albrt 

I volunteer at a Phoenix bike collective/co-op/charity called the Rusty Spoke. Ten years ago we were actual anarchists but now we are just disorganized. We do good work helping people fix their bikes and providing bikes to homeless and low income residents (of which there are a lot in Phoenix).

We fix up and sell some of the better bikes that get donated to pay our rent. We sell a few bikes out of the shop and also go to the local farmers market about once a month. That business model allows us to sell about as many bikes as we can fix up, which is fine.

The problem is that sometimes bikes get donated that we will not be able to get full value from, either because they are beyond our technical capabilities or because they would need wider exposure. Many bikes in this category would fall into the C&V bucket. We get higher than average prices for old Huffys and Free Spirits from college students who want a beater a bike to ride to the bars, but it is hard to get more than about $200 for an old Dawes, Peugeot, or whatever.

The problem is that none of the current volunteers (including me) want to take on the task of selling bikes over the intertubes. We are simple people who voluntarily work with sketchy customers in a non-air-conditioned space in 110 degree weather. We do not want to exchange 27 emails with Karen about every bike we sell.

If you are interested in being the internet salesperson for the Rusty Spoke, please respond or message me. None of us get paid, so that is the baseline. If you have an attractive business model that involves you getting a commission, I will present it to my colleagues. We are wide open about what platforms to use, whether to ship bikes, or whatever, EXCEPT please do not propose that you will sell the bikes and then somebody else will handle shipping, customer complaints, etc.

I think it would be difficult for a person outside the Phoenix area to do this job, but if you think it can be done remotely I am willing to listen.

As a reward for reading all of this, here are a few pictures of bikes that I took today:

Oldairhead 

The definition of anarchy is confusion and disorder, along with an "absence of any cohesive principle such as a common standard or purpose." Sounds to me like you are in the sweet spot!

SurferRosa

That's no reward. Those first two pics are especially terrible. Good pics sell bikes more than anything else. And it's always about presentation and lighting.

Mr. 66

Of the 3 pictures, oh gosh the 2 are horrible pictures, ands what kind of price are you trying to sell at? To me those are $30-40 bikes at best in that shape, cleaned up they are not worth much more. The last picture is better.

3alarmer 

.
...I did exactly this job at the Sacramento Bike Kitchen, local to me, for about three years, in addition to my other duties (which were many and various). I did it, because as a member of the non-profit board, I felt we had a fiduciary responsibility to try to get more money for the better bikes that got donated. Since I created the position, I got to define what was a "better" bike, and the cutoff for pricing, to qualify for my attention.

I used Craigslist, I shot the photos, I wrote the ads, and I personally responded to the inquiry e-mails from the ads. It was doable, but in retrospect I'm not 100% certain it was worth the effort. I once got a very short woman to drive all the way up from the Bay Area, for a nice 531 framed mixte that was small enough to fit her. And maybe some of the ad bikes went to more appreciative owners, who loved them more than the walk in traffic. Otherwise, it does take up precious time, and I'm doubtful it contributed much to our bottom line. When I left, no one else wanted to do it. I, myself, would not have done it, if dealing with the complications of ebay and shipping.

Given your description of the situation, I wish you all the luck in the world. There are a lot of old bikes for sale in the world, and people seem to be more into e-bikes and indexed shifting around here near me. As a positive consideration for not doing it, it really helps the word of mouth advertising for your co-op if the occasional jewel goes out the door underpriced. That has to be worth something.

3alarmer 

...this is not a function of your limited marketing, it's just how bikes like that are valued. Take the money and run.

albrt 

Thanks for your thoughtful response, 3alarmer. We are pretty good at processing bikes for local sale, I mainly worry about the undefinable historical value that is lost. When you sell a "jewel" at that price, the odds are pretty good that it is going to a college student who will just leave it to rust or get stolen in the back yard. Plus rebuilding one of these for local sale probably means discarding the plastic simplex derailleur and other obsolete parts that some folks here would love to have.

Anyway, I figured I would ask to see if anybody would actually enjoy this job. If not then we will carry on.

3alarmer 

....I have mixed emotions about Delrin Simplex products. If I were in that situation, I would just toss them all into a big bin that said "free" on it, and hope that they went away . But yeah, you do have a certain onus to try to pull out the workable stuff that will continue to make older bikes function, if you think that keeping older bikes on the road is a worthy endeavor. That was another job I took on, and one that it seems most of the other members of the board did not feel was as important as I did. At least, not important enough that they wanted to do it.

I think a lot of this depends on your fellow workers. One thing I learned in moving on is that everyone has different ideas of mission, and how it is best accomplished.

You have an early indicator on this. That's how you ended up starting this thread.

Really nice old bikes get misdirected and stolen all the time. I'm certain at least one of my Raleigh Pro bikes ended up as a stripped frame at our co-op, spray painted black, because it got stolen. I know exactly what you're saying, and once again, I wish you all the best in trying to maintain the sense of value that some of these older products deserve. At this point I've come to accept that you just can't save them all.

AeroGut

I know where you're coming from. I've done this job for our local co-op, partly to bring in more money to them, but also because, as you suggested, it's somewhat disappointing (or sad?) to see good quality vintage stuff languish in a bin or end up as a beater bike. The time investment wasn't very much for customer service, but rather on cleaning stuff up and taking pictures and, for the stuff we shipped, packing it up and sending it out. You need someone with time and motivation to keep doing that. I didn't have enough of either. In fact, I still have a box of Nuovo Record derailleurs and more downtube shift levers than I can count that I never got around to posting for sale, and the co-op isn't in any hurry to get them back. (Anyone interested in them feel free to PM me).

One question to consider is whether spending time on this is really the best use of a volunteer in terms of furthering your mission. If it's someone who otherwise wouldn't be volunteering, that's one thing, but if they would be willing to wrench on the old stuff or just help identify the good stuff, that might be more helpful unless you really need the money from getting max value from online sales.

polymorphself

The actual definition based on the structure of the word as well as how it has been used for nearly 200 years by anarchists is "without rulers".

Source: Me, an anarchist

I also happen to live in Phoenix and in the same neighborhood as this co-op. It's a fantastic spot and a point of pride in the area. I do not have the capacity to take this task on but I wish them the best and hope somebody is up to the task.

nlerner

I wonder if the best use of one's time would be to strip old bikes and part them out on eBay (yeah, a sacrilege and all that, but the best way to maximize return). Shipping would be far easier than whole bikes, boxes are free from USPS. That's just a guess and from seeing similar sellers on eBay.

SurferRosa

Concerning a plastic rear derailleur, I doubt it. But someone here will definitely want that chain guard. The most prized component is right here:



.
And you have two of them. Both cage/clamp and bottle. (Though, maybe one bottle is incomplete.)

nlerner

Back in January, I bought this UO-8 in a package deal with an old Raleigh 3-speed for $100:



Most valuable piece to part out was the Ventolux alloy pump. Went for $50 BIN on eBay.

tricky 

Geez, tough crowd! They literally came here asking for help for internet sales for this exact reason and they are getting roasted! I enjoyed the pics. I haven't seen many Peugeots like that stateside. I like that guidonet lever style.

polymorphself

For anybody questioning the sell-ability of these bikes, keep in mind this neighborhood is downtown, quite bike friendly for the area and blocks away from ASU’s downtown campus.

Parting out on eBay is really not a bad idea though. Most bang for buck there usually.

Bad Lag

This is off topic but I am curious. If you spend your days rebuilding cheap bikes, how do you pay to feed yourself? How do you pay your rent, buy clothes, pay for medical bills, vision care, dentistry, etc? How do you fund some sort retirement savings plan? How do you make it all work?

SurferRosa

Asking for sales help with awful photos, and only two folks point this out. With old bikes, what's more important than good pics? You can be the greatest internet salesman of all time, but come on. A little thought and effort up front will do most of the heavy lifting for you.

albrt 

For me this is just a volunteer thing I do in my spare time. Some of our other members are retired. We are only open two days a week, and our main expenses are rent and liability insurance. Selling the cheap bikes pays for that.

3alarmer 

.
...those two photos of French fenders are great. I was surprised to see them on bicycles that have been living in Phoenix as long as those have.

albrt 

Yeah, I'm not sure they ever rode these after they got back from France. I haven't measured yet, but I think the wheels are old school 650(b).

Bad Lag

Ah!, okay, I get it now. Thank you, I did not mean to offend I just couldn't figure it out because I thought it was a full time thing.

albrt 

If any of the locals are interested, the Rusty Spoke will be open for First Friday tonight from about 7:00 to 10:00. This is just an open house, not doing repairs.

Bad Lag

Giving back is always worthwhile, after taking care of "business".