Classic & Vintage - eBay from now til mid Jan

What's eBays performance like at this time of year? I'd imagine the prices drop through the floor, and that I should hold on to my shiny things til mid Jan, but am I right?

I was just thinking yesterday that there must be some biz-school research out there on this topic as well as other sorts of eBay selling trends: what time is the best to list, what is the best starting price. We get lots of anecdotal experience, but something a bit more comprehensive would be helpful. I'll see what I can dig up.

Neal

Using the most basic analysis, when Supply and Demand both rise, the price should stay about the same.
I think we'd all agree that many more people buy things on ebay for xmas gifts than other times of year.
The question is: Do more sellers come to market to meet that demand? Prices definitely would drop if the number of sellers and items for sale remained the same, but the buyers increased.

Just all theory here- I havent really looked into any ebay stats

Supply is certainly lower this time of year. But I have to wonder if demand is higher or lower.

For parts, I'd say now isn't a bad time to sell. But for frames or whole bikes, I'd wait till spring.

I don't know but I just a 62 cm 70's Gran Criterium Masi that I lusted after go of for 3300 & change

I don't know but I just a 62 cm 70's Gran Criterium Masi that I lusted after go of for 3300 & change

That's my size!

in regard to the OP... I have been watching some stuff lately but not much. I just watched a pair of NOS eddy merckx adidas go for $112.50 in my size below banana brain's store price... I had to restrain myself from buying as I bought a more 70s style full leather shoe which looks alot like a vittoria shoe without the label for $80, NIB, I though I did pretty good and I have been watching a few items close fairly low. For example... a bayliss track bike selling at a mear $2400 (roughly) just a frame but still lower than I would have expexted. I am no expert but I think people are travelling this time of year and very busy. I believe bike parts is a niche and spouses aren't buying campagnolo derailleurs for their husbands who they feel probably spend to much time with bikes as it is... For me, leaving for two weeks means that I am not bidding on stuff because I won't be around when it arrives. I say wait till mid Jan. I can't wait for the new year, by late march the local bicycle market should pick up and stay up right through till july.

I worked at an Isoldit store for awhile, we used andale.com research tools to determine what time of day, day of week, was better for selling. I don't know if they have a seasonal research tool. I do however buy the kids snowboard boots and ice skates in the summer, guessing what size she'll be by then, and never list anything on a saturday night. I generally pay the extra dime to choose a starting time for my auctions. Anyway, I think andale's research tool is a free trial thing, we paid them a ton to do our accounting, possibly one reason we lost $10,000 a month per store!

sorry to hijack a thread, but I am bidding a bike that is being sold by Isoldit. Should I worry about dealing with them?

jim

I know someone who ebays a lot, and they say that their sales go down a bunch during the holidays.

sorry to hijack a thread, but I am bidding a bike that is being sold by Isoldit. Should I worry about dealing with them?

jim
Some of the "isoldit"s are really really really bad.
They are not experts in anything, they just list and poorly ship.

I used to sell video games, mostly classic type stuff, online. I always did well before Christmas, but I would stop listing stuff the week before and wait till mid Jan to start listing stuff again.

sorry to hijack a thread, but I am bidding a bike that is being sold by Isoldit. Should I worry about dealing with them?

jim

Well I was the chief bicycle shipper at our store, and actually taught the guys at the other 3 stores how to break down and pack a bike as they had no idea. Other stores I would be worried, the people working there arn't necessarily bikers and don't receive any training. The company told the guys that opened our stores that they would make their rent with shipping "profit". Although as the people running the stores we always tried to point out that the items would just sell for less if you over priced shipping, therefore the sellers got poor returns. Basically if the shipping quote isn't too high, I would email asking how they plan to pack the bike for shipment and see if they seem to know what they are doing. Also, at least at our stores we were very concerned about bad feedback, so we tried to resolve problems when we did have them.

I paid an outrageous shipping fee to one of those stores (not an Isoldit_

All of a sudden I have to buy lots of presents for other people, rather than myself and my bikes. So that's where my extra cash goes around Christmas.

I buy very little bike stuff for myself during the holidays, and stay away from Ebay. If my experience is common, then it would make sense that demand for vintage bike stuff goes down during the holidays, and prices would drop accordingly as there are fewer people bidding. Also, buying vintage bikes and bike parts is a very personal thing and hard to do for others - there are few of us out there who would have occasion to "gift" someone that Ebayed special vintage chainring, or NOS vintage hubs, for example. However, it would seem that those who remain bidding are those who have lots of disposable income and don't worry about cost (and are therefore able and willing to up and up the bids), so, I could be totally off base here.

Yeah, that backs up my thinking. Last night, I had a set of Shimano dual pivot brakes, which were nutted, not sell. I was sure they'd do well, for people building up vintage frames and wanting modern performance, Kinda convinced me that this isn't the right time to get the best price for my nice, shiny Gran Sport derailleur!