hi y'all-
I don't think that Paul's secondary question about volunteers/patrons fixing bikes and selling them outside of the co-op/project (ie on Craigslist) was addressed, and I think is a good question for us to ask ourselves.
Clearly, many of our shops have a sturcture through which staff/volunteers (maybe even trained patrons?) can fix a bike in the shop, sell it to a patron who isn't interested in doing the work zerself, and split the money with the shop in some equally agreeable manner. (I think the BICAS process was already sketched out, Bike Church Santa Cruz deducts the wholesale of new parts from the top, and splits the rest 50/50-- this does encourage some 'cherrypicking' as Jessica of Freeride points out, and so a bike must be for sale 'as-is' for one month before a mechanic can take it on as a floor-bike project--does that make any sense).
But how do different projects deal with patrons who use the shop as a venue to fix up bikes and sell them on the street/at flea markets/ on the web? What about patrons who are primarily interested in 'gleaning' parts (digging through the parts everyday, buying the best ones and leaving)? What do you do if a patron brings a different bike in every week, possibly using your project as a chop shop for stolen bikes?
Bike Church Santa Cruz tries to take serial numbers of bike as a deterant for this last problem, and I believe that Bike Kitchen LA says you can't buy a part unless you need it for the bike you have with you (which I don't completely understand--if the bike is busted, how do you get it across town to buy the parts?). Do other groups have other ideas on this?
On a final note, I want to clarify that I am not necessarily opposed to patrons using the shop as a space to fix bikes to sell; because of the glut of cheap new bikes on the market, I think we all understand how difficult it would be to sell the bike for enough money to pay oneself a resonable wage, and I admire the resourcefulness of people who get by outside of formal employment. But I don't like the idea of our shops/ our generosity being taken advantage of, and less still the idea that people steal bikes, fix the damage they have done with our tools, and then sell them on the street. I don't believe in private property, but bike theft (much like the Magna full suspension 'mountain bike') is a crime against the bicycle, and thus a crime against humanity.
yours,
in long wind and long rides,
kyle
From: freeridemp@riseup.net
Reply-To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] selling bikes, making bikes for yourself?
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:30:21 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Hey Paul (and Think Tank),
>Sounds just like what we have been doing here in Montpelier. We haven't
>had to worry about internet sales yet. Our sales also account for half or
>more of our income, and we sell whatever our volunteers care to fix up. I
>believe that any sales of goods are subject to sales tax in any state
>(they are in VT), and you didn't mention it, so I figured I would, because
>tax evasion, while arguably awesome, is also potentially catastrophic.
>Colin Gunn
>Freeride Montpelier
>www.freeridemontpelier.org
>freeridemp@riseup.net
>
>P.S. Paul, I looked at your picture website, and we went to college together!
>
>P.P.S. Everyone, I don't think anyone made it to BikeBike with info about
>our shop, but I am really glad we made it onto this email list. If you are
>ever around central VT, please drop by!
>
>P.P.P.S Yes, I think we stole the name from Pittsburgh, but I don't know
>how. Thanks Free Ride!
>
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > At the Mount Rainier Bike Coop in Mount Rainier, Maryland, a suburb of
> > Washington, DC, we are working how to sell our bikes that we refurbish.
> > We
> > really don't have any fixed or regular costs; the city gives us the space
> > (a
> > garage), so we just use our money on spare parts and tools. We have an
> > earn-a-bike program so youth can build up bikes for us, learning mechanic
> > skills, and then after fifteen hours of voluteering, the youths can build
> > a
> > bike for themselves. Volunteers who have already put in 15 hours of work
> > can basically just keep refurbishing bikes. No one gets paid anything at
> > this point. Generally, at this point, we just sell our refurbished bikes
> > in
> > one way or another. Do other shops do this? Also, presumably, volunteers
> > could, after working fifteen hours, refurbish bikes for themselves, and
> > then
> > sell them on craigslist or something. Do other coops have a policy with
> > regards to refurbishing bikes for yourself, one after the other, and then
> > selling them for your own profit? Or perhaps a system where you refurbish
> > a
> > bike and then you have to give a certain percentage of the sale to the
> > coop?
> >
> >
> > --
> > PJ Park
> > http://www.biketobrazil.blogspot.com
> > http://www.imagestation.com/members/pjpark
> > http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulJosephPark
>
>
>
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