London Cycle Exchange

[deptfordmarmoset]

I came across this article on road.cc today about the LCE and wondered whether anybody had any experience of them. On first look it seems to be a very good idea but, as they get bikes serviced and replace worn or dodgy parts, I guess there might be quite a hit for the seller. But lots of peace of mind for the buyer....

(I wasn't sure whether this should have gone in ''for sale'' or ''wanted.'')

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Seems to be a bit harsh for the seller

It’s simple.

1. Fill in the form on line. It’s detailed, but it makes the pricing process much easier the more detail you give us. Be accurate and as detailed as possible, if the descriptions not accurate our estimate won’t be and it may have to be revised when we see the bike. Alternatively we can go through the bike details over the phone at a pre-arranged time, you need to have the bike next to you at the time.
2. We send a quote by email within 48hrs and you choose to accept it or not. The quote will incorporate our shipping costs.
3. If you accept the quote we’ll send you a bike box to put it in and an estimated pick up.
4. We’ll have our mechanic check the bike, confirm it’s OK and matches description, then we’ll post the money to paypal, or direct to your bank account, straight away.

Note at point 3 we’ll need card details or a deposit to cover unnecessary shipping costs. These could occur because you don’t ship the bike once we send the box, or miss the delivery slot, or the bike doesn’t match the description and needs to be sent back. Shipping costs will sink us (excuse the pun) if we’re not covered, we hope you understand.
Multiple bikes to sell? It may be best to have a discussion to work out the most time and cost effective way to trade. Please contact matt@londoncycleexchange.com in the first instance.


http://londoncycleexchange.com/pages/selling-a-bike

so the seller gets a quote, puts his expensive bike in a box and ships it assuming all the risks sends it away so it can be inspected by someone they do not know, the mechanic notices a scratch and says its worth less than the evaluation originally made. Of course the bike can be shipped back to you at your expense if you do not wish to accept.
Seems to me LCE get some good stock at bargain prices with very little risk, what happens if the bike is damaged in transit who pays for it could this come under unnecessary shipping costs?
Not a good deal if your selling imho

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Seems to be a bit harsh for the seller

so the seller gets a quote, puts his expensive bike in a box and ships it assuming all the risks sends it away so it can be inspected by someone they do not know, the mechanic notices a scratch and says its worth less than the evaluation originally made. Of course the bike can be shipped back to you at your expense if you do not wish to accept.
Seems to me LCE get some good stock at bargain prices with very little risk, what happens if the bike is damaged in transit who pays for it could this come under unnecessary shipping costs?
Not a good deal if your selling imho

No, you're right, I think you'd be risking covering what they deem ''unnecessary shipping costs.'' Their site isn't too clear on whether the unnecessary bit would mean paying for two courier journeys plus the cost of the box if things don't go well between the seller and the exchange. However, where they seem to be strong is in the ''Cycle Origin Guarantee,'' which covers the buyer against discovering they've bought a stolen - or unroadworthy - bike. This bit is probably worth a paying a wee premium for.

After that, it depends on whether that wee premium all goes in their pockets or whether some of it is passed on to the seller in their pricing model.

 

[Chris S]

Why can't people just drop their bike off and have it checked over while they wait? That way there would be no financial risk for the seller and nobody could suspect the LCE of anything dodgy. Putting an address or a landline phone number on their contact page would help as well.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

I asked them this very question @Chris S along with asking for a quote for my Venge out of curiosity and have received no response what so ever, which does not do much to reassure you that everything is OK

 

[Matt Connelley]

Hi All, this is Matt from the London Cycle Exchange. I picked up on the chat and wanted to try and alleviate the concerns. First of all we've just started out and we are really trying to make this concept work so that cyclists have a trusted alternative to current auction sites, classifieds etc. The feedback so far has been universally great. We are trying to work out the best way of supporting remote purchases whilst keeping the turnaround costs to a minimum so that people get access to used bikes at fair prices with a guarantee. From our perspective the bike could show up that is not as described and we would need to send it back at a cost to us that, if repeated, will sink this thing before it gets going. As Karen said when she replied to the last gentlemen re the Venge (we can re-send the reply if you can't find it) the bikes are fully insured from the point they leave your house, if they are lost or damaged it's our risk. It's a fair point that there may be a contentious scratch and we'll need to think on that one but it's unlikely as we send a box with bubble wrap that would be hard to break through. We are VERY flexible and I have personally been driving around picking up and dropping off bikes to suit customers, thats why we need some indication of location (not necessarily exact address). We don't have commercial premises yet so we can't support the suggestion above but we will get to that if the concept works. Just as a note we answer all emails within 24hrs and are happy to supply phone number and address once engaged with a customer.

Feel free to email me direct matt@londoncycleexchange.com, feedback from fellow cyclists is invaluable.