Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bike Trailer Vent

Most of you probably don't know, but I have been looking for a bike trailer for about 3-4 months. If you have never priced a bike trailer, you probably don't realize how expensive they are can be. Yes, there are cheap ones, but I don't think I would trust putting my kids in some of those and the reviews on them are terrible. I've learned that it's just something you have to be willing to pay a little bit of money for.

At the stores in town, I was left with very few options. You have one at Walmart for $165, which looks somewhat decent, or you have the really great ones at Sports Authority that run between $400-$600. No thanks! Then of course there is Amazon. I found a really great one with tons of positive reviews for about $150.
Even though that is my best option, I'm not sure I want to pay $150 for something I have never even tried before. What if Will hates it? What if I hate it? So finally, I decided to try and find one used....at yard sales, ksl, or where ever else I could. And I've had pretty amazing luck finding them, and getting really good deals. The problem: securing the purchase and getting it home!

Case #1: I saw an ad for a yard sale that was going to have a bike trailer, and the brand was for one of the really expensive ones. The yard sale was from 8am-12pm in Smithfield (about a 15 minute drive). I got off work early just so I could make sure to be there right at 8am sharp. I got there at 7:55am and the trailer was already sold.

Case #2: Again, another trailer at a yard sale. I got there really early and actually managed to be the first one to claim it. It was a nicer brand, though a very old model. She only wanted $50 so it was perfect. I was about ready to throw it in my car, but then we realized that she couldn't find the attachment to connect the trailer to the bike. I waited for about 45 minutes while she looked for it. I wasn't sure how much the attachments were, but I figured they couldn't be too much...so I planned on buying it with or without it. Instead, she told me to leave my phone number and she would call me when she found it. She didn't have paper or phone on her, so I took her number instead and told her I would send her a text to remind her. I even offered to pay for it then, but she said no and I went home empty handed. I texted her several times, but never got an answer. I was tempted to just drive to her house and ask about it, but I was too chicken and figured she just sold it to someone else. In just the 45 minutes I waited, there was at least 5-8 people that wanted to buy the trailer.

Case #3: There is a facebook group called Cache Valley Classifieds that people sell/buy things. It's great. Anyways, I decided it might be easier to find a trailer on there. I was logged into the group, but not really paying attention (cause I was playing a game on different web page.) Once my game was over and I checked the classifieds, someone had just posted a trailer for $50. They had posted it 11 minutes before, and within about 8 minutes, someone had already claimed it and talked her down to $40. Seriously? If I would've check about 5 minutes before. 5 minutes!!!

Case #4: This time I got to a yard sale and there one was! Yahoo! But as I was looking at it and making sure I wanted it, I was informed that it was already sold. Barely missed out, yet again!

Are you starting to see a pattern here? How many times will I miss a sale?

Case #5: This one was pretty heartbreaking and only happened a few days ago. I found a trailer in the classifieds. It was the same one selling at Walmart for $165, but she was selling it for $75. I talked her down to $65 and she gave me her address so I could come pick it up. Turns out she lived about an hour away in Idaho. With our car having so many problems, I just didn't trust driving it. I'm sure it would have been fine, but I didn't want to take a chance, so I told her I would have to pass and to sell it to someone else.

At this point I was getting really discouraged. It seemed like I was destined to fail at getting a bike trailer. The whole purpose was so I could ride it around all summer and take Will to the pool in it, or the park, etc. And now, summer is almost over and I am still bike trailer-less. I vented some on facebook and a friend responded that maybe I wasn't supposed to get any of those other ones because a nicer, cheaper one was waiting for me. It seemed as if she was right..for the very next day...

Case #6: I found the exact same trailer as case #5, but it was located in Logan and she was only asking $50. I asked if she would do $40, which she said she would do $45. I told her I definitely wanted it and that I could come pick it up right away. She sent me her address, but then before I could even leave, she sent me a message saying that someone had offered her $100 for it and she had to take that offer.

Really? I think spent the next few hours ranting to Lance and complaining about how people hate me and blah blah blah. (This was just a few days ago.)  So now I'm even wondering if I should bother. By the time I actually get one, it'll be snowing and I wont be able to use it anyways. I should've just gone with the one on Amazon in the first place, but now that I know there are so many used ones out there, I hate to spend that much. Then again, it might be worth my sanity and saving me some frustration.

Anyways...sorry to vent. Pretty frustrating when it happens once or twice, but to have 6 missed opportunities in the last few months is just wrong. Maybe one day I'll laugh about it...maybe.

Congratulations on those of you who actually read this whole thing. I'm sure it was long, boring, and not exactly interesting and for that I apologize.

1 comment:

  1. Oh and I thought this would have a happy ending!! I am so sorry! :( That would be insanely frustrating!!

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