This is a peculiar conundrum. I think that a large percentage of the people out there acquiring vintage bikes are building them up piece by piece rather than buying complete bikes. I have thought of a few reasons for this:
1. They are on a budget and buy the parts as they can afford them.
2. They are hoping to score a deals on the parts if they are patient.
3. They enjoy the process of building up the bike and thus gaining some deeper sense of ownership of the bike.

I know that all three of the above reasons have applied to me at one time or another.

So I'm wondering just how many bikes get torn down into their component parts, sold, and then built back up again from a different set of near-identical parts. How many bikes have gone through this process more than once?

I just returned from the Cow Palace bike swap where I sold over $800 of components, mostly Campy Record and Nuovo Record, but neither of the two vintage bikes I brought. I've also tried to sell them on ebay and on this list. I have been told by list members that my prices are certainly not out of line. Both bikes are unusual builds, a Centurion/Cinelli Equipe and an early Motobecane LeChampion, with the correct original parts. Neither is the standard "All Campy" build. Based on my experience with selling components I could probably sell these two pretty easily if I were to break them down and sell them as parts but it seems a shame to break up these unique bikes.

Maybe I'm just being an old fuddy-duddy: Maybe what buyers really want is to buy the bikes piece by piece.
Brent