What would you think if...

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Abradable Chin
Posts: 330
Joined: 7 Aug 2016, 7:38pm
Location: Peripatetic

What would you think if...

Post by Abradable Chin »

...there was a bike originally sold by Avon Valley Cyclery currently advertised on an internet auction site that:
    started off at £200
    was gifted to current owner
    was described with the wrong number of gears
    probably wrong frame material
    contained a Rohloff hub
    the Rohloff was not mentioned
How do you tactfully question these things without the questioner getting into trouble?
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gaz
Posts: 14649
Joined: 9 Mar 2007, 12:09pm
Location: Kent

Re: What would you think if...

Post by gaz »

The subject of suspected stolen cycles on ebay has cropped up before. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41469

There are probably more threads.

You could ask the seller to tell you more about the circumstances in which it was gifted, the prior owner, how long the previous owner may have had it, where/how they used it, etc. Asking questions doesn't get you into trouble, making accusations does, "Is it stolen?" is not the same as "It is stolen!".

You might even ask AVC if the owner has reported it stolen, they may recognise it, depending on how many Rohloff equipped bikes they sell.
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Abradable Chin
Posts: 330
Joined: 7 Aug 2016, 7:38pm
Location: Peripatetic

Re: What would you think if...

Post by Abradable Chin »

It went for over £600 in the end. Enough people must have spotted the twin gear cables and flashes of yellow in the blurry photos. Still, it was probably £2k+ worth of bike when new. I don't want an expensive bike because they are a headache, and they clearly get stolen, but it did occur to me that since it is crime to handle stolen goods, if you were to have even slight doubts about a bike's origin, it would be foolish to buy it. I also wondered what would happen if I wandered into AVC with a bike that turned out to be stolen...I could have ended up with plod feeling my collar. On the other hand, it might be the case that no one gives a stuff these days because insurance pays out. From the thread you linked, it seems ebay isn't bothered.
nigelnightmare
Posts: 709
Joined: 19 Sep 2016, 10:33pm

Re: What would you think if...

Post by nigelnightmare »

All EBAY cares about is how much money they can make :twisted:
They have no interest in weather an item is stolen or not (plausible deniability).
Six days after an item of mine was recovered (by police) it was still advertised AND being bid on. :roll:
Ebay refused to withdraw it even after being given the police crime No.
The icing on the cake so to speak was they tried to BILL ME for the posting/commission. :shock:
It took the intervention of my lawyer before they dropped that and removed the restrictions on MY EBAY account.
I wonder how much he charged them. :wink:
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