prj71

Yeah ok.

msu2001la

I'll check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case.
They got us working in shifts.

burnthesheep

+3 internets for you for the reference......love it.

jnbrown

I have sold a lot of bicycle parts on Ebay.
After paying Ebay seller fees and sales tax I am not getting rich.
It is putting a few dollars in my bank account instead of having idle parts lying around taking space.

MinnMan

I definitely wouldn't to do it for the income opportunities. I'm more interested in whether the headaches will make me regret doing it in the first place.
I wouldn't mind getting some cash for a bunch of perfectly good bicycle gear that I'm not going to use, but I'm definitely not hoping to produce a significant revenue stream. Even if I did hope so, I don't have enough high-value stuff to sell.

tkamd73 

If you have something better to do, value your time, and don’t need the money, no. Bike swaps are fun, and donating to the co-op is rewarding.
Tim

Juan Foote

Be aware that this voids all seller/buyer protection and if PayPal finds out you are doing to avoid their fee they will ban you. Terrible idea.

soyabean

People are so used to anonymity on the internet, they think everything done on the internet makes them untouchable, lots-of-laughs

soyabean

Just do a search for ebaysucks and paypalsucks, and you'll see why it's just easier to sell locally.

Decades ago, ebay used to be a place for garage sales and bargains from legitimate users, now today it's become another amazon full of overseas resellers.

tempocyclist

^ This.

I still sell the odd bike part on eBay from time to time. The main draw is that it's easy, but factor in fees and it starts to cut into any money you get out of it compared to selling on FB marketplace or whatever.

jaxgtr

Last year I cleaned out my entire stock of old components and shoes I no longer had a need for. I even sold a wheel on trainer after I got my Kickr Core. Made over 2K on the stuff that had been sitting around for 5 years as I was too lazy to build up a bike. 1 man's junk is another man's treasure.

WhyFi

The only redeeming thing about ebay is that it's the widest net that you can cast. If you're selling something niche that doesn't have much of a market locally, then it's a good fallback, but it's is always my last resort.

roadcrankr

This. 100%. People are over-thinking this whole thing. Keep a modest spreadsheet (or have one ready in the highly unlikely event of audit) and always illustrate costs higher than revenue. It's a hobby, not a business. The IRS can care less about somebody selling $10k of stuff on eBay. They care even less about somebody selling $1k. NEVER EVER just accept the 1099 as a taxable income. That's beyond ridiculous.

eBay for selling far outstrips other methods. You reach a huge audience and, unless you want to, do not need to meet somebody in the liquor store lot to complete the transaction. Because you can sell it for a higher price, theoretically, than craigslist or FB Marketplace, it works out better even with eBay's fees.

mtn drew

Wow 1099 at $600? Listing fees and seller fees + paypal fees are now expensive. Ebay is now a big joke anyway. It will be better to sell in forums or bike swap meets. Or even garage sale or car boot sales, though I don't see the latter being practiced here in US.

pdlamb

We've had a couple of E-bay agent storefronts pop up over the last few years. Their pitch is to photograph, list, and ship for a cut of the sales price. Has anyone here had experience with someone like that?

TBH I'm more interested in clearing out three (or is it four) boxes of bike stuff, than making money off it. No co-op near me that I'm aware of, and the inner cheapskate would rather have stuff go to someone who might use it.

prj71

Lol.

Having done this for close to 20 years now...I have had zero issues and have zero concerns.

msu2001la

This is how Pros Closet got started. They used to just be an Ebay store, except they were buying product directly and then selling it, rather than paying a fee/commission to sell people's stuff for them.

The e-bay store format has always made sense to me, as the photographing/listing/shipping is always the biggest barrier. If I can just drop my stuff off and pay someone a fee to handle it, that makes the whole thing a lot easier. Also the "ebay store" can get more traffic with accounts that have thousands of reviews/ratings, so they're probably more likely to actually find buyers.

Koyote

If I'm affluent enough to accumulate stuff to the point that it's a problem, I'm affluent enough to give that stuff away to younger/poorer cyclists. People helped me that way, so I'm just passing it on.

urbanknight

That reminds me. Some years ago, my wife got tired of me hoarding every single box that arrived on our doorstep and tossed them all. I sold a handful of small items ($10-30 each) a few weeks later and got an eye opener when I had to go buy a box for each item.

soyabean

That's legal grounds for a divorce

When I used to ebay decades ago, I would hoard bags of styrofoam packing peanuts.

When I see their cost now, why did I not save more?

Indyracer

With the ridiculous amount that ebay charges I have had much greater satisfaction selling on Facebook Marketplace, just don't take payment through Facebook

Leinster

I didn’t know any younger/poorer cyclists than me who were likely to want/need/know how to install my Mirage 8-spd shifters, so I sold them for $75 on eBay, put them in an Amazon box, slapped on a printed shipping label, and dropped it off at the post office.

Don’t sell on eBay looking to make a profit/start a business. Do sell on eBay things that are cluttering your space that are easy to ship.

Don’t sell things that are hard to pack; I sold a surround sound for $100 and the buyer said the cd changer didn’t work when it arrived, so I gave her $20 off to stop her giving me a negative feedback. Maybe she was playing me, maybe not, I have no way of knowing. I wish I’d sold the stereo via Craigslist or FB and handed it over in working condition.

MinnMan

Yeah, wondering about the "hard to pack" part. Lots of the things that i might sell, like saddles, will easily fit in an old Amazon box with a little bubble wrap. OTOH, wheels will require a special box. I actually think I have that too, though I'd have to check.

And yeah, not looking to make a profit, just to reduce clutter, reduce overconsumption, and recover a fraction of my excess costs from buying too much stuff.

As to ​​​​​​Koyote 's strategy of giving things away, I do that now and again, but people don't necessarily need the specific random parts I've accumulated.

Homebrew01

If you're in a metropolitan area, you could try Craigslist and/or Facebook Marketplace.

CrimsonEclipse

If you're selling for a hobby, sell items worth $20 or more.

I value my time, and anything for less than $100 is a waste of time and should be donated or recycled or discarded.