Originally Posted by
FORDSVTPARTS
I'm a little surprised at some of the responses in this thread, I do understand some frustration with overpriced bikes due to the habits of some flippers but not all flippers contribute to the problem.
Here's a typical bike that I did, I won't go into what I paid for it but here's one as found.
And here it is when I finished it, all freshly cleaned and greased, new cables and housings, trued wheels, new tires, tubes and bar wrap.
After all that I sold it for $150.00, did I make a profit? Yes.
Did I make a killing? Heck no but like I said in my first post in this thread, I build them for fun and to pass them along to people that will enjoy them and in speaking to most of the people I sell bikes to it's obvious that most could not perform the work needed on a bike like this and taking it to a bike shop for the same repairs would cost a LOT more than what I sold the bike for.
So am I driving up the market or providing a service?
been looking for one of these in a larger size, once saw a Centurion with a Kammback top tube but couldn't get it shipped, also too small... that said...
I'm not saying everyone is contributing to the problem, and I think most of us here are of the same mind based on our testimonies. BUT when ONE GUY has 20 bikes listed on cl at headcrack price, the individual sellers start to get the idea that their bikes are worth more also, and the ARTIFICIAL upward spiral begins. When an individual seller is competing with a pro and he only has that as a reference to base his pricing on, things can skyrocket quickly, especially in a market where people buy bikes because it's the "cool" thing to do, and then they languish in their living room or *yikes* on their apartment balconies