G'day HD Forum Members, 

You do get up early in the morning..... Truth be known, it was actually a work mate who jumped on and posted that in the general forum section - apologies for that.  I'd never been on hdforums until now - great commmunity.

How's the importing going?  A good mate of mine works at Dreams Machines in Texas; spoke to him early this morning and he said his phone line has been ringing hot with Aussie accent.  Spoke to the boys at Foytt Compliance and they're under the pump too.  Dealt with them last year - couldn't fault them.

Cheers, 

Chopper Sales

G'day allde,

Thank you for your healthy criticism and condesending tone.  Hopefully you can pinpoint the time in your life when you became bitter, twisted and cynical and work through it so you don't carry that around with you.  They say half the population in the western world will end up with cancer, so remember to breath and not let little things like a free classified site cause you so much angst.  Do you post things like this on Gumtree and Craig's List?

Anyway, lets get back to bikes.  From your post I'm guessing you didn't study mathematics at school.  Well, a quick refresher for you, when something is "free" that means you do not have to outlay any money for it.  Transferring that rationale across to Chopper Sales - it is free to advertise a motorcycle on Chopper Sales.  This means it does not cost an advertiser a cent and Chopper Sales earns no revenue.  

The business model will be exactly the same as HD Forums - the site you are gracing with your forward thought, insight and economic wisdom right now. The goal will be to attract traffic to the site so we can hopefully one day earn some revenue through banner advertising just like HD Forums do. At the moment Chopper Sales is even offering business the chance to run banner advertising on our website for free.  Please, don't tell me you think there is a catch with that too?  

Given Chopper Sales will be adopting the same business plan as HD Forums, I presume you have an issue with the people who devote hundreds of hours running HD Forums for you earning an income?  Not sure whether you work for Julia Gillard every second Thursday, but everyone has to earn a living.  Places like Chopaweeza are out there having a crack and trying to do their thing and people don't criticise them when they're making a respectable earn attaching pink plates on a downtube.  Riders are grateful for the opportunity for giving them opportunity to get their hands on a price, which reflect the fact we all live in a global economy.  Personally, I'm thankful people like Chopaweeza are out there because give the American dollar is lower than our Australian dollar, everyone in this country is being ripped off.  

Before I sign off, so you can become even more enlightened, I will finish the lesson from mathematics into economics.  The parent company behind Bike Sales and Bike Points - yes they are owned by the same parent company - is a publically listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange.  It charges people upwards of $60 to advertise a bike on the Internet.  Their ASX code is CRZ and their stock price closed today 4 cents higher at $7.70.  

Given your negative outlook, I presume you would prefer to pay $60 to a publically listed company when you want to sell your bike as opposed to using a free service to advertise your bike.  I'm a punter with a couple of Harley's who works in advertising.  Chopper Sales with one simple goal in mind - to help the men and women of this country who ride Harley's can keep a bit more money in their pocket.  I have spent considerable time and money doing this for no other reason but that. 

So, as Mr. D Hinch says, "Shame on you", for criticising what is simply destined to be something by the people and for the people.

www.choppersales.com.au

 G'day alde, 

Thanks for the concise feedback.

No need to put your tail between your legs, sulk and make 'school yard' tit-for-tat comments.  Labelling people you don't know isn't very healthy. At the end of the day most people who haven't been living under a rock know that source of peoples conflict with other people is the conflict within.  I really hope you can move over the angst a free classified website has caused you.

Seeing as you raised the topic of University; yes I do have a degree - actually I have two.  However, that doesn't make me any more or less of a person than anyone else.  It doesn't give me more rights or a greater sense of entitlement than anyone else.

To broaden your horizons, not every person with a University education grew up in the back streets of Double Bay with a silver spoon in their mouth.  I grew up in the bush.  One side of my family were brickies; the other ran pubs.

I lugged bricks around and worked on the docks in Sydney to pay for my education.  I've owned 8 Harley's during my life time so I have just as much right, and actually authority, as the next person to share my ideas on an Internet based forum like this.

Hopefully one day you will come around and realise that it's 'ok' to have an education and be able to articulate yourself free of emotional conflict AND also own a Harley-Davidson.

PS - Killer Chief - thanks for having a good sense of humour.

www.choppersales.com.au

I understand. Nothing worse than fakers. However, as you can see, there are truckloads of people listing their business on this forum who charge fees for products and services. Chopper Sales doesn't include forums so I'm not trying to compete with HD Forums in anyway. Yes, HD Forums does have a few bikes listed on its site for sale, however, it doesn't earn any income or revenue from this and this is not the reason people join this site.

In all honesty, being an avid HD fan, someone who has sold bikes before and someone who works in the advertising industry, I started Chopper Sales purely and simply because of frustration. To hopefully stop riders being fleeced.

The other sites - you know the ones I'm talking about - charge people $60-$80 to list a bike. Back in the days when newspapers (Trading Post) ruled supreme no one was ever charged these rates. Working in the ad game, I actually think it is inappropriate to charge people that sort of money to simply upload some photos onto a website.

To give you an example. Check this out - this is the size of the sales/ad team behind the sites I'm telling you about:

http://www.mediamotive.com.au/who-we-are/the-team.aspx

These guys are no.1 and they provide a great service. Naturally, they need to charge money to run their business and administer sites that are behemoths.

However, we live in a free market and competition is very healthy. It ensures and promotes the redistribution of wealth and ensures the rich always don't become richer and the poor become poorer. Look at the importation of Harley's that's been going on the last few years - despite what people think of it, at least it is bringing more people 'into the game.'

If Chopper Sales ever got to the point where it required full time attention and it had thousands of bikes listed on it like the other sites, naturally, its upkeep would require you to charge a fee for listing a bike on it. However, we live in a world of digital technology and I think something like $30 is correct. Not $60-$80.

Re preventing scammers. Several bogus people have already registered on the site and I just delete them. At the end of the day all Chopper Sales is providing is a place where people can connect who want to buy and sell bikes. Chopper Sales doesn't facilitate payments.

So only time will tell whether or not people are inclined to use it.

Thank you for your healthy criticism and your 'keep em' honest attitude.' I think and feel the same way mate.

Cheers,

Chopper Sales

If there are any business owners out there who would like to run some banner advertising on Chopper Sales, for the next few months Chopper Sales is going to give business owners the chane to do this is for FREE while our site gains momentum.  

If you or anyone you know are interested, shoot Chopper Sales an e-mail at [script removed]advertise@choppersales.com.au

www.choppersales.com.au

All the best with the venture. Anyone experienced in internet business understands it all about the traffic.

The traffic is no 1. then the ability to monitize. I have my own business www.zenmotorcyclegear.com.au The hardest thing is to get the traffic. 90% of our sales come from our eBay store. 9% through our own door. I would prefer not to pay eBay. But the reality is eBay has a certain credibility  eBay is used as a search engine as well is being found by google. All the best chopper sales.

Regards,

marx

 SNERK!