NAVY8TR

so here is a question for the senior/experienced members. obviously this is a great place to sell stuff to superhawk riders. your audience is right here and always interested in a good deal. whats to say the deal isn't too good to be true? heres what i'm thinking...what is preventing someone from joining the forum and immediately finding a pic of some highly coveted item on google, copying it, and posting it for sale as their own personal item, pocketing a payment from paypal and never sending the item they sold that they never actually had...We can safely assume people naturally have good intentions and trust them even though their sale may be their first post. Or we can trust their rep and dedication to the forum and its members by number/quality of posts, forgeting about those who come here with bad intentions and an ***-backwards deal trying to take someones money. how prone is our forum to these scams? who has experience?

LineArrayNut

largely, I've had good experiences buying and selling here, besides one notable exception. I think due diligence must be used with sellers with no feedback and low post counts.

mboe794

If it is a guy's first post I would proceed with caution. I've really only dealt with people that I see around here quite a bit. Positive feedback on the forum almost negates any worry...almost. I think most of us know about one exception to this rule. I am still waiting for a certain product. It's been like six months.

NAVY8TR

...sounds like its time for a road trip, that's what i would do anyway. where is it? NC? thats not too far...

inderocker

Take into consideration the post count and join date as seen under the members avatar. There have been a few jackasses that joined the forum and ripped people off (datdudeis2die4), but at the same time, I've seen a few senior members jerk people around too. It's risky business no doubt, but a little common sense will go a long way. Or you can just play it safe and by all your parts from me.

nuhawk

There's never a doubt in my mind working with most of the members. The newbies have their share of problems not because they intend to do bad things - they just don't know any better.

A gas tank that I bought a year ago is a prime example. Member cleans it out with diesel first then water. Ships it to me via camel. Ten days later it arrives all rusted to ****. Still salvagable but a pain in the *** because this kid didn't understand to NEVER put water into anything that has anything to do with the fuel system especially if it's made out of steel.

Trucker's experience with the fork braces also comes to mind. I don't know the facts but I bet that the guy that was cutting the first batch decides after he's delivered those that he's working too hard and wants more money for any additional orders. Trucker being the young businessman that he is has his product priced to the members at nearly no margin of profit. This makes him a popular guy and he gains mucho credibility until this guy raises his prices - not a little but a lot. $20 per brace for example. Instead of making $5 a brace Trucker now is losing $15 per brace. Being a bad businessman does not make you a better machinist. Kid learns a tough lesson about life.

He did eventually deliver the braces to us. Mine is truly beautiful and I have encouraged Trucker to do some more small run parts for the Superhawk. I hope he does.

The problem with setting minimum posts measures for newbies is counterproductive to the whole process. They are not going to stop selling - they'll just take is to ebay straight away knowing they can attract the same audience but there are more encumberances.

Capt Chaos had one a while back where he actually chased this kid down by getting his Mother's phone number. DatDude got chewed up and handed back to Mommy. I'll let the Cap fill you guys in. Another with a member that was to deliver some machined parts but could never get the goemetry right. It this latter case the member was a respected senior. In my time with the forum I can count these occurences on one hand.

I know classifieds has its problems but I don't know what the fix is. Obviously if I did I wouldn't own four gas tanks for a Superhawk.

cliby

personally I start from a perspective of trust. If I haven't dealt with the person before or seen evidence of being a decent person from posts then I get a cell number or something and talk personally. I think you can usually sniff out a problem. and depends on money too. you have to use some common sense and up the ante depending on value. I have bought lots of parts and sold a couple on boards I rarely post on - you can't post everywhere - so I wouldn't penalize someone just wanting to unload parts and knowing the strongest demand is with the biggest enthusiasts.

Syclone

By and large it's not a problem here. I remember Datdude and even had personal experience with him. Common sense goes a long way.

Crashrat

I'm new here, but I wouldn't imagine the classifieds would be any more shady than the same section at other boards. I've only been burned once in over 10 years of buying, selling and trading online, and that was something I sold outside of an Ebay auction.

As someone mentioned, we ride motorcycles and a cross-country trip to settle a deal that's gone bad *almost* sounds like a vacation

Randy

captainchaos

It's a great point and it's always going to be a possibility any time you buy something over the internet. As was said, the only time I got screwed on here was actually by a better known member I had spent much time on the phone with having honest and intelligent conversations...so go figure. On top of that he wasn't selling anything-I contacted HIM after he posted about something he built. But it's like if you use ebay, etc. Use it long enough and everyone's going to have a few "issues" they can talk about. As Syclone said though MOST of the time a little common sense and communication in proper English (I prefer speaking over the phone) usually goes a long way in tellling you if someone is legit or not. For the less expensive stuff I'd say it's worth the stretch because you're usually going to get stuff for cheaper on here/craigslist than say ebay. I make the stretch too buying sometimes off craigslist when I get a deal...but again it's a stretch. There's no recourse if someone wants to screw you. I've learned though and last time I wanted a gas tank off craigslist for my gs500 project I told the guy to list it on ebay. Problem solved.

Hotbrakes

Most people in the world are decent. This forum is a small group compared to other sites, and the regulars have a pretty tight bond in my opinion. We are widespread and many of us have personal relationships with fellow members who live close by. All these factors make it difficult for a crook to be successful and the small society we have established cause the gains to be had to outweigh the time and resulting headache a thief would experience by ripping off a forum member.

Plus most of us have guns!

Captain Chaos' method of requesting the item be listed on Ebay is a wonderful idea to protect both parties.

aka Yamadog

I participate on 4 motorcycle forums and have always had good luck buying and selling on them. I usually don't buy high dollar items but I recently sent about $1600 to Superhawk Forum members for parts I wanted. So far so good! I get in more trouble selling because of the logistics of shipping and underestimating shipping costs.
I've actually had more trouble with buyers who expected too much. For example, I sold a K1200LT front wheel to a guy for $200 to help him out of a bind. He needed just the wheel because he bent his, and BMW is VERY proud of them. I sent him the whole set up; rotors, abs ring, bearings, because I didn't want to hassle with disassembly. I told him I had put the wheel on a truing stand and checked to be sure it was straight and I planned on bead blasting the wheel and powder coating it. The rotors & ring were worn and of no value to me. The whole wheel was dirty (typical BMW). He got it and was disappointed because he couldnt just mount a tire and go. He offered me $100. I refunded his money (paypal) and sent a pick-up tag. Bottom line is: remember the Golden Rule and "what goes around comes around."