Geekage

Okay, I've read the "Do NOT attempt to, in any way, advertise that you are attempting to sell the item you are asking the value of." Gee that's a tough one. Let's make it pretty generalized- I'll take cues from you regulars about what extra info I need to add without violating the rules here.

So, I've got a what would be a classic bike that I 'd like to get rid of, but over the years I've upgraded so many components on it, it's nowhere near stock. But it has a few parts that might individually fetch reasonable prices due to their relative rarity. So it's a classic frame and a few nice parts.

Should I try to sell the bike whole, hoping someone sees the value in those parts? Or should I part it out, hoping the frame and components would fetch appreciably more than a complete bastardized classic?

My first inclination would be to try to get rid of the thing in one fell swoop- that way I wouldn't have to worry about the extra components that have almost no value hanging around in my garage.

If I do part things out, at what point would I stop reducing things to their basic parts? My Superbe brakes have finned Scott-Mathauser pads- do I sell the brakes and pads separately?

degan

Parting it out, especially since its not original, will bring more money. That being said, you will have to sell a bunch of stuff as opposed to just one thing which will take time and be more of a hassle. I'd personally sell the pads separately, but I wouldn't sell chainrings separate from cranksets or freewheels separate from hubs, etc. From what I've noticed, brakes don't depreciate in value if they don't have pads nearly as much as cranksets without chainrings, though I could be wrong.

wrk101

Local sale or ebay? On ebay, split til it no longer makes sense. Example: don't sell individual brake levers as a separate auction, sell the pair. Don't sell individual shift levers, sell the pair. Are you comfortable with ebay, with perfect feedback? Are you ready to ship a lot of small packages?

Geekage

CL or eBay- good question. I've never sold anything on eBay (just put something up yesterday to see what it's like- I might have made the minimum bid too high). I've got a preference for local sale, but I hope I'd get more for an auction.

How's this: I guess I really just need to figure how much I want for everything, list it as that on CL and if it doesn't get any takers in a month or so, part it out on eBay.

So now I've got to figure what I want- something reasonable where I won't feel like someone's getting a steal. Or at least if they are, they won't flip it for all that much more elsewhere.

Does that sound reasonable? Or should I first go: Full bike on CL, if it doesn't go in a month, full bike on eBay (set a reasonable minimum), and if that doesn't sell, then part it out on eBay?

elboGreaze

If I'm not mistaken, Ebay gets 9% of the selling price, so you need to figure that into the calculation. That being said, I like your strategy; complete bike on CL with great photos and all the pertinent info , then Flea-bay.