Bike Hub classifieds vibe

[PingPong]

So her is my take on the classifieds. I was in the market for a second hand bike to train on. Saw a nice Spez come on the market. The guy wanted said price and put 'not negotiable' after it. So what I did was go to Spez and bought a new one for the same price. Sure it was one model down from his second hand. So if you are a chop and believe your sheet is the sh@1ts and don't even want to talk price then GLWTS. Some people advertise their stuff at new prices and then wonder why it does not sell. So to that guy with his Spez that said 'not negotiable' I like my new Spez and that's not negotiable

[Me rida my bicycle]

To those I guys I just reply with a screenshot of the ad, with the price circled in red and an arrow pointing to it.

not a bad idea but way to much effort????

[Blackheart]

In the context of this thread, here is my most recent buying experience in Hubland.

My nephew recently turned 21 and pooled all his birthday money to get his first 'real' mtb.

He asked if I would assist him with finding something on Gumtree.... I introduced him to the wonderful world of Bikehub. Stay away from Gumtree says I, the guys over at Bikehub are cool, and we'll, find you the right bike at the right price, with the right name on the downtube......

Que a 2 week bombardment of screen grabs and questions at all hours. He was so excited.

We eventually settled on the right bike, fair price and local enough to check out.

About an hours drive away.

He set up a viewing time with the seller and off he went, I was unable to go with him so he was armed with a basic 'walk away' checklist.

His report back: The seller wasn't at the meeting place at the agreed time, and when he did get hold of him he was told that the bike had been sold....

Now, I wasn't there in person, but I can't think of a good reason why he would make that up.

[Vetplant]

In the context of this thread, here is my most recent buying experience in Hubland.

My nephew recently turned 21 and pooled all his birthday money to get his first 'real' mtb.

He asked if I would assist him with finding something on Gumtree.... I introduced him to the wonderful world of Bikehub. Stay away from Gumtree says I, the guys over at Bikehub are cool, and we'll, find you the right bike at the right price, with the right name on the downtube......

Que a 2 week bombardment of screen grabs and questions at all hours. He was so excited.

We eventually settled on the right bike, fair price and local enough to check out.

About an hours drive away.

He set up a viewing time with the seller and off he went, I was unable to go with him so he was armed with a basic 'walk away' checklist.

His report back: The seller wasn't at the meeting place at the agreed time, and when he did get hold of him he was told that the bike had been sold....

Now, I wasn't there in person, but I can't think of a good reason why he would make that up.

That is a bit of a crap move by the seller. At least let the kid know that the bike has been sold instead of just not pitching to the meeting point.

 

And sorry for your nephew that he missed the deal, but allot of people and shops will take the money infront of them instead of still meeting up with that oke you had an arrangement with. "Bird in the hand", you know? I lost out on two bicycle deals this way, the third time round I told the guy straight that I am buying that bike and I can give them a deposit, which they accepted.

 

If he sees a bike he likes, he must pick up the phone and tell the seller that he is coming there now. Else, be ready to miss out on it to someone else who was more keen.

[nox1111]

A seller can ask whatever price he or she wants, it is my choice to engage, bargain, buy at full price or even look at the ad. I may judge the price in my mind and think that person is nuts, but still not my place to complain about it.

On the other hand, if I'm selling and you engage me, you have those same rights - my price does not have to fit your pocket or perception. You don't have to buy it. You may point me in the right direction - with references, and I'll probably see the light.

 

My best price is 'bugger off' . I'm not in the habit of bargaining and lowballing myself.

 

I do sell things as bargains, and sometimes close to retail - but only if it is brand new or a niche item that's difficult to find.

 

If you say you'll take something, ffs, that in my opinion is pretty darn set in stone. Rather tell me that you changed your mind than just dissapear, especially if I removed the ad since the item is spoken for. I won't sell it to someone else if you told me that, but then i'm losing out if you just vanish.

 

I think i just want common decency, amongst mostly lekker community.

[mecheng89]

Sounds more like specific people not interested in humans or socialising and just want to get "bargains" or trades. 

I do agree that your description aligns with my own gumtree/olx experiences. I would hazard a guess that the onus falls on the bikehub users/community members to mould it how they want it, rather how they receive it. Bikehub is after all a community platform with selling features and not a selling platform!

That is all easier said than done - if it isn't against the rules (it may be), a thread with usernames to avoid that lowball or aren't courteous... Just realised I described what the rating system was designed for.

What's so wrong with that?     

[mecheng89]

In the context of this thread, here is my most recent buying experience in Hubland.

My nephew recently turned 21 and pooled all his birthday money to get his first 'real' mtb.

He asked if I would assist him with finding something on Gumtree.... I introduced him to the wonderful world of Bikehub. Stay away from Gumtree says I, the guys over at Bikehub are cool, and we'll, find you the right bike at the right price, with the right name on the downtube......

Que a 2 week bombardment of screen grabs and questions at all hours. He was so excited.

We eventually settled on the right bike, fair price and local enough to check out.

About an hours drive away.

He set up a viewing time with the seller and off he went, I was unable to go with him so he was armed with a basic 'walk away' checklist.

His report back: The seller wasn't at the meeting place at the agreed time, and when he did get hold of him he was told that the bike had been sold....

Now, I wasn't there in person, but I can't think of a good reason why he would make that up.

Pretty dick move from the seller. Remember, you can press NEGATIVE rating, that'll warn people in the future he's not dependable. 

[mecheng89]

This.

 

As a relative new comer to the hub and classifieds, I've done 2 transactions so far that went very smoothly. I rated the other party, but nothing in return. My classifieds profile remains like a new born as a result.

yeah, I should rate, but I just forget to. Thanks for the reminder. 

[Matt]

What I just read is that you don't mind the same 11pm lowball approach, as long as they groom you a bit first...

 

I hope you guys aren't taking only Capetonian's suggestions  

 

Admin & Nick, please also see my next comment below:

 

Speaking of, I've asked everyone I've traded with and most of them, save 1 or 2, left feedback.

 

A quick solution to this is perhaps a system like OLX, where an ad that gets removed asks you who it was sold to (largely irrelevant "who" as opposed to "whether"), but in Bikehub's case, the user the item was marked as "sold to" gets a permanent pin at the top of every page to remind them to rate their buyers and only disappears once completed. This idea may need more refining, but something along these lines to enforce the credibility system?

Feedback & suggestions are most certainly not limited to Cape Tonians! 

 

As Nick mentioned, our in-person meetings with Hubbers are just one piece of a much broader user feedback and testing approach. More to come that will not be geographically limited.

 

You and many others in this thread have highlighted the issues around ratings & feedback. This is an area we'd already identified as one requiring a rethink and there's a lot we'll be building in to 1) make it much easier to do 2) prompt & remind users when they need to provide feedback 3) ensure integrity of the feedback

 

A question to the OP, @nox1111, and others who've expressed similar sentiments: 

 

Do you see the lack of comments on a given advert is a key issue or more the way some potential buyers choose to engage in communication in general (i.e. one liners, no formalities or introductions, outlandish low ball offers)?

 

[CAAD4]

To those I guys I just reply with a screenshot of the ad, with the price circled in red and an arrow pointing to it.

Shame but the new generation want you be all polite, buy them dinner, give them a certificate of bloody participation. So this won't work will it???

[nox1111]

Feedback & suggestions are most certainly not limited to Cape Tonians! 

 

As Nick mentioned, our in-person meetings with Hubbers are just one piece of a much broader user feedback and testing approach. More to come that will not be geographically limited.

 

You and many others in this thread have highlighted the issues around ratings & feedback. This is an area we'd already identified as one requiring a rethink and there's a lot we'll be building in to 1) make it much easier to do 2) prompt & remind users when they need to provide feedback 3) ensure integrity of the feedback

 

A question to the OP, @nox1111, and others who've expressed similar sentiments: 

 

Do you see the lack of comments on a given advert is a key issue or more the way some potential buyers choose to engage in communication in general (i.e. one liners, no formalities or introductions, outlandish low ball offers)?

Probably not a key issue, but something I do miss, and if I get a direct email without a screen name, I have no idea who that person is, so feedback is off the table. Also credibility.

[nox1111]

Perfect example of dealings.

 

Starts off semi good and then nothing further.

 

 

[nox1111]

@nick and @admin - maybe requirements should be 10 posts or something like that before you can start replying on classifieds (dm/email or see phone number) or posting to classifieds?

[Matt]

@nick and @admin - maybe requirements should be 10 posts or something like that before you can start replying on classifieds (dm/email or see phone number) or posting to classifieds?

This often crops up in conversations on Classifieds and while it may work well for forum-first users, there are many upstanding, regular Classifieds users with zero forum posts. 

 

It also risks incentivising "spammy" posts in the forums simply to meet that requirement.

 

 

[Uni]

In the context of this thread, here is my most recent buying experience in Hubland.

My nephew recently turned 21 and pooled all his birthday money to get his first 'real' mtb.

He asked if I would assist him with finding something on Gumtree.... I introduced him to the wonderful world of Bikehub. Stay away from Gumtree says I, the guys over at Bikehub are cool, and we'll, find you the right bike at the right price, with the right name on the downtube......

Que a 2 week bombardment of screen grabs and questions at all hours. He was so excited.

We eventually settled on the right bike, fair price and local enough to check out.

About an hours drive away.

He set up a viewing time with the seller and off he went, I was unable to go with him so he was armed with a basic 'walk away' checklist.

His report back: The seller wasn't at the meeting place at the agreed time, and when he did get hold of him he was told that the bike had been sold....

Now, I wasn't there in person, but I can't think of a good reason why he would make that up.

maybe consider rating the seller and putting this reasoning there. That's the point ain't it? 

[Andrew Steer]

Use the buyer ratings... that's all folks. Will make everyone's lives much easier.

Bargains are sadly mostly snapped up and resold these days by re-sellers. It is what it is...

I always state my preferred form of communication on my ads, also makes everyone's lives easier.

I recently sold a high end bike which absolutely was the epitome of 'one careful lady owner with buggerall mileage on the clock' - lots of other people have totally ruined that sales pitch unfortunately   

Facebook marketplace is no better than gumtree... this is the only place I will sell my goods