# suspicious craigslist post



## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

Not sure what to do with it... so posting here. It's obviously stolen goods (or a scam). Listed in W.PA although the ad says "California." $800 for an S-Works with Dura-Ace... right. 

S-WORKS TARMAC SL4 52


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

headloss said:


> Not sure what to do with it... .


Forward to local police dept ?


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## Mcfarton (May 23, 2014)

Contact the seller and ask for the serial number


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## mpre53 (Oct 25, 2011)

Mcfarton said:


> Contact the seller and ask for the serial number


If it's stolen, he's unlikely to get the true serial number unless the thief is a total moron. In fact, even asking for it might cause the thief to hang up.


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## geomel108 (Dec 6, 2011)

Im pretty sure its a typo, I've seen it in eBay also...

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=251778757719


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

Image search technology has gotten so good, and getting better, that it behooves people to take good quality photos of your bikes from several angles.

if the bike gets stolen, a web image search might find it.

For bike pictured above, an image search turned up a bunch of ebay sales, but not the craigs list ... possibly because craigslist items auto-delete after a few days.

More often than not, seems craisglist, at least the free ads , are a significant enabler of criminal enterprises. In the LA area, there's been a few cases where listing cars & phones for sale has resulted in the assault and even murder of the hapless seller.


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## Sully00 (Dec 29, 2012)

geomel108 said:


> Im pretty sure its a typo, I've seen it in eBay also...
> 
> http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=251778757719


Florida??


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

There's several possibilities, it could just be a common scammer using the eBay images and somewhat unlikely reason for sale, it could be the same seller with a typo (although you'd think he would check his own ad), it could be genuine or it could be stolen.

I just did a search of "all of craigslist" and couldn't find it. Not on a new search of eBay either.


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## headloss (Mar 3, 2013)

Ebay and CL seem to be the same seller... both ads stating a mtb-er that doesn't use it. Adding a 0 to the CL post would make more sense. The Florida thing makes it all the more odd; perhaps the seller can teleport. 

Whatever the case, not something I'm personally interested in. It just caught my eye being a big ticket bike with a questionable price and location. Just wanted to put it out there in case anyone recognized it.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Includes a "garming" computer? Maybe a typo, but also could be someone that doesn't know sh!t about bikes (ie not someone that would be the true owner).
If it's stolen, I hope this guy gets whats coming to him, like an asswhoopin' and jail.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

> Ebay and CL seem to be the same seller... both ads stating a mtb-er that doesn't use it.


In case you don't know about the copy/paste function..............................


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## ibericb (Oct 28, 2014)

Best guess is that the ebay offering is/was genuine, but the CL listing could well be a scam with photos and basic info drawn from the ebay listing.

If you're concerned, use ebay to contact the seller and question him about the CL listing (is it the same bike, price difference ?). If that's not his/her listing, then an attempted scam is in the works, and the appropriate CL folks should be notified.


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## Bluffplace (Jul 30, 2008)

Any Specialized S-works bike, does not say 'S-Works' on the top tube. They are always on the down tube.

The frame is a chinese knock off


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## ibericb (Oct 28, 2014)

Bluffplace said:


> Any Specialized S-works bike, does not say 'S-Works' on the top tube. They are always on the down tube.
> 
> The frame is a chinese knock off


Whoa - that's great catch. I just went looking, and I think he's right. Here's the 2013 frameset listing from Specialized


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

But this a limited edition frame according to the eBayer



> You are bidding on a "SPECIALIZED S-WORKS TARMAC 52 SPECIAL EDITION NO. 222 OF 260" The frame was purchased about 1 month from a local Specialized dealer and build with new top of the line components. The frameset has not been register yet and I do have copy of the receipt which means that you can register the frame and get warranty.


But then there's this too



> This listing was ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing.


Strange


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## benny and the jets (Jun 4, 2007)

Bluffplace said:


> Any Specialized S-works bike, does not say 'S-Works' on the top tube. They are always on the down tube.
> 
> The frame is a chinese knock off


It is one of these

Specialized Bicycle Components


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## mpre53 (Oct 25, 2011)

Oh, the special order Vino frame to go along with the Contador one.mpretty soon they'll have one for every known doper who rode a Spesh.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

This is a scam.

Just look at the seller's sold items.

You will find this very frameset sold in December, the same limited 222 crap one.

So if it's one of a kind, and it already sold recently...


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

Not an obvious scam judging by the feedback.

The seller has at least two bike related purchases. And no prior sales.

When a scammer hijacks an eBay client, the usual giveaway is the inclusion of a separate email address, and a too good to be true price.

I wasn't able to find the prior sale.


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## ibericb (Oct 28, 2014)

bikerjulio said:


> Not an obvious scam judging by the feedback.
> 
> The seller has at least two bike related purchases. And no prior sales.
> 
> ...


I couldn't find any prior sales either.

The seller had listed that bike in December, then withdrew the listing on January 11th citing an error in the listing. That listing for $7,000 can be seen here.

He has now relisted the same bike at $7,500, seen here,  and this morning it is showing "new listing". 

My guess is that the record showed the prior listing for awhile. It now doesn't.

It would be fairly easy to verify the sellers's authenticity - have him email/fax an image of the receipt he mentions, verify that the original seller is indeed a Spec dealer, then call the shop from which it was bought and verify the sale. If the seller balks, then run.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Why can't you guys find any previous sales?

It's simple.

Just go to the seller and click items for sale.
Then go down and click sold items.
Bam, all sold items in the last 90 days pop up.

And... that bike is there, sold in December.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

I'd used the "advanced search" function with no results.

The listing you saw was for the frame only, and it looks like the sale fell through - which happens. That listing has


> Bidding has ended on this item. The seller has relisted this item or one like this.


So, I think he threw the wheels back on and listed the complete bike.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Actually no. It sold. If it didn't sell, it would only show up as a completed listing and the money amount would not be in green. I'm a power seller on ebay, I understand the way it works. He sold the frameset in December.

It is possible that after the sale something didn't go right, like maybe he thought the price of $1,900 wasn't acceptable so he pulled a scumbag move or something. Maybe the buyer thought better and decided to take a no payment strike. But the item did sell. There was a winning bidder and as far as records go it's listed as sold.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

MMsRepBike said:


> Actually no. It sold. If it didn't sell, it would only show up as a completed listing and the money amount would not be in green. I'm a power seller on ebay, I understand the way it works. He sold the frameset in December.
> 
> It is possible that after the sale something didn't go right, like maybe he thought the price of $1,900 wasn't acceptable so he pulled a scumbag move or something. Maybe the buyer thought better and decided to take a no payment strike. But the item did sell. There was a winning bidder and as far as records go it's listed as sold.


I thought that's what I said.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Yeah probably. I'm probably just trying to be argumentative. Time for a puff.


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## ibericb (Oct 28, 2014)

MMsRepBike said:


> Actually no. It sold. If it didn't sell, it would only show up as a completed listing and the money amount would not be in green. I'm a power seller on ebay, I understand the way it works. He sold the frameset in December.
> 
> It is possible that after the sale something didn't go right, like maybe he thought the price of $1,900 wasn't acceptable so he pulled a scumbag move or something. Maybe the buyer thought better and decided to take a no payment strike. But the item did sell. There was a winning bidder and as far as records go it's listed as sold.


I did the same as bikerjulio, which explains why we both got the same result. 

When I do it your way I find the frameset sale. Go to the original listing - at the top see the banner, cut and pasted:
"Bidding has ended on this item. The seller has relisted this item or one like this. "

Yes, the frameset listing shows the bidding ended on Dec 15, 2014 12:06pm with a winning bid @ $1,900 with 15 bids. Apparently that sale wasn't completed, for whatever reason. If you click on the link in the banner (same as the one I embedded in the C/P), it take you to the first completed bike listing that was cancelled because of the error in the listing, as I noted in my previous reply.

I sold a pair of vintage speakers on ebay about 2 years ago. Listed as an auction with a BIN option for $1500. Two hours after listing it I had a buyer at the BIN price. Two days later the buyer asked to be released from the sale claiming he lost his job. I agreed, and relisted the exact same speakers (but I bumped the BIN price up). Sold 'em two weeks later for $1900. If you looked at my history it would show I sold the same set of speakers twice. Stuff happens.

As I noted previously, it would be pretty straightforward to verify the seller's authenticity.


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