General Cycling Discussion - How do you sell a bike for a decent price?

I've become a road rider more than anything else, and have two relatively decent mountain bikes I want to unload (though this is not a for sale post). I listed them on craigslist, gave all the relevant details, pictures, tuned the bikes up, and so on. The only replies I've gotten so far are from people who are looking for a beater bike for $50 to ride around Boston, or who are trying to get me to cut the price because of a charity-case sob story.

How do I unload non-beater bikes without the drama of craigslist? Should I just take them to a bike shop and be done with it?

You don't. You keep them as second and 3rd bikes for when you get back to real riding.

Selling s/h bikes is difficult- you have to keep advertising till the person comes along that whats what you no longer do.

...How do I unload non-beater bikes without the drama of craigslist? Should I just take them to a bike shop and be done with it?

Hi 8bit!

If you can find a shop that will take them on consignment, go for it. Such shops are nonexistant in my part of the world, though.

I get good prices on e-Bay for what I sell. You'll get more for the bikes by selling them as parts than as bikes, but it takes less work to sell them as complete items.

If you can hang onto them till Spring, you'll probably get a higher price than now. Your choice!

Good luck!

I'm way past the point of second or third bikes, hon. I got the ultimatum from the boyfriend that I can't bring any more wheels home unless I get rid of some wheels first :(

Sigh. The faster I get rid of them, the sooner I can get my folding bike!

People will say anything to get a price cut. If the bike is worth the price you ask, stick with it. They know the price, they can see the price, stick to it.

I sold my last boxer pup yesterday for $400.00. Thats a very low price for boxers. Anyway i put the price and all in the add. i got a call from a guy yesterday wanting to meet so he could buy the pup. He said he wanted it. I get to our meeting place and he immediatly starts saying how how wants the dog but thats a steep price and he doesnt know. I say well 400 is the price take it or leave it. After trying to get me to lower it a few more times, I get fed up and say no last chance, you knew the price comming in and you asked to meet me! He finnally says he will take it. After getting the money out of his bank he gives me a sob story about how he has only $20 left and wont be able to have "dip" all next week, and now hes got to buy dog food blah bl;ah blah!! I said if you cant afford a $400 dog then dont call and ask to buy a $400 dog. I loaded up and began to leave and he quickly hands me the money....this comming from a guy who drove up in a $45,000 humongus Ford pickup.

Bottom line, stick to your price.

Just sold my not so used any more mtb for $250 here in the Dallas area. I posted on craigslist, got a couple scammers, a couple mom's looking for son's next bike, stuck to my guns and a price of $250 though probably could have taken $220 for it and been happy. Good luck.

You should try selling them for a living. You don't even get a sob story, just a guy in Michael Jordans whining about a $300 for a bike.

Make sure you have some proof that you owned the bike, be it a bike shop receipt or something along those lines. Then, you might luck out and find a LBS which can consign or sell it for you.

Of course, you can try the more traditional ways -- take an ad out in not just the local paper, but if there is a student or university rag, stick something in that as well.

Ebay's been relatively good to me. If the bike's have got to go, that's just less leverage you have in getting the price you want, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet, especially as we're heading into colder months and Bike shops are having sales.

Craigs' list has price points, that's for sure!

timing is bad for bikes right now its going into winter. depends too, on what you think a 'decent' price is.

I've sold several bikes on craigs list 100-250 dollars and no haggling, the bikes were fairly priced and went quick. if you are asking 700 for a bike that cost a thousand five years ago, that might be a little high.

for example, i had an older REI mountain bike, no susp, kept in good shape by me, with new Shimmy BR-550s, that i sold for $250 to the first looker, we took it out for a test ride and that clinched it.

the guy specifically mentioned how he didn't even want to haggle for it, because i had priced it fair.

I got the ultimatum from the boyfriend that I can't bring any more wheels home unless I get rid of some wheels first :(

DUmp that Weenie!

People will say anything to get a price cut. If the bike is worth the price you ask, stick with it. They know the price, they can see the price, stick to it.

I sold my last boxer pup yesterday for $400.00. Thats a very low price for boxers. Anyway i put the price and all in the add. i got a call from a guy yesterday wanting to meet so he could buy the pup. He said he wanted it. I get to our meeting place and he immediatly starts saying how how wants the dog but thats a steep price and he doesnt know. I say well 400 is the price take it or leave it. After trying to get me to lower it a few more times, I get fed up and say no last chance, you knew the price comming in and you asked to meet me! He finnally says he will take it. After getting the money out of his bank he gives me a sob story about how he has only $20 left and wont be able to have "dip" all next week, and now hes got to buy dog food blah bl;ah blah!! I said if you cant afford a $400 dog then dont call and ask to buy a $400 dog. I loaded up and began to leave and he quickly hands me the money....this comming from a guy who drove up in a $45,000 humongus Ford pickup.

Bottom line, stick to your price.

I hope you told him the price was firm before you met. Or that there was some understanding that there wouldn't be haggling...

Thanks to all the stolen bikes on Caraigslist, the market doesn't recognize any value in used bikes that were low to midrange when new. I'd rather give my old bike to a friend who will use it rather than try to get $100.00 for it and have to listen to all the snivelers who want it for $50.00. Hey, why don't I just offer to pay a sniveler $50.00 to take it away? bk

Hold onto them. Can't keep them around the house? I'd say fine, and rent a storage closet :)

I've had poor luck with Craigslist. If I'm selling something and want to sell a $500 item for $100 to someone who is trying some scam, I would say something like "price $500, but if you really are a whiner, I can fall for your crappy sob story and the fact that you say you don't get paid for 2-3 weeks and take $100 for it. I'll even not say a word as you come by in a shiny new Lexus as you pick the object up, giving me a fake check that won't just bounce, but will just shoot into orbit when I try deposit it."

I can't stand people who want to write checks for items. Usually what they write is fiction.

I have had better luck with using the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman than Craigslist, mainly because all the scammers and fraudsters have discovered Craigslist and are trying to milk it for all its worth.

Update: I managed to sell one of them last night to a very nice girl who I said I'd cut a little discount if she came by that evening and went home with the bike. I got nearly what I was asking, in cash, and am happy with the outcome. It was well-earned after all of the idiots I had emailing me and dropping by (or saying that they would and then not showing). Now that I'm down a set of wheels, I can order my folding bike and just hang onto the other bike I was selling until spring, when the memory of the pain involved in this ordeal will have faded.

Sigh. So very, very much drama. I can't decide whether my favorite potential buyer was the guy who emailed me the pompous letter about how he knew how much my bike was worth and how it was never going to sell (and how I'd be crying to him to buy one at his price in a week) or the people who showed up in an expensive car and were yelling "You spent WHAT on that fancy two-person bicycle?"

i sold a roller for training on CL, the guy came to look at it and came up with every sad ass excuse about it not gonna fit under his bed, so i said see ya.I asked $100 he said he had $80. but i could sense he really wanted it so he caved in.

I personally would love to see something like bicycle exchange, where it would be a shop (not a full LBS, don't want to compete with other shops), but a place where people can buy/sell bikes, provided the seller provides some *concrete proof* that the bike is his/hers (a copy of a receipt from a known bike shop) or a valid serial number. Sellers can just bring the bike in, let it sit and get sold, then get a check. Buyers can buy a decent ride.

The biggest problem I see is the fact that its hard to prove a bike that isn't stolen. Lots of bicycle (or frame) makers don't keep track of serial numbers, there are no standard databases to check serial numbers present against a list of stolen ones, and even proof of sales receipts can be forged with a good eye, the right paper, and a color laser printer.

I sort of wish bicycle/frame makers would use a standard serial numbering system where each maker would have thier own ID, then model, date, and serials under that, similar to how VIN numbers work. Then, have some type of established database (like the NBR but covering everyone) flag bikes as stolen, so resellers can cross-examine if something purchased is legit or not.

I hope you told him the price was firm before you met. Or that there was some understanding that there wouldn't be haggling...

Yes, it said 400 in the add, and on the phone when he called I said 400 no less.

Thanks to all the stolen bikes on Caraigslist, the market doesn't recognize any value in used bikes that were low to midrange when new. I'd rather give my old bike to a friend who will use it rather than try to get $100.00 for it and have to listen to all the snivelers who want it for $50.00. Hey, why don't I just offer to pay a sniveler $50.00 to take it away? bk

So you're the ones trying to sell 1970s, suicide lever, steel wheels - stem shiftereed, rusty ass bikes for $100?

*lol*

Thanks for doing us a favour and not posting it on CL.