Um....Is That Intended As An Insult....Or A Compliment?!

Yesterday was just plain fun.

My father and stepmother came by yesterday for brunch, so it gave everyone a reason to be up early.  We normally sleep away the morning on Sundays, and then regret how quick the day went by.  But, we were up by eight, did a quick fluff and stuff abbreviated version of the normal weekend chores resulting in the final removal of a small pile of debris in the front foyer just as they were walking in!  After the eats we visited for awhile, catching up, then in traditional "Atherton Family" style, they had to take off to make the drive to Hommassas Springs to crash for the night before the long trip back to Texas.  With all the chores done (except for a couple loads of laundry) we spent the remainder of the afternoon outside, on a particularly LOVELY day, playing with the kiddo's!  It was especially nice as Elijah, being home for a few days, was outside with us.  After he beaned me off the head with a football I even made a rare sprint, chasing him around the house, with only a miss as my reward as the toss I made missed him by about a foot!  I suck at tossing a football!  No, Frisbee is my sport of choice, and in between fights over who's turn it was to throw, we all tossed it around for a good while.  Of course, no day out front is complete without the prerequisite water hose spray down.  Resulting in some very filthy little children in need of baths!  Mom, apparently pleased with the day, generously acquiesced to some of the boys desire to have a "Magic Tournament" with Dad and Elijah after the little ones went to bed.  She dutifully took position on the couch with her IPAD allowing us to do battle. 

All in all a very wonderful day!

ANYWHO!

Saturday, we had an interesting visit from a gent looking to sell a bike.  He has done business with us before so when he inquired if we were still buying I said "sure" and bid him to bring in his ride.  Of course, as it always seems to be the case, even though the person has a bike outside...in their car they sometimes feel compelled to tell me about it first.  Apparently he had bought it "new" at another one of the local bike shops for his daughter, but she never rode it so it was in "perfect" condition.  He made a point of telling me "we paid over $300.00 for it".   A statement like that pretty much sounds the death knell of a purchase.  Whenever the price they paid for their bike is foremost in their thoughts, it informs me that they are not taking into consideration "wholesale" prices or depreciation.  BUT, because I knew the man, and was thinking good thoughts I repeated "go ahead and bring it on in".  Well, sure enough he was truthful in the fact that it was in EXCELLENT shape.  It did in fact look brand new.  But it was a "brand new" Schwinn Ranger.  A ladies Schwinn Ranger.  Here's the problem(s) in a nutshell.  The Schwinn Ranger is pretty much the same as a Schwinn Sidewinder.  Both bikes, used (here) will fetch between $85-$110.00, respectfully.  Depending factors being condition, color and whether they are a men's or woman's.  Men's being more valuable.  Also, Schwinn's are a "Wal-Mart" bike.  Currently, you can buy a BRAND NEW Schwinn Sidewinder for $164.97.  Then, there is the problem that the bike he had was not only three years old.  More like five to seven.  See, the shop that he bought it at is not a Schwinn dealer.  There are not that many Schwinn Dealers left.  Ever since Wal-Mart screwed up the brand name, most dealers faded from history.  No, what he had bought was most likely a "gently used" trade in.  I don't believe the shop purposely mislead him into thinking it was new, he just probably assumed it was.  To further compound the problems, he had been shopping around at "other" bike shops, visiting one that dealt in both new and trade in used.   There he saw a bike very similar to his (but apparently NOT in as good a shape) that they were asking $190.00 for!?!?  Needless to say, his expectations were high.  Wanting to see just how far this would all go (I can be a bit of a masochist) I asked "how much are you asking for it?"  to which he responded "I'd take a hundred"

ouch.

This is where I look for the "thin ice" sign as I begin to tread lightly.  I informed him of the issues I mentioned before, even going as far as to show him, on Walmart's website, just how little a NEW Schwinn goes for, explaining to him that the price he was asking for was about $5-10 dollars MORE then I would be selling it for.   It was all to no avail.  We are not other bike shops, and I do feel badly that he had been taken advantage of when he bought this one for over $300.00, but there's no way we could justify selling this particular bike for more then our "standard of value".  Sadly, he left a little less then satisfied and his parting, gruff words were "Then you're not charging enough for your bikes!"

Well....um....thank you.  And we will proudly continue to do so! 

ANYWAYS!

I would love to show you the three bikes we did built on Saturday (ironically enough, one of them being a very similar Sidewinder (sold for $90.00)) but, they all sold (plus three more) first thing this morning.  So I don't want to tease you.  BUT, I will be working on a few more rides today and will hopefully be able to have at least enough time to post their pics!

So with that, See ya soon!