Tandem Cycling - What is the used tandem market like?

Ok so a few years back (3 or 4 maybe) I bought a Co-Motion Periscope Scout thinking it would be great to ride with my son. Well we just don't ride it...probably has 150 miles on it and it just hangs in the garage. So now I'm thinking of selling it and have listed it on Craigslist hoping for a local sale...my guess is it will be hard to come by.

So what is the market for used tandems? In looking at the current version of the bike I have the price is actually quite a bit more than it was when I purchased with very few upgrades. I paid around $2700 I think...the new bike is $3195 now. Is $1700 reasonable to ask? How hard is it to ship a tandem? Where do I come up with a box if I have to? None of the local LBS deal in tandems so none will have a box to scrounge.

Any help would be great.

Offhand, $1700 sounds very reasonable to me, though I really don't have an idea what your bike is worth. When I look for a deal on CL, I am looking for a bargain and if it is close the new price, I won't even bother responding. I realize the owner feels it is worth that much, but if it is close to new, then I'll just buy a new one and have a warranty and some recourse if there are problems. I need enough of a good deal to make it worth the risk of buying used.

I'd say an offer of 3/4 of what you paid would get interest and then be prepared to negotiate down to 2/3 of your purchase price. Your $1700 comes to just under the 2/3 of what you paid.

I could be way off base however.

I can't speak to your markets interest in tandems. However I did just this last weekend sell my T100 through Craig's List.

The one thing I would advise: be patient. Your target audience is pretty small. Even in a market of 4 million + people it took almost two months for mine to sell.

I just let it sit on CL because shipping a tandem seems almost price prohibitive, so I didn't want to use Ebay (or pay their exorbitant fees!).

oh now this is gonna be funny!


Ummm..... Steve? Is that you?

oh now this is gonna be funny!


Ummm..... Steve? Is that you?

Me? No...but you don't mean Stephen Fast do you? If so I know him. :)

Me? No...but you don't mean Stephen Fast do you? If so I know him. :)

Nah, Steve would be Yo Spiff.

I sold my T100 to him on Friday. Independent of that fact, we posted on the same thread almost simultaneously (he hit submit while I was still typing).

Ummm..... Steve? Is that you?
Yep. I've never run across anyone else with that particular screen name. I was about to say you need to remove the T100 from your profile, then I remembered your new one is also a T100. Actually not surprised to find you on BF.

My wife is very excited about the Tandem. Her first husband rode a bike, but she never felt welcome, so in addition to some physical issues, she has had a mental thing to get over in order to realize I want her to join me. This made it clear to her that I'm not him.

I see you refrained from answering my "Is this a good deal?" post. Hehe.

You might try the classified section on tandemag.com:

http://www.tandemmag.com/classified/

Or maybe eBay.

Look around at the other large metropolitan areas across the US on CL, and you'll get a good idea of what something should go for.....

I've been shopping for a second tandem. I have an AWESOME wife....she wants our Phat Limo cruiser to take our 9 year old....I'm getting a bit sportier/lighter ride to take the 8 year old....then both bikes possibly going on some longer organized rides.

I have used one of the iOS CL apps to search, and it lets me search by physical distance automatically across multiple regions (not something easily done on the CL website).

You'll see pricing all over the board. There's some where the bikes are 10-20 years old....and owners asking close to retail (um....NO). And when you graciously and kindly put together an offer email/phone call.....to offer what the bike is technically worth....they say it's sold (and then forget to remove their listing :rolleyes: ).

And then you'll see some fair pricing....and the deals....be ready to act quickly on either one of those.

The Phat Limo I got earlier this year at 7 years old, in good condition for 20% of retail. ~5 hours of TLC, and it's very nice piece of equipment.

The other one....I'm picking up tomorrow....is next to new at 18 months old....and a deal at about 50% of retail. The owner's had it on CL for 2+ months....will post some pics after I pick it up!

FWIW. HTH.

Ok so a few years back (3 or 4 maybe) I bought a Co-Motion Periscope Scout thinking it would be great to ride with my son. Well we just don't ride it...probably has 150 miles on it and it just hangs in the garage. So now I'm thinking of selling it and have listed it on Craigslist hoping for a local sale...my guess is it will be hard to come by.
So what is the market for used tandems? In looking at the current version of the bike I have the price is actually quite a bit more than it was when I purchased with very few upgrades. I paid around $2700 I think...the new bike is $3195 now. Is $1700 reasonable to ask? How hard is it to ship a tandem? Where do I come up with a box if I have to? None of the local LBS deal in tandems so none will have a box to scrounge.
Any help would be great.

I'm afraid that it's entirely market specific. Here in Portland, there are always a number of tandems coming and going from CL. In Boise, almost none. I think $1700.00 is entirely reasonable. Two bike boxes, securely taped should work fine as a tandem box.

I'm in Philly and saw your Co-Motion on CL the other day. My first thought was "wow, that's cheap!" For a bike with very few miles, in excellent condition, I'd ask a bit more for it than that (say, $2,000) IF you are willing to work with a remote buyer. I've bought and sold several tandems over the years, and with one exception all have required shipping. It's not quite as hard as you would think. See other threads here on BF about shipping a tandem, including on AMTRAK (what I usually use) and Greyhound, for example.

I will backpedal a bit, though, about your Periscope now that I think about it. People may be less inclined to pay higher $$ for it since it might be viewed as a short-term investment only for when they have kids. If it was an almost-new "standard" tandem that retailed for $3200, I'd probably say $2100 would be fair. For the Scout, $1900-1800 might be more palatable for someone considering it to just ride with their kids for a set amount of time.

E-mail me offline if you want more help with shipping ideas. You can ship via AMTRAK in Philadelphia and probably in Harrisburg, assuming they have a staffed baggage area.

I'm in Philly and saw your Co-Motion on CL the other day. My first thought was "wow, that's cheap!" For a bike with very few miles, in excellent condition, I'd ask a bit more for it than that (say, $2,000) IF you are willing to work with a remote buyer. I've bought and sold several tandems over the years, and with one exception all have required shipping. It's not quite as hard as you would think. See other threads here on BF about shipping a tandem, including on AMTRAK (what I usually use) and Greyhound, for example.

I will backpedal a bit, though, about your Periscope now that I think about it. People may be less inclined to pay higher $$ for it since it might be viewed as a short-term investment only for when they have kids. If it was an almost-new "standard" tandem that retailed for $3200, I'd probably say $2100 would be fair. For the Scout, $1900-1800 might be more palatable for someone considering it to just ride with their kids for a set amount of time.

E-mail me offline if you want more help with shipping ideas. You can ship via AMTRAK in Philadelphia and probably in Harrisburg, assuming they have a staffed baggage area.

Thanks for your thoughts. I priced it at $1700 basically for the reasons you have stated...and of course shipping would be more if someone wanted me to do that. Train freight isn't really an option for me as I am in the middle of PA so Harrisburg is 1.5 hours each way and I would rather just go the UPS route. And of course being in the middle of PA I know my market is like zero which just makes this whole deal harder. I'm not going to give it away though...If I can't sell it for a reasonable price I will just hang onto it...my 3 year old will be big enough eventually. LOL

Honestly I wish I had bought the large and or a 700c with drop bars. I don't like the position at all on this bike...wish I had taken more time when purchasing and traveled to test ride a bike or two.

Suggest $2,000 range to leave room for a bit of bargaining down to 17/1800 bucks.
Splice 2 regular bike boxes together. Have buyer pay for the shipping.
Good luck!

We have a tandem listed currently for sale. This morning I noticed it just hit the two month mark. Not sure where it will wind up, but currently the UK, Austrailia, and somewhere not yet known are interested. I've had several tire kickers from the US, but no commitments.

Your bike will sell. Just takes time.

PK

From what I've seen around here, the newer and the more expensive ($2000 and up) the longer it takes to sell even when well priced. Your is in mint condition and sounds reasonably priced but in that price range it seems that many new tandem buyers might be stretching a bit to buy.
At the same time, well priced ($1000+/-) older C'dales and Santana seller pretty fast. One of our first gen C'dales sold in a few days and the buyer drove 500 miles to get it in the middle of winter.
This should soon be a good time of year to sell.....you have a good product and it is fairly priced so be patient you should not have to give it away.
Good Luck.

We are on our 5th tandem since 1975.
All of our 'used' tandems sold . . . eventually.
Four of the 5 tandems were custom built; very small/short stoker compartment (she's under 5') so a couple took up to a year to sell.
One was 'pre-sold' . . . a couple had seen our tandem at a rally and said 'call us when you're ready sell' . . . called them, they bought it.
All were well maintained but were high mileage (between 56,000 and 64,000 miles).
New owners all were pleased with the fit/price.
Having to fit 2 people properly makes it a bit harder to sell than a single bike.
Patience . . . and good luck!
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

i am very interested in your tandem and tried to email you a couple times from your CL post.
please let me know if it is still available.
Thanks,
Jeff

i am very interested in your tandem and tried to email you a couple times from your CL post.
please let me know if it is still available.
Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I think I've replied to your emails...sorry if it was another Jeff. Are you in San Fran? I have to be honest with you I just got an email from a second local interested party...I'm guessing it will be sold but I will let you know if not.

John

Edit: and sorry tandem forum members...was not my intention to sell it through this post...just trying to gain some info (thus I never post photos here or a link). Honestly with two local parties interested in buying I'm guessing I should have posted it for more and I did raise the price on CL to $1950 but am honoring my original price to those that have responded thus far.

John,
Im new to the forum and sorry if I should not have replied here. I tried to PM you but the forum wouldn't let as I haven't had 50 posts. ??? And wasn't sure how the CL replies worked. I live in NC and have family that tandem just north of you in NY that would pay and pick up tandem for me. My email is fit4advent@gmail.com if you would like to email me directly. Please let me know the status as my search continues. Thanks you, Jeff

John,
Im new to the forum and sorry if I should not have replied here. I tried to PM you but the forum wouldn't let as I haven't had 50 posts. ??? And wasn't sure how the CL replies worked. I live in NC and have family that tandem just north of you in NY that would pay and pick up tandem for me. My email is email deleted if you would like to email me directly. Please let me know the status as my search continues. Thanks you, Jeff

Email sent.

Thanks for the input everyone. Clearly I had it priced too low as I sold my Co-Motion locally this morning. After all of your input and the line of buyers, I knew I would get my full asking price and I did.

Sort of sad to see it go but it just wasn't getting used.

Recently sold our 2006 CoMo Primera locally for the asking price Advertised in local paper and on CL locally, but sold thru Panthers' (FL Tandem Club) forum. Took about 4 weeks.

Recently sold our 2006 CoMo Primera locally for the asking price Advertised in local paper and on CL locally, but sold thru Panthers' (FL Tandem Club) forum. Took about 4 weeks.
Can I ask what the price was? I am thinking about buying that exact model locally, wondering what FMV is.
thanks!

Yep. I've never run across anyone else with that particular screen name. I was about to say you need to remove the T100 from your profile, then I remembered your new one is also a T100. Actually not surprised to find you on BF.

My wife is very excited about the Tandem. Her first husband rode a bike, but she never felt welcome, so in addition to some physical issues, she has had a mental thing to get over in order to realize I want her to join me. This made it clear to her that I'm not him.

I see you refrained from answering my "Is this a good deal?" post. Hehe.

And here is Yo Spiff with his wife on the tandem, during a group ride (pub crawl) tonight

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/SteveTandem/IMG_1688.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/SteveTandem/IMG_1687.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/SteveTandem/IMG_1727.jpg

Here they are at one of the stops.... Yo Spiff on the left, his wife in the blue, his daughter (who rode her own bike) in yellow, and bonus BF member Scottstr in the print shirt on the right.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/SteveTandem/IMG_1694.jpg

Also there were BF member pallen and his wife

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/SteveTandem/IMG_1693.jpg