Thanks for sharing. It's interesting to hear about your experiences and get a realistic P&L. I, too, would be interested to know approximately how much time was invested. For me that's been the rub. I don't flip that many bikes, perhaps a half dozen a year. I usually look for bikes on the lower end of the spectrum (under $200) which I know I can fix up and make some profit. But these invariably are in poor condition and need a lot of work. I'm probably more meticulous and obsessive than I need to be, but I like the satisfaction of bringing a run-down bike back to life and finding a new home for it. That said, I grow weary of rust removal and polishing alloy parts, even on my keeper fleet, and my hands and arms ache the following day(s). I also tend to price my for sale bikes lower than I need to since I'd rather get a lot of interest and sell quickly than weed through the CL riff-raff who want to lowball, flag, flake, etc. (I've only ever had two people come out for a test ride and not buy the bike, and both times it was because of fit.) I may revisit my strategies and look toward the $500 bike I can sell for $750, but those are usually more modern bikes IME, and that's not were my experience lies.

Also, if you don't mind, how did you acquired most of the bikes you sold--i.e., via CL, garage sales, friends/neighbors, etc.?