Originally Posted by zukahn1

For a newer seller packing and shipping of a whole bike is a big deal. I'm a ebay vetrane on bike stuff and I wouldn't want to ship a whole under there current policies. Yet local makes no sense why not list on CL for free with no fees.

Originally Posted by eastbay71

My main complaint about the whole thing is there is no way to filter out the local pick up only ads on eBay. Its one thing if you want to be stupid about your ad but why am I forced to see it? I think people do it because they do not know what it would take to ship it and it seems daunting. I can usually grab a box from the LBS and use shipbikes.com to send it out for about $65.00. I recently had a seller contact me and tell me they wouldn't ship a bike I won on eBay because it would be too expensive. :facepalm:

Originally Posted by jjames1452

I use a different tactic. I look for those local pick up only auctions on eBay on a bike/frame I really want, and bid the lowest possible amount. The market is limited, so often times you win with a minimum bid.
I schedule the exchange when I know I can drive to the location on business or pleasure. I set that up before I bid.
I have driven recently to Chicago and Toledo to pick up bikes/frames. I am planning another purchase on a 3 speed bike in Delaware Ohio for less than $70. Chicago was business, Toledo was pleasure (seriously - I like the area), and Delaware will be visit my granddaughter.....
Two for one, save money on the purchase, and have fun picking it up....
My wife and I are planning a November trip to Savannah, Charleston and maybe Jacksonville. She is slowly coming over to the dark side of N+1, so who knows, the bike rack may be on the back of the car!!!

Originally Posted by jjames1452

Patience and a good eye are the keys. If the deal is lacking in any area, money, condition, size, not exactly the bike you want, etc. - wait a while and see what happens.
The times I have been impatient - I have generally regretted.
BTW there is a beautiful 620 on the C&V sale forum. It is not inexpensive, as classic touring bikes generally hold their value.
I have a 520 and would love to move up to a 620 or 720.

Originally Posted by wrk101

Have you ever packed and shipped a bike? Its a major PITA, particularly the first few times. Buyers on ebay will not adequately cover the time spent packing. Do a sloppy job packing, and there is a good chance the bike will get damaged, which on ebay, means a lot more hassle.

The problem is that local pickup only often KILLS the auction action. Sellers who don't want to pack and ship, at a reasonable cost, are better off selling locally via C/L. I picked up a nice Univega off ebay, local pickup only, in Atlanta, got it for $15.

And if you have never sold on ebay, selling on ebay is a PITA as well. Buyers win any/all disputes. I had a buyer return a pair of shoes recently because "they made his feet look fat". Another returned a pair of shoes because they "did not match her blue dress". Another returned a distressed purse because it was "distressed". I had one that claimed my item was "not as described?" I asked what was not correct. I never got an answer, but ebay had already refunded full price.

For the occasional seller, I think ebay is more trouble than it is worth. Sell every day, or at least every week, and the occasional problem is no big deal. Whenever a deal I do goes south on ebay, I just remember the number of deals that went smoothly (99% of them).

So why do I bother with ebay? For us, ebay is the only viable outlet for most of our items.

Originally Posted by arfer1

As I said, I have no experience selling or shipping anything on Ebay, and so I appreciate your input. On the other hand, I recently bought a bike through Ebay. The seller charged $100.00 to ship the bike, and it appears he simply took the bike to a LBS and had them disassemble and pack it. Since sellers can engage others to pack and ship a bike and then recoup the the cost from the buyer, it doesn't seem like the process should be such a pain.

Originally Posted by exxongraftek

As an eBay seller with over ten years under my belt, a couple words of advice.
1. If you see a listing for "Local Pickup Only" message the seller and ask if they'd consider shipping if you pay the fees, or doing the above-mentioned dance with the LBS for packing and shipping. You might get what you want that way.
2. USPS totally screwed me ($90 up-charge!) on a recent frame shipment - go with FedEx as they charge less than half what USPS does. The eBay shipping calculator is totally out-of-whack when shipping a bike frame USPS.

Many of us veteran sellers are really "on our last nerve" when it comes to how we are treated by eBay and have started developing our own defenses to protect ourselves since "seller protection" from eBay is a real joke.
The next time some smelly orifice demands a partial refund due to "item not as described" when the words are accurate and pictures show EVERYTHING, I am quitting eBay FOREVER.
I would not even be selling most of my collection if it were not for the "trickle-down" economy that never quite trickles down to me. Even if Craigslist is full of flakes, it's far easier for sellers to deal with. Trust me on this.

Originally Posted by wrk101

Local shop in my town charges $65 for packing, plus postage. That puts me close to the $150 mark, which is fine for a higher end bike, not so good for the mid grade or lower.

On top of that $150 cost, ebay slaps sellers with 10% fee on the entire purchase, including shipping charges, and paypal charges another 3%, so that is another $20 on top of that amount.

Thanks for the additional information. I didn't know how much how much sellers have to pay Ebay and Paypal to process a purchase. It helps me understand why there appear to be far fewer auctions and more set prices. I wanted to know more about the pitfalls sellers face so that I can better understand their situation when negotiating a price, and your post help

And in my case, to maintain my seller status with ebay, I have ONE day to pack and ship any item. And you have to load all tracking information into ebay system, etc.

Its quite an additional cost on a mid grade or lower vintage bicycle.

Originally Posted by spdntrxi

I've sold 2 bike the past month.. both cost me ~100 to ship via Fedex.. I just get a box from my LBS and buy bubble wrap. I listed both bikes local pickup at first and on CL and no bites...eventually opened it up to the rest of CONUS and sold them easily. Sometimes ppl on CL are extremely flaky too.. tire kickers and all. I do agree ebay seller protection is a POS.. Always scared until I get that positive feedback even though I'm totally honest about everything I put in my auction description.. wish others where the same sometimes.

Originally Posted by CroMo Mike

I've never sold a bike on ebay but have bought four bikes there. Three of them appeared to have been simply shoved into the box after removing the wheels, then the wheels shoved in beside them. I know one of those packing jobs was done by a bike shop. Fortunately, no damage, but it was just dumb luck. The fourth bike was carefully disassembled by the seller, bubble wrapped, shrink wrapped, loose parts bagged and taped to the frame, etc., etc. Incredible care was evident. Also no damage.

The boxes that you can get from the dumpster at bike shops, left over from new bikes, aren't really large enough for a layman to properly pack a bike for shipping. The manufacturers somehow engineer getting a whole bike in there without damage, but the average person can't duplicate their packing scheme. One of life's great mysteries.