This.

Here's my circa 1940 Paramount track bike as purchased on eBay. It had a terrible repaint without decals, so a period correct repaint by Waterford could only enhance its value. It's unlikely I'll recover the cost of the frame and the paint job if I ever decide to sell it, but I'm having it painted for me, not for resale.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...nt/Photo09.jpg

Well, it think i should not have even mentioned the cinelli. That was really an afterthought. I just wanted opinions on the repaint effect on value for a vintage bike. I personally think some repaints are great-like kurts-. I do have a colnago master equilateral that could be repainted but not by cycle art-!

My 50s one was finished in rust when I found it and was missing the fork and many parts. Fortunately it had the wheels. I had it repainted in somewhat the early blue, and have the decals to complete it. Parts however seem impossible to find...

Mind you, Joe - the only repainted frame there is the brownish-red Superior; everything else is the original finish.

Good point: A frame with a horrific spraybomb job is enhanced by a proper repaint - but that's only if someone else ruined the finish beforehand.

-Kurt

No, it was good to bring up the Cinelli. I think the jury's still out on repaints versus value, at least to some buyers. While I will not get a cent-for-cent return on my Colnago Super, for example, I've been offered in the neighborhood of $3000 for it - twice. I'm not that hard-up, however - and I had the restoration done for me, not for resale. But, as someone else pointed out: would someone offer $5000 for it were it wearing original clothing?

However, this thread will assist you in future auctions. I agree with most other posts: the issue with the auction was not so much the fact it was repainted, it was lack of information provided to potential customers. Close-up pics of the components and frame details coupled with a seriously detailed breakdown of component models and condition would've greatly enhanced your auction.

Personally, I'm rather surprised. I found the auction a few days ago and was amazed. I've seen you post numerous times and you seem pretty knowledgeable and have some lovely bikes. No offense intended, but the first thing to cross my amazed mind when I saw the auction was: "that can't be the same Joe Englert from Bike Forums listing this!" I mean, it seemed to me whomever listed it pulled it out of a garage, checked a few names on components and shot from the hip while putting the auction together.

Again, not trying to beat you up here. Lots of detail never, ever hurts. Lack of it, as witnessed in this case, does. The low finishing price was definitely due more to lackluster representation than whether or not the SC had original paint.

PM me sometime if you'd like to talk Ebay auction strategy. I'm no expert, but I'm no slouch either :) I makes me some money on Ebay!

DD

Thanks on that. well, you know, im not good with stuff like that. I love to go after vintage bikes but selling them is not one of my strong points. The cinelli was on cr and i drove two hours to see it. When i got there it looked pretty nice but then i saw the cycle art decal. The guy didnt know it was a repaint or acted like he didnt know. Well, the price was good and I thought id pick it up. I didnt really have a place for it and another bike popped up the next week so i just threw it on ebay without really doing anything at all to it ... sort of to see if it would even make my reserve. To my suprise it did so it worked out fine. Now...if you notice my masi auction on ebay a couple weeks ago...i took better pics with a better camera and handled much better. That bike got a very nice high bid on it.

I cannot emphasize enough how much good marketing has to do with obtaining full market value. Its really hard to get full market value, a lot of stuff goes for less. Other than getting lucky, the people that get full market value for their stuff on ebay or C/L do a superb job of presenting/marketing their item.

The bicycle market is very inefficient, and most buyers have zero imagination.

I sell on ebay every week, and I have a lot to learn for sure.