I noticed that some E-Bay sellers seem to get above average prices for their bikes. What those sellers have in common is:

- their feedback shows that they have recently sold a lot of bikes and bike stuff to happy customers

- they post lots of detailed, sharp closeup photos of their bikes

- their ads are very detailed, down to the brand and age of the bar tape and the inner tubes

- they have a flat rate for boxing and shipping, or a "cap" on the cost, such as "$50 to the lower 48 states".

I was wondering HOW one seller could afford to box and ship a bike from Florida to Texas for that price. He was using DHL, which had a "bulk" contract with his employer. There was a DHL sticker that showed the "actual" price of shipping from his employer in Florida to a bike shop in Houston (which was a regular DHL delivery stop) was under $30. If he had shipped that bike from his own home directly to my home, the cost probably would have been triple.

I have seen nice bikes on E-Bay being sold by a guy who has never sold a bike before. Two blurry photos. The details of the bike, including size, are vague. The cost of boxing and shipping is "whatever my bike shop charges", or is listed as $100 or $150. Guess how many serious bids that bike gets?

It also helps when a bike is somewhat of a "cult" item. The Schwinn Paramounts from around 1958 to 1978 are very attractive to collectors, especially if they are in excellent condition, with all of the original components.

The Schwinn Paramounts from after 1980 have never had that same attraction to collectors, and after Schwinn started using the Paramount name on bikes made in Asia...well, a very nice Panasonic is not gonna sell for a ton of money, even with a "Paramount" sticker on it.