Originally Posted by
icemilkcoffee
With parts hauls, I think the main challenge is trying to remember what you got. I don't have a tenth of what John's got and I have trouble remember what I have.
I track everything in spreadsheets, with periodic inventories. I log what I paid for stuff and the condition it's in. When I sell a component, I log what it sold for, the date, and where it sold. For complete bikes, I maintain a separate spreadsheet tracking each build, so if/when I sell a bike, I know what I spent on it in the past. The spreadsheets help keep me "honest" - not only do I know my inventory, but how much I've spent on my hobby and how much I've recouped through sales.