinced themselves it was a decent thing to do.
I had been reading the posts about the swap-meet and had never seen it implicitly stated, that yes: if you go to the swap-meet knowing that (let's say it) pretty much all the bikes there are stolen and you buy one, you are not being a good member of the bicycling community.
ugh.
Laura said:
The way you wrote your question makes it obvious that you know the answer. "Suspiciously under priced" and "swap-meet" (assuming to be swap-o-rama or anyother place where most items are stolen.) Both key phrases. Your just giving them more reason to steal more bikes. I know its tempting, but don't do it!
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