Originally Posted by
miamijim
I keep very diligent records of my flipping on an Excel spredasheet. Everything I spend is entered including gas money, spare parts and if I use a part from one bike on another. My shipping costs, both actual and charged are calculated as well. (I make a 'profit' on shipping which covers my ebay/paypal and packaging expences. I've spend over $50 on packaging tape since August!!!) Its setup with a variety of formulas so all I have to do is enter a value and a +/- number appears to tell me if I'm in the red or black.
.....
My eyes just glazed over.
I just do this as a hobby and because I like bikes. It'd be nice to make four figures a quarter doing it, but right now I'd be happy making three figures if it keeps air in my tires. What you'd be willing to pay for a bike is almost what finished flipped bikes tend to go for up here. My limit on flip-fodder is under $30 for a generic bike if it is in reasonable condition. One of the primary local resellers of used bikes is currently down to around $80 for his ready-to-ride bikes and under $30 for his kids bikes. Of course it is currently below 30degF outside and we had freezing rain over the weekend and people are walking on water up here currently to do their lake fishing (ice fishing), so locale definitely is a major factor in what to pay and what something will sell for.
And a quote from one of the value threads that got me to start this thread:
I am going to hit garage sale season hard when it starts up. Thrift stores around here literally never have anything!
To this I will simply say that sometimes they don't have anything, and sometimes someone else got there before you. Usually, decent bikes don't sit long on a thrift shop sales floor.