Merida mountain bike for sale

I bought this bike, Merida XC TFS500 in May 2008 for Grace as she was starting to show interest in joining me for the night rides.

After the first ride, she had back ache and never got back on the saddle after that.
I took it for a few rides on road and once for a hash ride and then left it to hibernate in the store room.

I am selling it while it's still a current model and in very good condition.

For RM2,200.00, this baby is yours.

The handle has been upgraded to Richie carbon to give extra bling and it is much lighter and stronger.

Bike size: 16. Suitable for medium size riders and great for off road riding.

Rear derailleur is XT with 9 speed and front derailleur is Deore.

Model: Merida XC TFS 500

I posted advertisement in a few sites and received quite a number of queries from potential buyers but there is one "buyer" that stands out among the rest which got me suspicious.

The first indication was the fast response to the advert. Same day when I posted. Let me share the e-mail conversation and see if you catch his game. He goes by the name Engr. John Smith.

JS: Hello...
Am so interested in buying your item as a gift for my Wife... get back to me ASAP so that i can arrange for the payment.
Regard.
ENGR.JOHN.S

Me: Hi John,Thank you for the interest. The bike size is 16. I too bought it for my wife in May 2008 but and she complained her back ache after the 1st ride (not the bike fault I can assure you that!). I used it not more than 10 times after that and kept it in the room. Let me know of your decision as I have also received a number of interested queries. Regards,Ben

JS: For the payment"your money EUROS3700 will be paid to your bank accountvia T/T which means travelex Transfer, And am making the payment before traveling down to Texas. Get back with these infor. for the Transfer.Name of BankAccount Number Swift CodeHolders NameBank Address.And as soon your receive from my bank get back to me ASAP
The address will be send to you after the payment.

I had previously received warnings on the e-mail circulation about scams and sales con. It goes something like this. First the person will respond fast to the sales (which indicates he/she is full time browsing for opportunity). Then when they get a respond from the seller, they will always offer to pay by fund transfer. Some buyer will offer to pay more with excuse that they want to give the cash as gift to the recipient. For example, I am selling my bike for RM2,200. JS will offer to pay RM3,000 and want to give the extra cash as gift to his wife. He will say he needs my help and will pay RM300.00 for the services which means he is willing to pay RM2,500 for the bike and I am to put the RM500 cash with the bike when I ship it out.

JS will suddenly send an urgent message to get me to ship it out and will attach a copy of a presumably banked in cash deposit slip. The bank in document might look genuine and if I am dumb enough believe him and ship it, I will not only lose my bike plus RM500.This buyer will always require you to ship the items as they are probably operating overseas.

Now to continue the conversation.

Me: Hi, Since this is a bike that is fully set up, I would prefer it self collection.

As suspected, the e-mail abruptly stop.

Thank goodness for all the e-mail from friends of the various warnings.

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SOLD!

The Merida bike has been sold to Halim from Trengganu who drove all the way to pick up the bike. I wish Halim all the enjoyment that he will get riding this bike!