flammenwurfer

https://topeka.craigslist.org/bik/1902965894.html

I kind of guessed on the price, based on what I've sold other bikes for recently and how nice the bike is. I rarely see Takaras on here or anywhere else though, so I'm not sure what it's really worth. It has nice Suntour components, alloy wheels, cranks etc... A pretty nice mid-range bike I'd say.

I listed it last night pretty late and don't have an inquiries yet. Usually when I list a bike I get a number of emails and calls within a few hours.

brian3069

Be patient, if it doesn't sell in a couple weeks lower the price. Better to start too high then too low.

wrk101

1. Most Takara's I have seen are pretty junky. This is about the nicest one I have seen.

2. Do the minor touchup yourself. Will only take you 15 minutes. Then you can drop the entire commentary about the bike needing to be touched up. Buyers want bikes ready to go, this one is very close. Spend a few minutes and it is there. Right now, the second, third and fourth sentences in your ad focus on defects. I would touch it up and then the ad becomes much more positive!

3. Remove the dork disk.

After the touchup, I think your price is fine.

I really like contrasting color bar tape. With the touch of red in the headbadge, red bar tape would have really popped on that bike.

flammenwurfer

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will go get one of those paint pens and just do it. Good idea.

I would need to remove the freewheel to take it off right? I don't have a freewheel tool.

wrk101

No freewheel tool? Then I would keep the dork disk. I don't think it will have much impact on the value.

robtown

That's a great looking clean frame; I even like the dork disk. The bar end shifters are a plus.

In my area that would sell immediately for $200, with people begging you to save it until they got to your place. $250 - $300 would be possible with patience.

flammenwurfer

Thanks. It looks even better now that I've touched up the paint.

My market is weird. I haven't tried selling a bike for this much on CL yet. I've sold bikes for between $75-100 and almost all have gone to the first responder within half a day. This one has yet to get a single response. It is almost back to school time at the local college now, so hopefully I'll get some interest soon.

wrk101

$75 to $100 market is totally different than the $175 to $225 market (at least around here). Decent but low priced bikes sell fast, really fast. You have a lot fewer buyers at higher price levels. I don't think you will have a problem selling it, but you do have to be patient if you want full market. I think your price is fine.

Now that the bike is touched up, I think the ad will be a lot more positive, and you should get some responses.

flammenwurfer

I guess that makes sense. I've just never sold a bike in this price range so I don't know what to expect.

Thumpic

well done ad BTW...nice pics...concise and to the point description.....patience is your friend.....

flammenwurfer

Thank you! That's what I go for. I find that really good pictures are probably the biggest factor in most of my CL ads.

LesterOfPuppets

Don't touch the dork disc! That specimen is beautiful, if you ask me. Move to Portland, OR immediately and add at least $100 to asking price.

robtown

location location location

Offer for anyone with a low cost source of bikes --- Do the initial prep on the bikes and bring a truckload to my place. I'll complete the work and sell them in my market and we'll split the profits.

+1000 - good pictures bring good prices, cut out some questions, and sell bikes

In my market <= $150 is very fast, $200 - $300 about a week, $300+ slow, even when it's a great deal, Modern builds (why do I do them?) can take 3 times as long to put together and take 3 - 4 weeks - yet only bring the same profit as a regular $200 80's refurbish.

flammenwurfer

Thanks again everybody for the tips and encouragement! I sold the bike on Sunday for full asking price! I only had $50 or so into the bike, so I made $125 profit! I'm pretty happy with that .

Not to mention that kid that bought really seems to appreciate it and wanted to know if I would be willing to help if in the future he wanted to do his own repairs and maintenance. Of course I would!

robtown

Great! $100 profit per bike is my gold standard. I don't always get that and sometimes the $100 is hard to earn (time, effort, and out-of pocket expenses). The attitude reflected on many buyers faces (sometimes sheer joy) are an intangible but welcome addition to any transaction.

Sundance89

Congrats on the sale! But I'm late on this thread and after reading about it would love to see a picture of the bike. Can you post a pic here since your Craigslist ad is pulled? Thanks!

flammenwurfer