3alarmer 

...it's almost a year later, and no, I don't think it's just you.

wrk101

More and more, flipping is all about PARTS, and not complete bikes. If the bike has good components, I can get as much for just the crankset and rear derailleur as I can for a complete bike. And complete bikes in ready to ride condition cost me $50 to $100 in consumables and 4 to 6 hours in time. Dismantling can be done in an hour or less. Add one hour for cleaning parts, writing ads, taking pictures. So in half the time, and zero spending on consumables, I can get 2X to 5X out of parts.

Every market is different.

Picked up a bike yesterday, $30, no wheels, no tires, no tubes, torn seat. So I could spend $150 on consumables and wheels (more if I didn't have a lot of parts), and have a bike I could sell for $125. So lets see, 4 to 6 hours of work, and I could lose $55. And I would waste time with no shows/tire kickers/low ballers.

Or I can part it out. Pedals, derailleurs, crankset, frameset, all have value. I estimate $350 total, less fees of around $75. So in less time, no consumable spending, I can make about $275. Or I can put a lot more time into it, and lose $55. I may have been born at night, but I wasn't born last night.


The market has spoken. I will still refurbish bikes for family and friends. I also know a handful of collectors that appreciate the really rare or high end stuff. The rest go as parts.

curbtender

Went to garage sale a few weeks ago with bikes as the headliner. The guy had a pristine, full suspension, Klein parted out. He wanted $500 for the frame, $300 for the wheels and a box of parts for $50. A guy beat me to the box...full XTR drivetrain. That frame will never be what it was.

jomqkdgzphgphkx

Best bet is to learn to recognise good quality or desirable parts. This way you can part out a worthless wreck, even if it is beyond repair. I do this regularly, it is one of my best consistent sellers. It helps that my day job is as a bike mechanic. If the parts say Shimano deore on them there is a air chance the bike is worth effort. Old Raleigh parts are also worth money in decent nick, but I mean more than 30 year old. even the little wheel nuts.

Trycyclist

I just bought a vintage Nishiki on Craigslist free section. I talked him down to zero.

I never heard of it so I joined this forum because of it to research.

I didn't even consider it being worth anything. I saw one like it on eBay for $700 shipped.

So now I'm considering flipping it. I'm amazed at how well it still rides. My son and I went for a ride earlier through Denver and I smoked his $200 Schwinn Copeland.

bark_eater 

Kind of tangential but, can anyone recommend a sub $200 camera that will work well for taking pictures of stuff I'd like to sell? Thanks

Chuck M 

Walmart sells several sub $200 digital cameras these days it seems. And if you have a smartphone, most of them these days have great cameras giving you the ability to upload to CL, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, etc..

curbtender

Most cameras with higher pixels will work fine. I think background and lighting is more important.

SoCaled 

if you want a sub $200 camera I would go with used - much like bikes a $800-1200 camera that is an older model can sell for $200.
But . . . as a previous poster stated a phone is the way to go. I am still using stand alone digital cameras - an old cannon S95 which was a top of the line prosumer model and the GX9 mark II - almost all of the time people get better shots with their smart phone. I have a better lens and sensor, but they have better processor and algorithm that makes nice pics.

wrk101

I use my iPhone camera and sell a lot of parts and other items on eBay. Agree, lighting and background are more important!


it’s not just the quality of the picture either. It’s so much easier to go directly from phone to C/L or FB marketplace. Speeds up the process!!

SoCaled 

Agreed, I still waste a lot of time loading pics onto computer and then uploading to individual sites - the old ways are not always the smartest ways. That said, and you can still do this easily with a smart phone if you want to, I do enjoy looking at pictures on a full size screen rather than a small smart phone screen.

kitbiggz

Looking for bikes on craigslist is annoying as hell. Always the same ads reposted every day. How are they doing this? is it a relisting program? I figure manually reposting ads would get old quick. Talking about those mega flippers always selling 20 bikes a day flooding the platform.

SurferRosa

Lighting and composition important for photography???

Who woulda thought?!?!

katsup

Manual renewing. Often ads are synced up at the same time so 30 sec going through the list of renew every 48 hours is not difficult.

Jddean

Oh wow really?

bark_eater 

I've got a bunch of very cool but cosmeticaly challenged bikes that I've decided to strip down to bare frames. Some of them started off as very nice bikes, and it seems wrong just to scrap them. The only Co-op around is not realy into rat rods, so even giving them away is a challenge. Powder coating on spec would be ridiculous. I think it might be easier to sell forks on Ebay than full frames. Any thoughts?

wrk101

I've never had ANY luck selling forks on ebay. I have sold forks here on this forum. At the local level, no luck selling frame sets either. Sell here, or ebay. People here will expect a discount. eBay is chock full of fees, buyers win all disputes, etc.

5colellla

Great idea!

Hvac

I like the way you think. I’m living the dream. My bike shop is not a money maker. It’s a hobby that I spend about $200 monthly. I’m love being a bottom feeder. I turn sow’s ears into silk. I’ve run out of family and friends to give my bikes to so I’m giving them to individuals who like/ride bikes. Pay it forward.