Saying Goodbye To The Bike Hobby

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wheelhorseman

wheelhorseman

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Well I have had enough.Bikes are too hard to resell and its no fun when all you come across is the cheap Wally stuff that nobody wants. I was talking to a friend of mine who said he sold no bikes at Christmas. I didnt sell any either. No worth the aggrevation of listing and relisting 5.00 bikes on CL that never get any interest. Adult bikes fetch 20.00 in mint condition if you are lucky once every 2 months. I have a bunch of rideable kids bikes right now going to the dump.

I am going to consentrate on trykes for myself not to resell but no more "flipping". Lately I have stopped taking any kids bikes and very particular about adult bikes. I will still pickup free or near free adult b7kes mainly 24s to use for tryke tires.

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I enjoy the selling side of the hobby but thrers just no demand in my area for bikes. All the mindless robotic kids want are phones and games.. Adults who do buy a bike (which is rare) expect them to be like new and not over 20.00. Honestly I keep an ad in the local free shopper paper to buy bikes and calls are few and far between. Sometimes I get lucky but not often. Doesnt seem like there are many out there to buy.

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CeeBee said:
I didn't realize the "bike hobby" was measured by "sales".
Click to expand...

+10000

The "Bike Hobby" in entirely different from the flipper's racket. I'd argue that flippers lack the respect for bikes and riders that a true hobbyist would harbor. If you love bikes and you love riders, you'd leave the cheap bikes on CL for the folks who actually want to own them....Maybe volunteer at a co-op, to help fellow riders rehab their cheap bikes to make them rideable. Do it for love, rather than for the illusion of profit.

...and if you really love bikes and riders enough to want to make it a vocation, you'd probably find a legitimate, legal way to make money in the bike biz. Get a job with a shop, a wholesaler, or even a bike company.

Trying to figure out how to make a $5 Magna into a $25 Magna by patching a tube and replacing a rotten cable with a slightly better used cable, then evading taxes on the sale? That ain't legit, and it surely isn't a "hobby", as I see it.
 
Reniassance Man NO trykes wont sell either. Been there and done that. They will sit on CL forever at a giveaway price and your phone will never ring. Right now I am running ads in a 100 mile radius to buy them. Still the phone is dead. Cee bee you down reselling bikes. I dont buy them to keep and I certainly not gonna put money into one to give away. And I can afford to put 10.00 in tubes and my time to hopefully sell the bike for 5.00. Thats not good buisness and yes I resell bikes for profit. Its what I like to do.

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I haven't gotten into reselling for profit. When I do sell one, it's really only to recoup a little of what I put into it (which is generally minimal) and to float on to whatever is next. If the OP can't sell the kids bikes, please... please donate them. Trikes are fun though. I fixed one up for a family member and spent quite a bit of time rolling around in circles on two wheels
 
In my experience most fun hobbies don't have a lot of profit involved. There's a saying in the scuba business that the way to end up with one million bucks in that industry is to start out with two million.

My suspicion is that the only people making good money flipping bikes are the fences.
 
cman said:
The ride-able kids bikes, look at donating to a church or organization that can get them in the right hands.

I don't flip bike anymore, mostly build or upgrade my existing bikes.
Click to expand...


The payback in donating kids bikes is the feeling you get in your heart, knowing you made a kids day! Even better yet, when you see a kid on a bike you fixed up.
 
I have enjoyed the bike hobby since the age of seven by always keeping it a hobby. When people ask to buy one of my bikes I instead offer to help them build one . They pay for parts and I get to build another cool bike. I also refuse to buy a bike or part that I wouldn't want to keep or don't think is cool. I figure that if you fix up a bike that you wouldn't want why would anyone else want to buy it? like many others here I enjoy fixing up a bike and giving it to a child who can't otherwise have one, it feeds the soul. Somehow another job always comes along so I can afford to do it. Enjoy the hobby
 
i been in the bike game for a few years now ...i dont ride bikes ...i just like it !!!!
my son loves the bikes i build and loves showin em off ...
as far as selling bikes i do that also ...and lots of parts !!! i enjoy that aspect of it as well ...the camaraderie of the people in the hobby ...talkin bikes trading stories drinkin a cold one ....i love goin to swap meets and talkin to guys all day about bikes makin deals ...sometimes u win sometomes u lose ...it all evens out in the end !!!
as far as donating bikes ive done that several times ...and id trade seeing a kid smile over 25 bucks any day !!!! i have on many differnt occasions spent money and time redoin bikes for kids all over town ...when they ride off its well worth it !!! and it has sold many bikes for me ...people come up to me all the time ..hey u got bikes for sale i know u donate em and we would like to buy a few to help out the cause !!! karma maybe ? IDK ,,,
if u have ridable bikes please DONATE them ...tell em u will have more in a few months donate them also ...it just feels good !!!
 
No offence taken Ceebee. I have given away bikes to kids before but I do like resell7ng them just for the fun of it not for the profit. You might make 10.00 in profit at best in most cases not gonna get rich. As for finding bikes that you would want to keep like banana bikes or something unique or odd there just arent any here..I see you northern guys always finding tons of the old and antique bikes but again..not here. Right now I have discovered trikes and found it to be much more fun and enjoyable for me than two wheelers so that is what I am going to consentrate on. I am not leaving RRB at all but just changing my interests.

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wheelhorseman, I don't see what you originally posted about as being a "hobby." It's a small business and there's nothing wrong with that. Hobbies will seldom make you money; businesses are supposed to.

Donating bikes that haven't sold can still make you some money indirectly if you file long form on your taxes. The value of bikes donated to charities is tax-deductible so if you donate a bike you value at $25, you can can deduct the $25 on your taxes. I'd bet there's a local church that whose minister knows some kids who could use a bicycle. Maybe some of those kids you mentioned who are glued to the video games would ride a bike if they had one.

In Nashville, there's a local group that accepts bike donations for a recurring 6-week bicycle build/maintenance workshop (http://halcyonbike.com/category/advocacy/) they do with at-risk kids. If the kids last the whole 6 weeks, they get to keep the bike. I have donated a couple of bikes and there may be a similar program near you.

I'm like my friend CeeBee in that I sell some bikes to alter my collection for whatever I'm interested in at the time. In fact, CeeBee and I are trading some bikes this weekend to alter both our collections! I sold one last weekend that I got from him a few months ago. I broke even on it but the lady I sold it to was thrilled with it, so that was my "profit."
 
Heres something that baffles me and nobody has ever answered this question. I advertise bikes on CL constantly for 10.00 and very rarely get a call. For every 10.00 bike I list there are at least 10 bikes listed by others asking 500.00...1500.00 and much higher. If I cant get 10 who in their right mind is gonna pay 1000.00? There is NO market here for bikes. It is VERY RARE to see anyone riding a bike anywhere. I watch CL closely and see those same high dollar bikes being relisted over and over.

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I gotta disagree with you O.P. man, you called it a hobby, not a profession, you will be back! :) :) :) :) :)
 
I advertise on Greenville S.C. CL. If you go there and look at bikes you wont find a 10.00 bike but you will find very overpriced Walmart stuff and the high end bikes I spoke about. My stuff is always the cheapest and still has no interest. That tells me there is no bike market regardless of price.

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Ive never had luck with CL, Most bikes I sale is thru word of mouth and a few on FB. I keep 4 or 5 ready to sale and while their waiting for a new home their used as back up bikes for my kids or when their friends come over to ride.
 

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