FrenchFit 

I put a bike and some parts stuff up on CL, (SF Bay Area), plus a variety of other things in anticipation of a move late summer. Plenty of action on everything but the bike stuff, not even the typical "Will it fit me?" question. Heck, on some other stuff I had the CL equivalent of bidding wars.

What sup? Is Craigslist done for bicycle related sales? Has the market cratered?

RaleighSport

Interesting.. seems like business as usual in the northbay area of the SF CL, you selling some specialty stuff or what?

roadandmountain

I thought SF was supposed to be one of the busiest used bicycles market in the US. Plenty of college kids looking for fixies and commuters, and plenty of dot com geeks with a few extra bills to spend?

treadtread

Craigslist in the SF Bay area is not a place to look for reasonable used bikes. I monitored it for a while (planning to get a bike for the S.O.) but nothing reasonable. Even saw some examples where someone was selling the bike for more than the purchase price because of "upgrades". Maybe your area's craigslist is flooded with unreasonable ads, so people have stopped looking. FWIW - I only browse ads for my city and the neighbouring cities.

Robert C

Living in No-Cal and So-Oregon is what turned me off form Craigslist for bicycles. I am sure that the great deals show up now and again; but I don't recall ever seeing any. As I have said before, CL and used bikes can be your hobby, and if it is thats great; but, CL is not a good source for someone who just needs a decent deal on a bike to ride.

SkyDog75

Is it possible your asking price is more than the Craigslist audience is willing to pay for the items you're selling?

roadandmountain

This is the most likely explanation.

CL bikes are typically listed at a price 40 - 50% higher than I would ever pay on the bikes I have even the slightest degree of interest in.

FrenchFit 

It could be I'm selling at eBay "cycling enthusiast" prices to a non-enthusiast crowd on CL. Seems I remember an interest for more higher priced stuff on CL, but perhaps I remember wrong or those buyers aren't there anymore.

jgilbo17

last week I just bought a 2011 trek 3500 for 85 bucks and its all original and mint

el_diabl0

Has to be price...It's been my experience that I could list an item with a market value of $100 for $5, and no one will respond, but if I list it in the FREE section of CL, people come out of the woodwork for it. I have purchased my last 4 bikes via CL and haven't had a problem here in OH.

VegasTriker

Maybe people have become jaded after making a few attempts at finding a used bike on CL and stop looking. It is often the response of people asking for suggestions in this section. They look and see nothing of interest within a reasonable price range over several weeks. There are also way too many con artists listing bikes on CL. Some lie about the original cost of the bike and say they paid hundreds over what is listed on bikepedia as the MSRP. I recently came across CL listing for a Ti frame bike with a brand I am very familiar with. I doubted very much the company ever made a Ti frame at all much less in the year the bike was made. Bikepedia confirmed that. It was aluminum. Even after I informed the seller and received a thanks from him, he continued to list the bike as having a Ti frame. Obviously a crook at heart.

Corben

So true. My hobby is just reading Craigslist bike ads just for a good laugh. Maybe one in ten is fair. One in fifty a steal.

RaleighSport

Summer season is always the worst it seems, it would seem to be caused by it being the season of riding.. at least in my mind.