Community Cycles has a one-time rule for going through EAB. We also sell used parts and do have some people that we know sell bikes for profit.
We work with them on a case by case. Some of the people who sell bikes are low-income. They're not turning a huge profit by selling rather staying afloat.

We have had to have serious conversation with some people that were taking advantage of our low priced used parts and using them to sell $$$ bikes and/or flipping our bikes. Most of these people have been people with resources who are using the system...not cool and not in the spirit of our community shop.

Not quite the same issue, you're seeing Mark, but similar in the sense of your shop being taken advantage. I agree with reserving the right to refuse a customer or participant. Luckily, it doesn't happen too often.

Wanda

Wanda Pelegrina Caldas, Board Member
Community Cycles, Boulder's only nonprofit bike shop, serves all your bike commuting needs.
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Thanks!!

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 07:47:00 -0700
From: sharpe@sacbikekitchen.org
To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Questionable customers

A couple of options:

Lifetime/annual limits on bikes available through an Earn-A-Bike program

Enforce whatever "be good to this community space" rules you have

Include a "we reserve the right to refuse an EAB customer" clause

Reach out to homeless/drug rehab organizations to see if they have suggestions

--Ryan

On Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 7:38 AM, Mark Friis <iebafriis@gmail.com> wrote:

Have an uncomfortable question to ask. How does a shop deal with some of the more questionable customer? By questionable I mean the type of people that are volunteering to earn a bike for the purpose of selling it or using it to get a "fix".
The reason I ask, is we had one of volunteers bikes stolen from inside the shop with people there. Didn't care if was caught, yet somehow no one saw him. Lately we have been having a lot of addicts and such coming by looking to get a bike but have little money so we offer them up a cheap Walmart type bike. It was a great way to get rid of the garbage. But now we find that we might be catering to them too much at a cost to those that want to use the shop for what it was intended to be, a place to teach bike mechanics.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

Mark Friis

Executive Director, Inland Empire Biking Alliance

PO Box 9266

Redlands, CA 92375

909-800-4322

mfriis@iebikingalliance.org

WWW.IEBIKE.ORG

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