Confessions of a Cheapskate

I ride bikes. I have upgradeitis, but I also suffer from notenoughcashitis. I want carbon tubular wheels for my sweet sweet serotta. This is a story about carbon and eBay, and I don’t know how it ends yet.

eBay really seems like a place on the decline lately. A friend of mine was recently let go from her high paying gig there recently. There was a battle between make it great again, or reorg it fluff it, and sell it. She was on the make it great again side.

So, being a cheapskate who likes old stereos old bike, old cars, I still hop on the eBay app pretty frequently. Part of the decline I think is due to the lack of auctions. I mean real auctions. Auctions where there are bidders, and because there are bidders, there are sellers. Everyone has things listed with buy it now prices, and sometimes you see a male an offer button so you fire off an offer, and there you go. eBay is just another place to list stuff for sale with a decent shipping discount. Yes you can find some obscure stuff there, but really, it’s not too special anymore. It is possible to do it right, Carsandbids.com and bringatrailer.com ate eBay’s lunch on the car auction side a long time ago and to this date provide exciting platforms to buy and sell vehicles.

But sometimes. There’s a thing you want, and you are cheap, so you keep looking at eBay for deals, and then… you see an auction. And you bid. And you win. I think the key is to find items that pop for auction that people aren’t looking for. I also look for extras that are included but not necessarily the main jam.

So I found an auction for 2 pairs of zipp speed weaponry 303 carbon fiber rim wheels. Little older than I would like, and the description was lacking. 2 sets of zipp 303 wheelsets with 10 speed cassettes. They are in good working condition. K, I’ll bite. I tried to do my research on them, but am not fully informed. I do know that a decent set of these ought to sell for more than what I paid for 2 sets. So… I see a few different possible outcomes.

I can end up with two dope ass wheelsets for my bike for the price of one. I can end up with one dope ass wheelset for a decent price, and two junker wheels. I could end up with 2 dope ass front wheels, and 2 busted rears, or vice versa. I could end up with no dope ass wheelsets, and just a couple of expensive used dura ace 10s cassettes. I could end up with a dope ass wheelset that breaks and sends me face first to the pavement.

I know you all (0) are waiting with bated breath for the conclusion. So, stay tuned for the next episode.