People have bikes they would like to eBay. LBS have bike boxes for the refuse/recycle. You go in with said sold bike. They box it for a nominal fee and hold it till the courier you have organised collects it the day you drop it off so it is not held on the premises overnight. Just a thought. I find it too much of a hassle locate a box, disassemble and box the bike myself.

How much are you willing to pay for this ‘service’?

And who is held responsible when the buyer submits a paypal dispute when he/she claims the bike was damaged on arrival?

And do bike shops have this spare space?

Who’s insurance is it on in the event of a break in?

£25 for the postage…£35 for an hours time farting about and packing stuff.
You’d pay £60 for the privilege?

I find it too much of a hassle locate a box, disassemble and box the bike myself.

Collection only for your bikes then. Problem solved

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4C9HuLu4B0[/video]

Sorry for the piss taking OP. I’ve had a rough day.

An hours work. Including consumable packaging, bubble wrap/ty wraps etc I would be happy to pay £30.
The person boxing the bike could take comprehensive digital pictures (smart phone) and email (free assuming shop has Internet wifi, reasonable assumption in this age. ) to both buyer and seller.
Space, they have room for the empty boxes, and room for when the new bikes were delivered. Storing one for the duration of a shift should be okay in return for cash.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFQMKcsIF8[/video]

The person boxing the bike could take comprehensive digital pictures (smart phone) and email (free assuming shop has Internet wifi, reasonable assumption in this age) to both buyer and seller

For £30? I’d politely decline (11 years running lbs workshops).

An hours work. Including consumable packaging, bubble wrap/ty wraps etc I would be happy to pay £30.
The person boxing the bike could take comprehensive digital pictures (smart phone) and email (free assuming shop has Internet wifi, reasonable assumption in this age. ) to both buyer and seller.
Space, they have room for the empty boxes, and room for when the new bikes were delivered. Storing one for the duration of a shift should be okay in return for cash.

On ya bike!

The person boxing the bike could take comprehensive digital pictures

£20

email (free assuming shop has Internet wifi, reasonable assumption in this age. )

£20

to both buyer and seller.

Handling all communication pre and post sale/delivery? Yep, I reckon about £20

Storing one for the duration of a shift should be okay in return for cash

Duration of a shift, you say? Hmm. I think that might be, erm…..say, £20

So, £80 service fees, on top of the £30 or so fee for the labour of boxing it up.

Etc.

In short, an utterly stupid idea. That’s before you factor in the hassle of something going wrong with the boxing/shipping and having all the blamestorming that would doubtlessly ensue.

Like zis?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DeKerf-Proper-Disassembly-Packaging-for-Shipping-Bike-Bicycle-UBI-Cert-Tech-/181707863778?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

Here was me thinking £30 for an easy honest hours work was ok. In comparison to the painter I had look at a job of painting some rooms in my house for £150 a day(8 hour day) ,I’d say the LBS were getting a good deal there.

Sorted, send it to that guy and let him box it up for you ^

oh…hang on…

LBS sell you a bike box, let you package it up and leave it with them for a courier, assuming they have a business account and thus can get it cheaper could work. But I can’t see them wanting the hassle and potential for problems of packaging up peoples bikes.

What if the bike is dirty. What if something gets damaged. Photos etc are just extra hassle. Either let them get on with it or do it yourself in that respect.

Here was me thinking £30 for an easy honest hours work was ok.

Cost of the packaging materials
VAT
Liability insurance

It’s not just for an hours work though is it.

£20 to take a dozen photographs
£20 for 2 emails
£20 communication fees. (recieving the bike from you and giving it to the courier you have pre paid and organised).
£20 for a box to sit in the corner of workshop/storeroom.

I agree, you have an utterly stupid idea there.

Here was me thinking £30 for an easy honest hours work was ok.

Not when that time could be spent building new stock, doing a PDI on recently sold stock, carrying out a 6 week (or similar) free service on recently sold stock, or, believe it or not, carrying out an hour long service for a proper paying customer of the shop rather than someone who’s getting the shop to do their online selling for them. Someone who almost certainly spends no other money in said shop.

OK, so that may be stretching it a little at the end there, but the point stands, I reckon. Bike shops would be better served by being a good bike shop.

*Edit – Re my £20 point – Are you expecting that they’re going to take the photos free of charge? Carry out the communications free of charge? The storage space that could and should be used for either new stock or for customer services? Etc? If I was a bike shop, I’d price it nice and highly as it would be detracting from my core business. So, £20 seems a nice round number.

£30 = £25 before vat

£5 minimum in packaging materials, mayve they can re-use some but not all?

£20 left over to pay workers salary, NI etc, administration overheads (insurance, electricity, rent etc) and then some profit for the shop?

There’s easier and more profitable ways of making money in workshops (changing a tube £8….takes 5 minutes).
When there’s a week-10 day backlog on work in the summer…..it’s not like they have to go out scrabbling for work

£20 left over to pay workers salary, NI etc, administration overheads (insurance, electricity, rent etc) and then some profit for the shop?

See also training, tools and endless mugs of tea.

There’s easier and more profitable ways of making money in workshops

Quite. Proper, paying bike shop customers. Plenty of them out there! As you say,

a week-10 day backlog on work in the summer

proves it.

I wouldnt thank you for that job ……

Was 8 years a workshop manager…. Far more profitable uses of my workshop staff for the overheads/potential hassle incured and the fact that for what you seem to be describing its more than an hour to do a quality job for all the aspects.

Plus sitting in the corner of the workshop…. What corners this …. The one where i put my bikes for repair for the day ….or the ones where i put my tools , or the one where i have my stock out on display ?

Sounds like this hypothetical shop is either too big or under stocked to have free space lying about for such a potential hassle.

Tbh If you cba packaging your bikes dont sell on ebay

Afterall …. Theres a reason you cant be bothered to do it …..Its hassle to you and its YOUR bike with your vested interest…..

Maybe Wiggle could do it for you? #meta

My concern would be over liability for any damage , and it’s the sort of job that none of us want to do
But saying that first job in the morning is boxing a customer bike that’s getting shipped to oz so it does happen Somtimes but I’d not be wanting my boss to encourage it.

Think it’s been well covered, but I’d say no:

– £30 less VAT leaves £25
– £5 give or take in materials
– £10 for wages
– £3-4 for employers Tax/NI

Leaves a maximum of £7 gross margin, with little to no contingency to allow for seized/damaged bolts that take longer, other peculiarities of a particular job, a contribution to a risk fund (either self insured or via insurer) to protect against inevitable liability claim attempts.

On top of that, storage space costs and time value – assuming it only takes exactly one hour, could the workshop have generated more GM in that hour than £7, and for less risk? I’d suggest very likely they could.

Nice idea in principle but once you drill down the commercials, it’s not a goer.