Sorting new donations, what we do with them, and sale sheet

[Admin]

I think one of the things that I have trouble wrapping my head around is that the designation "as-is" is very misleading. It is used to mean variously bikes that haven't been touched at all (ie are as they came in the door) as well as bikes that have been tuned up (yellow sheet), but not overhauled.

It is also meant to be information for the buyer in the sense that they are getting the bike "as is", which may include mechanical problems that we didn't see, but really this applies to everything we sell (ie no warranty, etc).

I would like to see us switch our language to:

"as is" = as it came in the door. Basically we do not sell in this condition, although there are circumstances where we might, so having a term for it is of use.
tuned up = yellow sheet, basic maintenance but not much else
overhaul = white sheet

For flagging bikes that are donated we only need the latter two (tune up or overhaul), and of course we also need the "scrap" designation.

Other than those three, is there any designation we need to be using? I can see room for "rebuild", ie vintage and high end bikes where we do all we can to restore them, including paint touch ups where needed (possibly brand new pads, cables etc). This would be done (presumably) to i) extend the life of a quality bicycle, and ii) allow for relatively high pricing.

[Admin]

Addendum, Proposing these designations:

Scrap = salvage whatever parts and scrap the rest

As is = hasn't been touched. As noted, we mostly do not sell in this condition, but the phrase has some utility as a reference as long as we have a shared understanding of what it means.

Tune up = Basic yellow sheet work

Overhaul = White sheet; ie strip down and play with pretty much everything

Rebuild = Overhaul+ ie Overhaul as well as parts need replacing, possibly paint touch up, etc.

[Admin]

As per above, the "As is" designation is confusing when used to refer to a bike that is really better described as a "Tune Up", however there is potential value in retaining the designation (and the idea of selling bikes "As Is") in one or more of the following circumstances.

Context: When a donation arrives it is assessed (or should be) as being in one of the following states:

1. Scrap
   
2. Can be made road worthy
   
   
   
   1. but more work than we are willing to do (hence scrap?)
      
   2. but not a priority at this time given the amount of work needed (triage)
      
   
   
   
3. Overhaul
   
4. Tune Up
   

Scrap bikes waiting to be stripped could be sold "As Is" if anyone were interested (unlikely, but possible);

Bikes in condition 2) (whether 2.1 or 2.2.) might be candidates for selling "As Is" since we know that we're not going to fix them up at all, or if we do we will not get to it for some time (if ever), and in the meantime they take up shop space;

If someone wants a bike that we would overhaul or tune up, but wants to do the work themselves, why not offer the bike "As Is" for (example) 50% for an Overhaul (ie we intend to) and 75% for a Tune Up. The bike get's back on the road, we get $$$ for nothing more than temporary storage, and we get some space. At this time we do not lack for bikes to work on, and actually we could significantly increase our donations if we wanted to, so ...

Regardless of condition or plans, if we know that the person intends to cannibalize the bike rather than use it, and that they intend to buy it regardless, why wouldn't we sell it "As Is" rather than do the work which will amount to a waste of time? Again, our limitation is not bikes to work on, but space.

Naturally we would have to have clear guidelines and informed assessments, but as long as we have a backlog (and the ability to get many more), why not?

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