This is weird.
Somehow -- I'll never remember how -- I bid on a couple of complete bikes on ebay. They're in the Hartford, CT area, which is a 2.5 hour drive from me. I didn't expect to win, and I did. At the price I got, it was worth traveling, so I made my plans to pick them up.
I got a cute idea to make it even more worth my while. I checked the Hartford craigslist. I lined up some deals.
I picked up one bike in northern NJ on the way in the morning.
I picked up six bikes in CT, for a total of SEVEN bikes. I managed to get them all in my VW Passat station wagon by taking the pedals off and rotating the handlebars. I got the last one in by taking both wheels off and putting it on the front passenger seat.
It was a lot of driving, and it took ALL DAY, but it was worth it. I'll be able to sell all these bikes.
I'm thinking this could be the beginning of something good. It's weird being a traveling junk salesman. But here's the idea: read craigslist (and maybe ebay) for good deals, especially in areas where values are low. Bunch them up and buy as many as will fit in my car. (Get my car rack working again, too, to increase my carrying capacity. I once had a boss who carried something like 30 bikes in his Volvo sedan.)
Also, I can list bikes in the New York City craigslist, where values are quite high. I live on a commuter train ride, and it's easy to put a bike on the train and sell it in Manhattan. I've done it once so far. I could even LIST the bikes as BEING in Manhattan, to get more hits.
Does anyone know if listing in Brooklyn, where there are a lot of hipster cyclists, would be worth my while, too? It's a longer trip for me.
Gotta push some numbers to see if this is a good use of my time. Perhaps it is, up to a maximum.
My primary way of making a living is as an independent computer consultant. I don't yet have enough clients at that, so until I do, I figure my labor isn't worth much. Making money at anything is better than not making money.
I also have a tertiary way of making money, as a paid church choir member. So I call myself an honorary Jamaican.
