In article
,
bfd wrote:

On Aug 10, 4:28*am, "Tom Kunich" wrote:
Wow, I can hardly believe the number of con jobs that I've gotten while
trying to sell a couple of bikes.

If you're selling anything on the internet be extremely careful and DO NOT
send anything without first having the money in hand. And made sure that the
ONLY way you accept payment is with a postal money order or a cashiers check
from a reputable bank that you've cashed and deposited already.

Agree. Add in the total amount of spam you find in the rec.bicycle
series newsgroup and you start to see why this format has declined
over the years.

That would be that amount of spam *you* see. I see almost none- or
example this was the only thread I see in r.b.m. right now- but I use a
news server and a newsreader instead of Google Groups.

Others may disagree, but all of the groups I follow seem to have
decline.

Some of that is due to competition from Web-based boards, which I find
uniformly intolerable. I had hoped Ajax would help but it hasn't so
far. Some of it is due to major ISPs no longer offering news servers in
a bid to maximize profits. And some of it is due to many Internet users
not even knowing that Usenet exists (even many Google Groups users).

On the flip side, I see more and more ads for things like
prada/vuitton/armani bags, belts and shoes. What those have to do
with bicycle is a mystery to me....personally, I prefer to sell stuff
in CL or, gulp, ebay. Even then, there is still alot of fraud on
those sites, so caution is highly recommended. Good Luck!

Caveat emptor *and* seller these days.

--
That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo.