Originally Posted by
pedpower
if I wanted to trade in a 2008 Trek Madone 5.2, how does the dealership come up with a value for my trade in? Do they look at bicyclebluebook.com and give the client the current rate or do they look at other factors/sites for that info ect? You can't tell me they just pull out a number out of thin air? This bike has a trade in value ($317-327), Private Party value @ ($513-529). How can they list it at $1399? That can't be ALL supply and demand if it just sits there. Is this another episode of pure greed at its best? That's a huge mark up people! Assuming they use this system of bicyclebluebook.com.
If you trade that bike into your dealer you will get $300 to $350 for it, maybe a little bit more if you promise to buy a new bike from them but that just means they will make it up by charging you more on the purchase.
If you do a search on bikes sold on EBay that same basic model bike has sold for $1200, $1100, $900 and $650 recently. Condition and aftermarket add ons affect the value as well but that should give you an idea of what the real private party value is worth.
So is the LBS making a profit? Of course, but he has to cover his overhead and sales staff and inventory carry and just the convenience of allowing you to walk into his shop and test ride a bunch of bikes.
If you want top dollar don’t trade in your bike. And if you want a deal and can stand a little risk then do a little hunting on EBay or craigslist instead of going to the bike shop.