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I would say I am #2 - not everyone knows how much work, sourcing of parts and expense goes into making something beautiful again. For example I buy a frame here travel to europe buy parts, pay for restoration etc. The potential buyer just sees £x and £y so they think you are making a fortune when in reality you are not and they don't always ask you why there is a price differential they just think you are expensive and are put off. So because of this I have asked people I buy from to take prices down.
BTW I haven't bought anything and resold it on the forum. And in this instance I bought the bike in Belgium not knowing it was on the forum, actually for a different price then it was advertised for.
I have noticed that in lots of cases where bikes have been sold the prices have been removed and it looks likes standard practice. If it is a rule that prices are left up then I definitely won't ask anyone to take the prices down but I think it needs to be clear to all buyers then they can decide if they want to buy here or not.
heychicken-
I agree you're #2, in which case show the original price and demonstrate what you offer... you've saved someone the unending time of scouring, having to travel to collect, researching the right parts, resolving compatibility issues, etc.
Trying to obscure the price at source isn't going to help you as they'll likely find an incorrect price via eBay and will value it incorrectly.
I'd switch the effort from trying to hide the price, to trying to communicate the value you offer. The people that manage this always sell at a good premium as their service is well appreciated by the buyers.
As for whether it's standard practice, it isn't. Some people edit out prices and as a community we haven't ruled against that because there are sometimes reasonable stances about why this would happen. But we do value the prices being left in, as then when we sell like items in the future we have a good idea about what a fair price was in the past. Far more people leave the price in, than edit out... so it's not an issue. It's felt to be an inconvenience to all, but a mild inconvenience isn't an issue.
I'll still not open an old advert and hide the price though. It stays as is now.
Velocio
Once you buy a bike, you're fully entitled to sell it on and I wouldn't discourage you from doing so.
We have several types of trader engaging with the community:
We ban #4.
As to the others, which are you?
We love #1, are kinda fine with #2 (though we discourage a lack of transparency in what things cost and how to source and do things up - it's info that should be shared), and #3 we merrily troll as it's hardly in the spirit of a community.
If you're #2, you are welcome but don't try and hide information from customers.
If you're #3, you're going to be trolled constantly and you should fear for the reputation of your business. Be very careful.
Either way... #2 shouldn't care if prices are left up, and #3 is a messy path and you shouldn't have a say.
The community takes care of itself, I won't discourage a trader, but you've got fair warning that asking people to remove prices doesn't sound good to most people on here.