Saying Goodbye To The Bike Hobby

[Bicycle808]

Personally, I'm not likely to waste any time/gas on a $10 banger which was $80 at Wally World when it originally sold 3 years ago.

OTOH, I don't waste time/gas on any $1000 bikes on CL, either. I tend to be looking for something in particular before I buy it, so I'm usually hunting for something of a specific size/make/vintage. Best for me is if it's a frame, or a basketcase complete with a good frame, so I can creepily have my way with it... bikes/framesets I've bought on CL tend to range from $50 to $200, asking price. I tend to NOT haggle, but I know I'm definitely in the minority there.

 

[Wildcat]

Just when you've had it, some cool bikes show up, a straightbar and what looks like a Heavy Duty frame and more.

http://augusta.craigslist.org/bik/4255553305.html

 

[marius.suiram]

I looked at the Greenville market. There are high prices bikes or no value (junk) bikes.
Probably you need to try selling middle price bikes.
I'm selling bikes from 70's and 80's, maybe 90's, three speed, 5, 10 speed, USA made; comfort bikes, road bikes. Sometimes I buy mountain/ hybrid bikes for 10$ and sell next day for 50, after a cleaning (if they are in good condition). I try to stay away new from China stuff.
I'm selling a 3 speed Huffy/Murray/AllPro bike for 70...80$, a Schwinn for 100, a Schwinn road bike for 120...150.
People around here did understand that a USA made bike in 80's is lasting more than a new China bike.
And I sold last year more than 160 bikes.(having a full time job and three kids)
And I want to say that in the city I'm living there are three more guys like me.(I don't know actually how much are they selling).
Maybe you should trying to sell this kind of bikes. Young people going in college love this kind of cheap bikes, retro looking, instead taking in the camp a 1000$ bike which will be stolen after 2 weeks.

 

[B607]

If you're making money it's a business. If you're losing money it's a hobby. Just ask the IRS. Gary

 

[Namelessjoe]

some times, unless you just cleaning the bikes up to sell them, people will expect to pay more for a customized bike. so for example you buy a kids bike for free to $5 clean it up ask 10 peeps will be well there's nothing special, however if you get the same bike paint it a random color and sometimes that's it but swap bits out for something unique you can ask like 50 buks and people will eat it up again it depends on your market but that's my thought as far as unloading your surplus bikes(at the moment it sounds like you have )

as a 2nd thought there were bunches of $30-45 bikes on the CL u mentioned maybe if you are selling them for $10 buyers just might think your not selling functioning/worthy/legitimate items when the market is asking $30 for children's bikes and $40 for adult mtb's

 

[wheelhorseman]

Well I have tried lots of different kinds and styles of bikes and the results are usaully the same...little to no interest. Tried muscle bikes..cruisers..mtn. bikes you name it. Someone here just mentioned how an older American bike has some value compared to China. Last year I snagged a NOS Murray American mtn. bike. Not really high dollar . Finally sold for 40.00 but took 3 months of hard CL advertising. Anyway I think I will stay with trykes and maybe keep a few bikes on hand for sale. Its still fun.

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[outskirtscustoms]

I normally have good luck selling bikes in the summer, once in a while in the winter but the main thing is with kid's bikes they want nicer bikes. I start with Dyno or better. If it's a Next or Magna I either give it to a kid who needs it or strip it for parts. If you are worried about the money donate them to goodwill and get a tax write off. Then with adult bikes I try not to spend more than $20 and try to get $40, if there's anything wrong with it I look at the parts and see if that would make it worth buying, then there's vintage and I just go with my gut and try not to spend more than $100. You have to think kids are not going to be saying hey mom look at this awesome Magna on Craigslist can we buy it? Then $X in fuel to come get it, they'd look for what the kid wants like a Dyno, Redline, Haro, or newer high end like Eastern, Stolen, or Subrosa exc.

 

[Bob Gray]

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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Just speaking for myself, I have very little interest in $10 bikes. I don't mean that they're not a screaming deal for someone just looking for cheap transportation or a beater, but I've got half a dozen cool bikes so why would I go out of my way to pick up a Magna? If I bought a bike like that I'd just strip it down for parts because I wouldn't want to find the space to store it. I suspect most of the bike guys scoping out Craigslist have the same mindset.

I don't know how exactly you should go about selling bikes like that. I suspect you could probably sell them all day long in a tourist town or somewhere similar where people are just looking for something cheap and practical to ride around on for a few days.

 

[alecw35]

I used to get bikes to do upto sell. there was an auction house in the nearby town. I would go there every Friday to the general auction. would get bikes for a few £s. Also would get 8 bit computers. then get them home and sort them up. occassionly change parts I wanted to keep. Then put ads in the local paper. I would advertise kids bikes, nothing below 20" wheelsize, for £15. Adult bikes for £20 to £30. would usually drop £5 off them. computers usually for £20.
that was mostly in the 90s that I was selling bikes. It was getting harder to sell bikes. think it was cause of more places, like Toys R Us, selling low quality low priced bikes. And I suppose the internet come in, so ebay come in, and prices just went down for everything.
the last bike I advertised was an ok quality MTB, alloy Jump type bike, 21 speed. I went right thru the bike, replaced the rear axle. couldn't get £20 for it.
Last computer that I tried to sell, on Gumtree. A sony PS1, with a ton of original games. I asked £10 for it, what I paid for it at a car boot sale. Someone in a town 20 miles away, asked me to deliver it. It would have been a 3 hour round trip and a £6 bus ticket, to a very rough area of that town. I refused, he was abusive. I gave the PS1 to a charity shop.
Not sold anything for years now. I just fix up bikes for my own use now.

 

[nosmr2]

Kinda of off, but still on the subject. Anyone tried the bike market in a college town? I bought a nice 80's Schwinn Cruiser (nothing fancy) from a guy that posted in the Houston Craigslist, but was going to school in College Station. When I got up there at his dorm there were a million bikes parked outside. I would imagine most are of the cheaper big box variety, but there might be a few gems in the bunch. I remember how much I did not want to move stuff home at the end of the school year when I went to college back in the day. Maybe there is an opportunity to put an add in the school paper or CL to pick them up cheap at the end of the spring semester then resell back in the fall when the students show up needing bikes.

 

[DJ Bill]

Ten dollar bikes are about the same as a free couch in my experience.. Nobody wants it.
Put the free couch on the front porch for $35 and someone will come along and offer you $10 for the same sofa you couldn't get rid of for months.....You're aiming too low. Of course if they really are ten dollar bikes, they aren't worth the effort to work on them unless you just enjoy assembling bikes from parts bikes..
Trikes seem to be way too expensive in my area now but I see the attraction. Not everyone has an adult trike. A friend with a special needs child bought one, only thing the kid could safely ride. LOTSA $$$$ for what wasn't that impressive a ride.

 

[marius.suiram]

Sometimes ten dollars bikes brings you some money. Last year I got two Trek, a 620 and a 360 each for 10$.
They brought me the money I make in a week of regular job.

 

[expjawa]

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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In my experience, the right price point is key. Advertising something too low can be just as detrimental as listing it too high - people will assume that its junk rather than a good deal. I think its that simple in a lot of cases. I have seen things sell after raising a too-low price. But your mileage may vary.

Now, with that said, it may just be that the local market isn't conducive to selling bikes at any price point. A lot depends on the local market; prices do seem to vary greatly on location. However, kids bikes really don't sell well anywhere. There's not a lot of incentive for parents to buy an old bike for their kids when they can go to Walmart and buy a new one cheap. Kids just don't care about bikes as much either. I see the used bike market as primarily for adults. They're either fitness riders, people that need or want them for simple transportation or collectors or otherwise nostalgic buyers. Around here, I've sold several refurbished adult bikes of varying sorts for around $150. I've also refurbed them for other people for similar money. But I don't try to actively flip them; if anything anymore I might recondition a bike so that I can donate it and feel good about it.

 

[DJ Bill]

"Sometimes ten dollars bikes brings you some money. Last year I got two Trek, a 620 and a 360 each for 10$.
They brought me the money I make in a week of regular job."

That is the point... you bought for $10......weren't trying to sell for $10.

If I was selling for $10 I'd be more tempted to part out or just give them to deserving folk. I LOVE buying them for $5 or 10. Then there is the English bike I got for $2 and the seller threw in a free warm coke....

Speakking of flipping... has anyone seen the videos on YouTube from Bonafide Hustler down in Austin? He gets good money on bikes if his video is believable.

 

[krate-mayhem]

Lots of good info

 

[nosmr2]

Austin would probably be one of the best cities to flip bikes. Nice weather with long summers, beautiful scenery for bike riding, lots of college kids, lots of younger adults and lots of money. I've had decent luck in Austin pawn shops, much better than here in Houston. Sounds like this guy has the perfect market for bike flipping.

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

I just hate long goodbyes .


~RafaeL~

 

[wheelhorseman]

One of you were asking about selling in a college town. Athens Ga. not far from me is one. Their CL is very slim with bikes. You wont sell one there either. I am tbru with them. I gave every bike I had even several complete ones to the scrap man yesterday. Good riddence.

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[RAK]

Trying to turn a hobby into a business will almost always ruin it for you. Been there, done that with farm toys and Hot Wheels.

 

[the_undecider]

"Sometimes ten dollars bikes brings you some money. Last year I got two Trek, a 620 and a 360 each for 10$.
They brought me the money I make in a week of regular job."

That is the point... you bought for $10......weren't trying to sell for $10.

If I was selling for $10 I'd be more tempted to part out or just give them to deserving folk. I LOVE buying them for $5 or 10. Then there is the English bike I got for $2 and the seller threw in a free warm coke....

Speakking of flipping... has anyone seen the videos on YouTube from Bonafide Hustler down in Austin? He gets good money on bikes if his video is believable.

I laughed the whole way through this video. I know who this guy is and he is so full of it. As an Austin area bike flipper, I know who all the other flippers are. The stuff he sells always needs something fixed, usually by his own admission in the ads, and I see him relisting things cheaper and cheaper.