For Sale/Want to Buy

It would be awesome if the TR community could sell or buy used equipment. Mountain Project’s forum community has this feature and it is great (I got my first pair of skis there)

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That’s not a bad idea. As long as there’s some kind of restriction, like account age, for when people can view the forum to avoid spam. A reputation system would be nice too to give/receive feedback on sellers/buyers.

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I believe TGR’s forum has this restriction for sellers.

This would be super helpful! I often find myself with extra handlebars, pedals, power meters, tires, etc that I’m not actively using but don’t want to spend the time trying to sell on Craigslist. Would much rather have a TR user take them off my hands.

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This needs review by @Nate_Pearson and probably run through @chelsea before any action.

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Hmm. This definitely needs input from @Nate_Pearson. I’m of two minds. Buying/selling equipment falls outside the scope of what we do (training). I’m also not sure what level of responsibility we’d need to take in managing a Classifieds category. There’s a lot to consider. What if someone has a bad experience with a seller? When and how do we step in? My other thought is that it could take our team of community managers away from engaging in the discussions we really want you to be here for, which are TR and training-related — all topics that center around you becoming a faster cyclist.

All that said, this forum is about you all! :slight_smile: If a Classifieds category is valuable to you getting faster, then a buy/sell category could happen. Our team would just need to be super clear on the guidelines of that category.

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I’m not opposed to it long term, but for now I don’t want to make any changes like this. Let’s revisit in about three months.

I feel like the forum is just a baby right now, we still need to find out what it wants to be when it grows up :).

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@Nate_Pearson :+1:

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Thanks for the thoughts and comments, Nate & Chelsea.

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Sensible response @Nate_Pearson

Honestly - whilst I think a lot of us may find it helpful - @chelsea ‘s thoughts are the right questions.

Even if you put lots of ‘TR bears no responsibility ‘ all over it - I still think it’s potential pain you guys don’t need. There are lots of places we can buy kit, new or second hand - so what is the added value of TR hosting it?

Perhaps a better idea is that we can post a link to a TP platform, on a TR forum - when we have listed items for sale. Thereby flagging it to the TR community (valuable I agree) but avoiding TR actually being involved?

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What if we use / create a FB group. I buy and sell on FB all the time. It could be an extension of TR and managed by the staff or one of the moderators like @mcneese.chad. FB already has the system in place. Members can be restricted to current TR users and require admin approval.

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Probably a fine location, idea and use of existing tech.

But I am initially hesitant to drive when $ is involved. And I would suggest other than being a pipeline to build the user base, TR naming and connection should not be present.

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I wanted to mention that there’s also a large amount of cycling-specific classifieds out there, like Pinkbike.com or TheProsCloset.com in addition to more local options like Craigslist and FB Marketplace, and finally the more broad option - eBay. In my opinion, the TR user base is so widespread and global that it might not even be worth it for users to try to focus on selling gear to other users due to prohibitive shipping costs, and they might have better luck selling more locally.

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Per @Nate_Pearson comment it has been 3 months and so I am just bringing it back to the table again.

I’ve bought and sold on a few areas:

  • 2 FB groups (Online Swap Meet For Cycling and Triathlon & Stevebay)
  • ebay

The FB groups have been ok but, they can lead to spam and a ton of negative trolling. These groups have evolved to get around the gutter of places like Craigslist and the broker fee of ebay.

So far the nice thing about this forum is the lack of trolling. I’ve been wondering when it will start but, I think it’s less prevalent here because it is training centric. Once you start injecting buying/selling, politics, etc…it’s like a magnet for trolls.

I’d advise staying away if I were TR.

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As already stated I think the global nature of this forum works against a classified thread.
It doesn’t bring TR anything but hassle so all in all my vote is a NO.

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I agree, the lack of trolls here is quite nice. I have only seen one spam comment and it was flagged and blocked very quickly.

Honestly, I was hesitant to bring this topic back into discussion as much of the feedback was leaning towards not moving forward with the idea. However, I think it could add a lot of value to the community if executed properly.

I have had a lot of great experiences buying and selling on Mountain Project’s forum. It too is a niche and global community.

Teton Gravity Research requires 1) users to reach a certain level before they can buy/sell and 2) there are dedicated admins monitoring. I bet Discourse has ways to effectively implement this. …

Anyways, just my $0.02. No matter what this is an awesome forum and I really enjoy the community here. Keep up the great work TR :smile:

Here’s a thought. We all have extra cycling gear that we want to sell, and selling it through the normal web sites like CL and ebay are not always true cyclist gear that we are looking.
It would be the perfect spot for connecting real cyclists with real gear. No bidding format. Most of us just want to make room for newer gear in the future.
Nate- what are the chances?

There are loads of sales groups on Facebook, and eBay is pretty universal. IMO, this isn’t what TR should be about.

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Pretty much every forum I’ve ever been on has a buy sell. With the right set of rules, it could be useful here too. My vote is for.