The impossibly priced Cycle Garden Ebay bikes thread - It's all about marketing, you know.

[jlburgess]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-Eldorado-/171829196514?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2801d176e2&item=171829196514
 

[steven c]

 Thats crazy, heck I'll sell you mine for 20 and throw in my LeMans.

[Cam3512]

His ebay bikes NEVER hit the reserve, then he contacts the highest bidder and sells it to them.

Pretty smart.

[stmike]

I'm of the opinion that most of his bidders are shills.  Of course I have nothing substantial to back that opinion up; however, whenever he puts a bike on ebay the bidding is generally preposterous, and there are other restorers who do at least as good work as cycle garden who don't get more than a small fraction of these bids.

[Penderic]

Whats a 1960 Eldorado Convertible worth these days?

$18 - $20 a pound?

[LowRyter]

$35k and he's still losing a Grand.

 

[Lannis]

I'm of the opinion that most of his bidders are shills.  Of course I have nothing substantial to back that opinion up; however, whenever he puts a bike on ebay the bidding is generally preposterous, and there are other restorers who do at least as good work as cycle garden who don't get more than a small fraction of these bids.

You don't need anything "substantial" to back it up; this isn't a court of law, this is us trying to judge how to spend our money.  Experience, hunches, and "I've seen THIS before" work fine.

The more I see of these bikes and these "sales techniques", the more I would never buy one of these at any price.   Just too shady.

Lannis

[pauldaytona]

from 20k up all bidders with 0 history, fake.

[Mark West]

Being a bike restorer or custom builder is similar to being a chef or winemaker or artist. A certain amount of what you have to do is hype yourself. I wouldn't claim that Cycle Garden does any better at restoring Eldo's than anyone else but what he has done is create a reputation for doing that. There are many people that are really good at what they do and are far less successful than others because they lack the skills and/or desire to market themselves.

And while the marketing doesn't add value to the product, it does elevate the status of the bikes overall and does benefit other people who work on them as they can compare their work and prices to an established and very visible company like Cycle Garden.

[SteveAZ]

Worth what someone will pay I suppose   

It does leave a bad taste in the mouth seeing the bid history etc. Strictly speaking he can do whatever he wants with his bikes/work and his stuff does sell for astronomical prices.

This kind of hype/shadowy bidder and high price ebay game is why it's so satisfying to buy a decent bike for a fair price, in person with cash and a handshake.

[wymple]

Dunno , but that is the second ugliest car ever made .

  Dusty

I'd take it in a heartbeat

[stmike]

Dunno , but that is the second ugliest car ever made .

  Dusty

C'mon Dusty, I know you want to tell us what the ugliest car ever made was?

[Lannis]

Mark W , how does being a con man make this better for the honest guys ? I would think this type of behavior casts a bad light on the business and those involved . Dunno , just my thoughts .

  Dusty

That's my thoughts too.   Just because a sucker is born every minute, that doesn't mean the "two to take him" are doing any good.

Lannis

[jas67]

from 20k up all bidders with 0 history, fake.

Excellent observation.    When he contacts the highest real bidder at $20k, they'll think that they're getting a bargain, since it bid to over $35k.

[mtiberio]

ebay has wizened up. you cannot have shill bids without having to pay the ebay final value fee, even if you cancel. Now if they use shill bids to get real bidders up higher, then paying the excess final value fee might just be part of doing business. if they do not sell to a real buyer however, they will owe the fees. you cannot just cancel an auction if it has bids anymore...

[Cam3512]

Excellent observation.    When he contacts the highest real bidder at $20k, they'll think that they're getting a bargain, since it bid to over $35k.

BINGO!

[Silver Goose]

P.T. Barnum was right, "See the Egress" only $.10, today only.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I'm of the opinion that most of his bidders are shills.  Of course I have nothing substantial to back that opinion up; however, whenever he puts a bike on ebay the bidding is generally preposterous, and there are other restorers who do Much Better work as cycle garden who don't get more than a small fraction of these bids.

FTFY.. 

[bsanut]

Shills?  I don't believe it.  I do a fair amount of business with Moe on a wholesale level.  Pretty straight guy.

That's one of the best Motors listings I've seen in awhile, and I sell on Ebay for a living.  The sale is doing what it's doing because he's SELLING it...

Joe

[Mark West]

Mark W , how does being a con man make this better for the honest guys ? I would think this type of behavior casts a bad light on the business and those involved . Dunno , just my thoughts .

  Dusty

First off I don't consider him a con man. To the best of my knowledge he is not misrepresenting anything to anyone and I have no information to indicate it's not a first class restoration.

As far as helping others, when people see the prices being fetched for a restored Eldo, and then see similar quality work from someone else, they are likely to expect to pay more for it.

[JoeW]

First off I don't consider him a con man. To the best of my knowledge he is not misrepresenting anything to anyone and I have no information to indicate it's not a first class restoration.

As far as helping others, when people see the prices being fetched for a restored Eldo, and then see similar quality work from someone else, they are likely to expect to pay more for it.

Like this....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-AMBASSADOR-/321789579507?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4aec2750f3&item=321789579507

[Waltr]

I'd take it in a heartbeat

Me too, was a big fan of the 80's TV series Crime Story.

[LowRyter]

Me too, was a big fan of the 80's TV series Crime Story.

best line of the series:  a violent loan shark is killed by the cops after a foot chase in Las Vegas.  A bystander walks on to the scene and laughs, "I owed that guy money."

[Shorty]

All them nekkid GuzziGals cannot be cheap without cost.    Man need a little cheese to keep the doors open.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 

[rodekyll]

ebay has wizened up. you cannot have shill bids without having to pay the ebay final value fee, even if you cancel. Now if they use shill bids to get real bidders up higher, then paying the excess final value fee might just be part of doing business. if they do not sell to a real buyer however, they will owe the fees. you cannot just cancel an auction if it has bids anymore...

I believe ebay motors is fixed-fee.

First off I don't consider him a con man. To the best of my knowledge he is not misrepresenting anything to anyone and I have no information to indicate it's not a first class restoration.

As far as helping others, when people see the prices being fetched for a restored Eldo, and then see similar quality work from someone else, they are likely to expect to pay more for it.

*IF* he's using shills he's a con man by definition.  He's misrepresenting the interest in the bike and artificially driving up the price.  And yes, the way all his auctions are bid beyond reason by "0" history bidders certainly looks shillish.

Does anyone know anyone who possesses one of their $35k loops?

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Are the handlebars packed with solid gold to lesses vibration?

[JoeW]

 

Does anyone know anyone who possesses one of their $35k loops?

I don't own one but, have had a Moe bike in my shop. The client says he paid 25K for the bike several years back. He's been trying to sell it, you've probably seen it on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Moto-Guzzi-Eldorado-/281654697990?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4193eda006&item=281654697990&nma=true&si=vrOoFWL%252Bxbp5KqGECWc4V87VxhA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
 His auctions ended several times with the reserve made and then the bidder disappears. The issue with these bidders is this, if you look at the list of bidders on that bike, the two highest bidders have a "0" next to their name. These are newly created accounts with no history. They can bid as high as they want and simply not pay. The seller can report them as a "non paying" bidder and have the final value fees waved. There is really nothing Ebay can do about these bidders. They just fire up a new, bogus hotmail email account and a new Ebay account and do it over and over again.

[Arizona Wayne]

DANG............$35k+ for a reconditioned police bike?      That's highway robbery!!.......unless it was formerly ridden by Clint Eastwood.   

[dxhall]

if Moe wanted to use shill bidders to jack up his auction prices, he wouldn't use two bidders with zero transactions in their bid histories.  I would suspect that someone who wants to pimp Moe has created the two "zero transaction" bidders to show the world that Moe's reserves are not legit.