Resale Isn't Always A Good Deal

Landon has needed a bike. And I've been looking for one for a long time. You know, one of those second hand deals that you just can't pass up.

I priced the new bikes for his size and they were priced at $30. Too much in my opinion.

But, then I got pregnant or moved or did both or something happened and I forgot how much a new bike costs. Suddenly, that $30 jumped to like $40 or something higher. Not a good thing when you're on the hunt for a bargain: you have to know what a bargain is BEFORE you see the item.

So, when a good relative of mine was garage sale-ing recently, I told her to keep on the look out for a bike. Something nice but still cheap.

And voila! she found one for $20.

Now, I knew $20 was too much so thanks to the convenience of cell phones, I suggested offering $15. The seller agreed to $15.

For some reason I thought that was a good deal. I wish I would've look up bike values on blue book or something. I would've known for sure then what was a good deal.

$15 for a bike IS a good deal but not for a little 12" bike without training wheels. $15 will get you the bike, sure but when you need training wheels in order to use the bike, $15 is a lot of money to only get you part way. I found all this out after the fact though.

Especially when you go to Walmart and find that the training wheels they carry are $15.

And we all know (even when we're pregnant) that 15 + 15 makes 30 so you come to the grand total of... $30.

If you really want to make yourself feel ripped off, just walk around the corner from the training wheels and there you'll find the 12", shiny, new bikes they carry. Don't look at the tag though unless you want to feel sick. $30 will glare you right in the face and laugh as you walk away wishing you would've done your home work better. (or at least remembered the homework you did do.)

We're making do with a set of free training wheels that were found at another garage sale but the challenge to stay balanced is a bit more of an issue. Maybe that'll get the need for training wheels in the past for my growing boy.

Which might be a good thing considering that he treats his bike as if it did NOT have training wheels...

After Landon finished his first attempt at riding his bike, he got off the new bike and promptly knocked it over.

"Landon," I said with alarm, "Don't knock your bike over like that!"

And just as if he had already thought all this through, he said softly, "But that's what peoples do with their bikes, Mom." And he proceeded to show me how to lay the bike down after you get off it.

Hmmm. $30 is definitely too much to spend on something that's just going to be knocked over every time it's done giving rides.

I think we can make do with the free training wheels that don't fit right until it's time to graduate to kick stands. Especially since kickstands don't equal the value of the entire bike.

Or do they? I can't remember what they cost.

<>/