Originally Posted by
cycle_maven
Thinking of starting an export/import business, Dave? I have ogled your bikes and find them to my taste. I think a venture like that would do well in a larger city with a college, especially for older bikes with a little patina and a lot of panache.
A friend of mine and I were going to start importing Raleigh 20's from their homeland where they're cheap and plentiful. We even looked into the price of renting a container from Liverpool to Houston- a half-container was only $800, and would conservatively hold 100 bikes (200 folding bikes). If you only expect about $100 profit on each, that's $10K. Conservatively. A little polishing and mechaniking and the profit could double. It would be a nice little supplement to an income. The problem is finding enough bikes to fill the container.
BTW- I'd pay $400 for that bike. If it were my wife's size and my garage weren't full of bikes already. But I'm a cheapskate- just a data point.
The idea has been toying around in my head.
I've sold my first bike internationaly and the sale went very well.
The buyer loved the bike and from france to the USA it took 7 days for delivery.
It was a bit of a pain to package the bike though as it was slightly over the weight limit and so i had to add some parts to a separate box, which added another 40 euros.
But overall it was a good experience and so i'm interested in selling others but i need to find a way of advertising bikes without Ebay fees etc.