Most of the sellers using online auction-houses are honest, but there are stolen goods among the items sold over the Net as well.
This conclusion could be drawn on the basis of a recent test conducted by Helsingin Sanomat. The purpose of the test was to find out how many sellers are offering stolen bicycles on the Internet.
A total of 19 Finnish Jopo bicycles were chosen for the test from among sales advertisements on the online auction sites of Huuto.net and Keltainen Pörssi.
Jopos were chosen as targets as they normally have an integrated lock.
If the advertisement did not say when the bicycle had been bought and whether the seller is in possession of its lock and keys, he or she was sent a message asking for those details.
A total of seven sellers never responded to the enquiry.
Two advertisers mentioned that the lock and keys are in their possession. When questioned, another three advertisers said that the lock and keys are available.
Three advertisers said that the lock is in place but the keys have gone missing.
Four sellers reported that the bike had never had any lock and keys.
”I bought the bike from my friend in the early summer. There is no lock and I have no idea of its whereabouts”, said an advertiser who was selling a newly painted bike in Espoo.
Many people claimed that they were not selling their own bikes. Sometimes the bike belonged to a daughter, sometimes it had been inherited or bought from a friend. A few could say how the bike was to ride, but some had no idea whatsoever.
”This bicycle used to belong to a priest’s half-blind wife who used it to ride to church in Köyliö long ago”, wrote an imaginative respondent who was selling an old run-down bicycle in Turku. (Köyliö is a small municipality in the provice of Western Finland.)
Two sellers reported that they could produce a receipt and that the bike in question has a valid warranty certificate.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 3.10.2009
