I don't post here often (because *eep* I do not own a Rivendell!) but I just wanted to chime in that the sentiment expressed by Jim "I suspect those transactions…are still a small eddy compared the flow of goods from Walnut Creek" seems so totally on the mark to me that I wanted to endorse it. I buy new from Riv frequently, but I buy used from here and the BOB list just as frequently. And I feel I have never fallen into a moral crevasse when navigating between those purchasing techniques.
Buying new from places that can skim a dollar or two off via economies of scale is an inherently different situation -- those skimmed dollars are more or less being directly taken out of employee benefits and wages. I don't think that's true of the secondhand market. Two unsolicited cents, from Sam in Chicago On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 5:32:01 PM UTC-5, hsmitham wrote: > > Jim, > > Thank you for being the voice of moderation/reason. Peter M. Yes and a > vigorous yes. > > I will continue to use "WTB" transactions within my sense of reason. > Rivendell's sucess or failure will not be determined by "WTB" transaction > on this list-serve by posters like me. I usually buy directly from Riv but > at times I'll first look for something used. If you don't like that then > don't respond to my query. If you don't like the "WTB" transaction it's > easy don't use that feature...if your a bottom feeder than hopefully Jim > catches you in his net and throws you back into the bay Yet another thing > that Jim does that I was unaware of. > > I wanted to not add to the Vitriol but what the heck it went sideways > anyways. > > ~Hugh "WTB whatever" Smitham > > On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:20:28 PM UTC-8, Cyclofiend Jim wrote: >> >> Please let's back off the V-O comments. Grant has addressed this more >> than a few times. There's no "there" there in that discussion. >> >> It's hard to fault someone who has a decent piece of gear that they will >> no longer use, or something they tried out (handlebars, of late, come to >> mind here) that didn't quite work for them. If they want to post it here on >> the list, particularly if they are regular and active member of this group, >> I have to think that their actions come from the right place. >> >> And I do think that works from the purchasing end as well. We can't know >> someone's financial position, and at times in life, the money saved or >> earned might have go directly to rent or food or care. >> >> I suspect those transactions, though during the winter season they seem >> to particularly flourish, are still a small eddy compared the flow of goods >> from Walnut Creek. It seems that for a great number of people here - with >> significant geographic spread - RBW and RBBH are their "local" bike shops. >> >> There are more WTB posts and FS posts which don't hit the list. Those >> are typically from folks who try to post once and never do so again. Don't >> know quite how to correlate those, but assume they are trying to find >> bargain bits for their ebay stores. >> >> Having run a retail store for many years, I can attest that there is >> little more maddening than working with a customer (or watching your staff >> help someone) who was only using our shop inventory as a "showroom" for >> whatever internet company they were planning on buying something through. >> And it is through that lens that I first view folks posting here that >> so-and-so has something Riv designed/sells at a hefty discount. Though I >> do know people who will buy from someone who is literally a dollar cheaper, >> that's not the way I'm wired. As GP has written, I try to buy from the >> place I saw something first. In 1994, there weren't a lot of resources >> around like Rivendell, so it seems appropriate to support them when I can. >> >> - Jim / cyclofiend.com >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
