Originally Posted by
fiataccompli
so, does it work out to be profitable flipping bikes? I've flipped all sorts of things & generally do it for fun, or as a result/means of upgrading, etc., but I wondered whether the folks with the sorta expensive (to me...for something I've seen at yard sales for $15) older URBs ("universal road bikes") are actually making
Well, I more or less sell the bikes for more then my costs. Sometimes a lot more.
I've only been wrenching for a couple of years so I am not that efficient, so
from a time point of view it isn't profitable. By doing the flipping I hope to
attain the skills needed to turn a bike around quickly. Sort of what you
might expect from an experienced HS kid working in a bike shop. So
that is where I get the profit. Most bikes I sell I get for free, although
they are almost never rideable when I get them.
I sort of didn't get my question answered. I guess mainly because it is
hard to read the mind of the average CL responder (if such a thing even
exists). There are 200 bikes a day listed on Boston's CL. You would think
with that sort of volume there wouldn't be the need or temptation to wave
cash in front of the seller's nose to get the bike being offered. The prices
I ask are above the cost of filling an SUV tank twice - sort of in the middle
of the range of bikes being offered for sale.