So, i'm think of selling a couple of my bikes, as recently, n+1 creep has led to an necessarily large fleet for someone who lives in a small house!
Now, as i'm much better at buying things, and hopeless at selling, can someone give me some pointers?
Obviously i would like a fare market value, but i'm not expecting top dollar, but how do i work out what that is? And if i use Ebay, should i set reserves, do a "buy it now" or what? and what should i set those values at?? There must be loads of serial seller on here that have done this loads of times!!
Clean it and take lots of good pictures - by good I mean, in focus and well lit.
Depends on the bike and components. May be worth splitting.
There must be loads of serial seller on here that have done this loads of times!!
HORA TO THE FORUM, HORA TO THE FORUM!
Clean it and take lots of good pictures
Err, cancel that last request...
😉
I mainly sell mine on pinkbike, nice search function with pics on there and plenty of users.
eBay does fetch a good price but the fees put me off. If I sell on there I use buy it now and add the function to accept offers.
I wouldn't split a 26in bike, but might make sense for a 650b or 29er
Pinkbike has never worked for me. Ebay has every time. You wont get what you want for it though. I stick it up for a price open for offers, I've never auctioned. We then negotiate from there away from ebay so they dont steal 10% of the value. Yes I'm aware my dodging of fee's are likely to send ebay bankrupt..
I wouldn't split a 26in bike, but might make sense for a 650b or 29er
Out of interest what is your thinking there? I would have thought people might be reuclant to "buy into" 26 by buying a whole bike, but nice 26" components would still be in demand for people wanting replacement/upgrades for their current 26" bikes. Plus you'd have plenty of stuff to sell that is independent of wheel size "issues".
Accept that fair market value is less than you think it is....
Out of interest what is your thinking there?
My feeling from selling bikes over recent years is that people are willing to pay £800 or £1k for a full 26in bike, but that prices have gone very low for individual bits.
So from the same bike you might get £250 or £300 for the frame, £150 for the fork, £130 for the wheels etc. And part used transmission stuff is never worth much.
Much like making love to a beautiful woman...
Seriously tho you do need to have patience and exceptional timing. Not to mention good communication skills and a knack for selling in the first place.
I rarely sell bikes anymore but when I do I still almost always get way more than market value.
this place is rubbish for selling.
I am hopeless with this. I'm trying to sell a bike (this isn't a rogue ad) and I struggled to find prices of similar ones. I think now it may be a smidge too high!! If you haven't had any joy after a few weeks it's probably too expensive.
eBay can be tricky other times it's brilliant!
Things I've thought would have no interest have ended in crazy bidding wars.
And then something I've thought people would go bananas for haven't had a sniff.
Good pictures are a good start.
Check out what similar things sell for.
Description needs to accurate, especially frame size wheel size etc.
Posting complete bikes are a pain. Components are easy enough.
UK bidders only, put it in your description.
Don't hold things for collection in weeks unless they are paid for immediately.
Long auctions haven't helped me, I have had better results with short auctions.
Buy it now won't stop chancers making stupid offers, don't even reply to them.
Most Ebayers are cool.
Just give it a go.
Definitely split the bike- Takes more time to photo and list but you'll get much more money. Personally, I always treat compete bikes being sold on Ebay with suspicion. Not sure why.
Take excellent pictures.
Write a concise item description- if it's a frame then use the geometry from the manufacturer's website- do not measure it yourself. Components- Find the exact model number on shimano/sram.com etc and use the info they provide. Always start with at least a para of your own description though. The manufacturer's stats are only there to reduce the number of "what size is it"? messages.
When you note the item's flaws be honest but overdo it- it's either fit to ride or it isn't.
Don't set a buy it now. If you've done all of the above you'll get the market value+.
When people ask you for a buy it now, thank them for their interest and tell them you'll going to let the auction run. Be polite as they might well bid and raise the final selling price.
I've done this over 100 times and it's always worked for me. btw I'm not a business, just a clued up individual.
*must add that a weak £ gets lots of overseas interest. In 2010, during the recession I sold lots of stuff to European buyers- Spain and Poland in particular and never had any problems. One Spanish buyer told me a lot of locals were using eBay UK as everything was so cheap.
I rarely sell bikes anymore but when I do I still almost always get way more than market value.
Or you don't know what the market value is . It's not like there is a price guide book like you get for cars .
I always stick stuff on e-bay with no reserve and start at 99p . Sometimes I get more than expected and sometimes less and the fees are pretty savage . That way saves you having to value the bike yourself and you know that you are going to get rid of it . If things are going spectacularly badly or you are a nervous type you can always get a mate to bid up to what would be your reserve price .
Accept that fair market value is less than you think it is....
Accept that fair market value is [b]half what[/b] than you think it is....
Go to completed listings on ebay, this gives you the market value
I have also had success with pink bike and also gumtree. You often have to tolerate a few chances but there's quite a high volume of traffic through those sites.
You need to get the price right first time and be reasonable, I've often come across over priced bikes which then get reduced slightly each week. Them seem to takes ages to sell or don't sell at all. If you are prepared to post this also opens up a much wider audience. Make sure you add your rough location too.
Good luck with the sale
I always find that using key words like 'ready to send it', 'sick ride' and 'corners on rails' really helps. Plus a link to the ad posted with a question on a main chat area of a bike forum helps generate interest.
Pinkbike is great for selling IMO.
Ebay is worth it for exposure and sell it away from the site. Set it up with a BIN & ONO to communicate with people.
As for setting that price, I'd just look at other stuff for sale similar and pitch it around that.
Oh, and never bother on here - generally find stuff sells at a substantially higher price elsewhere.
eBay appears to still be the place.
In fact I don't understand it, recently looking at road bikes, on eBay a 1 yr old one might go for £1k yet you can buy the same bike brand new for £1,200 !?
Accept that fair market value is less than you think it is....
I'm inclined to agree with this and I think that a lot of people calculate their second hand selling price based on what they paid for the bike rather than what the bike (or an equivalent) is going for new (with warranty) now (quite possibly heavily discounted a few years on from the original purchase).
Reasonable market value is determined by the buyer. This place is OK to sell stuff which isn't high value generally, but it's still worth putting it up 3 or 4 times. Used to be great, not sure what happened.
Pinkbike for me overall, their buysell bit is really good.
So tell us what you have ? I'm on the lookout for 26 forks either 120-140 straight steerer or 160-170 straight or tapered. Have bod on a few Soul 26 frames too, 2012 vintage
Thanks chaps, will go an do a completed listings search on ebay and on the classified here and see whats what!
Will take loads of good pictures of both bikes first and make sure i get their spec well documented too 😆
Bikes are 2008 Marin Indian Fire Trail (race HT with 19" frame) and 2013 C456 (AM HT with 20" frame). I raced the Marin back in the day, and with the right wheels it's a sub 10Kg bike, but it's been my road/gravel/rollers bike, and the c456 has been my general mess around in the woods bike, but doesn't get ridden enough to justify the space is takes up currently.....
Specs to follow if anyones interested, Prices, no idea tbh!
Marin - peanuts / pub bike or retro guys dream. Maybe worth more as parts if the parts are fairly new. C456 where keenly priced to start with, again possibly worth more as parts or a few £100 as a winter bike for someone ?
Good luck and best wishes
I'd like to see the marin, is it rigid?
You could always make a stealth advert to drum up interest 😉
eBay, start at the absolute minimum you'd even consider taking (the "any less and it's not worth selling" price), plenty of good photos, dig out the full spec and geometry chart. Offer to post if you can. Don't bother with reserves, etc. Aim to end on Sunday evening, gives time for people to see it over the weekend and bid. Ignore the messages from people offering silly amount if they come right now with cash.
wrecker
I'd like to see the marin, is it rigid?
Nope, it's on the original 100mm Fox 32:
[IMG] 
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Note, i'm NOT selling the SLR wheels in that pic, it'll be on the basic X317 mavics it originally came on!
Nice ad oops thread op 😉
:lol
soz, wouldn't have posted details / pics if someone hadn't asked!
I'll stick a proper thread up in the classifieds!!
Probs after something a bit more low rent maxtorque, just a pootler to take out with the boy rather than a racey bike and associated cost!)
no worries! It's a bit too good to be a pub bike tbh, otherwise i'd use it as one 😆