miamijim

I disagree.

As a buyer I almost always pre-negotiate on the phone. No way am I driving anywhere so some flake CL seller can hassle me.

jefnvk

Having done buying and selling, I've come to realize one has to meet somewhere in the middle of both of these. I let them know I am open to/make sure they are open to offers, and then deal in person. If someone is listed way high and makes an indication they aren't willing to move, or if they way lowball me and expect me to meet them near that price, there is little point in continuing. If the price is negotiable, though, I'm not going to box myself into a higher price without seeing it in person, nor am I going to accept a low offer without being able to explain my pricing in person.

higgins617

Here's another stupid assessment I've made doing this for a little while. It's so much more likely that lower to mid range bikes you pick up will have less miles on them.

These bikes were likely bought by people who weren't super into riding, saw casual use, then got put aside.

A majority of the upper tier bikes I've picked up have had cassettes or freewheels that are totally cooked, indicating the fact they certainly didn't spend all their time hanging in a garage

Bikerider007

I see vintage different from department store level "old" bikes. And with the cost of consumables I would not look for anything under mid to upper mid range + bikes with the better tubing, derailleur hanger, etc.....It takes a fair amount of looking continuously but the deals are there. Fortunately I am online all day with work so when I was in buy mode I left a browser open and refreshed, CL, Letgo and Offer up. And that order produced the best results.

Slightspeed

Not that many years ago, when it was all about mountain bikes, old road bikes were a dime a dozen, now, not so much. If you add the word "Eroica" in the ad, the prices goes up a few hundred $$.

budzos

After reading thru this thread and seeing how many of you are from the Milwaukee area I now know why its so hard to find a bike deal on Craigs list around here.
budzos

Chombi1 

Maybe not really known outside of the state, Milwaukee is a very bikecentric City. I still remember in the 80's when I lived there having such great summers riding and watching amateur and pro bike races like the Milwaukee Sentinel Classic, held the same time as the City's Bastille Day Celebrations where a race was held around the city blocks near the lakefornt where the Bastille Day events were held (Kinda gave it a TdF flavor). The lakefront race and the Downer Avenue Criteriums were especially nice to watch.. Some of the best summers I ever had! The cycling population was very in tune with the race and recreational biking culture (helps that most of the drivers generally respected cyclists on the roads). So not surprised that there are lots of knowledgable C&Vers over there. snapping up C&V bikes on CL and there might not be too many bargains to find in such a market.

budzos

Every once in a while I manage to still score a Trek or two.
I picked up an 89 Trek 950 for 50 bucks last summer but only because the posting was about a minute old.
budzos

wrk101

My flipping as evolved over the years. So what I do now is much different than what I did five years ago.

1. A lot more part outs: In particular, vintage 1980s MTBs can make really good part outs (I am not talking some collectible Stumpy or one of the super desirable MTBs, I am talking run of the mill made in Japan or Taiwan stuff). Depending on the parts, I could dump $50 and 6 hours of time in refurbishing an old MTB, only to sell it for $100. Even if I got it for free (and I don't), its not very profitable. Or I can spend zero $$ and 1 hour to disassemble, and sell the parts, for $250 to $400. Started with a $40 MTB on 1/1/18. Sold the pedals for $150, crankset for $75, thumb shifters for $45, seat post for $40, you get the idea. Remaining parts go to the co-op. I avoided vintage MTBs entirely for several years. Not now.

2. Higher end road and touring bikes: It takes the same amount of time and $$ to refurbish a higher end bike as it does the lower end stuff. You may have to pay $500 for a high end bike that refurbished could sell for $1000. The higher end stuff also makes better product for ebay, where the cost of shipping is not a hurdle. People want the good stuff. I typically sell frame sets on ebay, packing bikes is too much effort. On more than one occasion, I have had frame buyers contact me about parts: "Do you have any parts that would fit that 1979 Trek you sold me?" Since I have the parts that came off the bike, and many more, it can be a win/win. Note shipping wheels cost as much or more than shipping a frame!

3. More word of mouth: Build a reputation for selling quality bikes that have been thoroughly refurbished. At least half my sales are to repeat customers. I give repeats a discount. Some of my repeat customers want projects, so I will give them two prices, and let them decide. The people in my area that are posting 20 bikes or more all do crappy work. Savvy buyers recognize it.

4. Learn from others: I slowly heeded advice from Miamijim that would have been much more profitable to me to have adopted much faster.


To those that look with distain on others that part out bikes, just remember, next time you want that one special part to complete one of your builds, very likely that part came off another bike. Many times, I find frankenbuilds that are quite a mess, random parts, none that really work well together, none that match. In the vintage MTB arena, the BMX crowd is pushing values of certain items like pedals and hubs. They want them, while the MTB has zero interest in them. Start with a rusty/crusty old MTB and get the nicer parts back in circulation!

StarBiker

That goes both ways. And I don't take calls. Email only. That way I don't have to talk to flake buyers. That really weeds out the goofs!

jetboy 

I have had luck with changing the price if there seems to be lack of interest, and I do not mean always down. If you price a bike a bit too reasonably you tend to get a lot of flippers and bargain hunters (like us) who lowball or get passed over completely as people search for a price point that they think should get them a decent bike.

So if you list it for $180 and you aren't getting good response, wait a week and list it for $220. Its often a completely different set of buyers who search for <-200 and 200-> on CL. you can always then sell it for $180 anyway-

miamijim

I agree. At the moment I have a set of wheels listed, nothing special and only $40. A guy emails and asks if they're still available. Yes. Then he emails back and asks if I ever make it over to St. Pete.

Are you @#%&*@g kidding me? There's not a snowballs chance in hell I'm going to even remotely think about delivering a $40 wheelset 45 minutes in each direction. Get a job, buy a car, pick them up. Or pedal your butt across the bridge, strap them to your back and ride home. I'll meet you on the corner of Nebraska and Fowler.

2cam16

Same here. The only time I take calls is when we're about to meet up, on that day. Texts at the most.

wrk101

Most of the flippers around here are L A Z Y. They write crappy ads, with lousy pictures, and no useful information to the average recreational rider.

What does that rider want to know? Will it fit me? Are the tires new? Does everything work well? They don't want a part by part description of every little piece. While that kind of information is wonderful for those of us on the forum, to the average buyer, its overload.

Let them also know you are available to meet in a safe place, say a McDonalds, or whatever. I live in the boonies, unless I agree to meet people in town, I'm not going to sell anything locally.


Treat those other sellers in your market as "the competition". Do a better job! Cleaner bikes, better prepared, better pictures! If you can't do a better job than them, quit and move on to something else.


Something as simple as raising the saddle, leveling off the handlebars, air in the tires, all can make a difference.

StarBiker

If they want it they will email you. I refuse to talk to people. I have in the past and they either don't show, or are malcontents. Email, or forget it!

Mercianrider

.

Well said!

rob_ralph

I am in So Cal and have had pretty good luck flipping a couple bikes lately. Made close to $1000 on 3 bikes....

'90 DB APEX mtb - $50, sold for $300
'03 Rivendell Romulus - $39.99 (Goodwill), sold for $550
'89 Trek 8900 mtb - parted out

two weeks ago a '95 GT Zaskar for $50...might keep this one, super clean

clubman 

Who gives a Rivendell to Goodwill??

SamSpade1941 

I will not spend more than $100 on a bike and usually I spend substantially less, and I only buy good quality bikes. As others have pointed out keeping costs low is key.

SamSpade1941 

Someone who clearly has a large surplus in their finances.

ryansu

I have been reducing the herd for sanity and financial reasons and the two vintage MTB bikes I listed on CL recently were snapped up in less than a day. I had a gentlemen drive over 80 miles to buy the 1986 Miyata trail runner and he really only wanted it for the wheels. I paid about $50 for the pair and if I had the patience to part them out (bull moose bars, thumb shifters etc) I am sure I could have made even more.

dddd

The ex, the widow or someone else who gets left with a bike they have no use for and know perhaps nothing about.


Goodwill has gotten better about determining the value of odd specialty items, though some still slip through with seemingly no research into their value, especially if they appear in a neglected state suggestive of little value.

robertorolfo

Seems like that is pretty common. Not too long ago there was a mid '90s Basso for sale here in NY, where a guy came an posted on this forum to find out the value. The price was decent so he got it, and then proceeded to re-list it for a few hundred more without doing a thing.

The best deal I ever got on Craigslist was from a guy that was absolutely impossible to deal with. We agreed on a (good) price almost immediately via email, but then he blew me off numerous times when it was time to do the transaction, offering up some ridiculous excuses along the way.

Luckily I only lived a few blocks away from him, so I could basically hound him every day to finalize the transaction. And I suspect that is the reason why none of the no-life flippers got the bike first. Funny thing is, the guy turned out to be a pretty decent person in person, but he was just a bit of a flake/space cadet.

jetboy 

there seems also to be a bit of a market dip in the past year or two.. great to be a buyer, but you might have to horde for the next boom if you want to make any actual money. I recently sold 4 bikes in a week, but they were all priced pretty much at cost to myself..and I had gotten decent deals on them. I would have been a bit hard pressed to actually make money on them (though I did not buy any for that purpose - they were all my personally riders except the kids bike!)

oddjob2

The lucky buyer lives in La Quinta, which I believe is just east of Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage, mas dinero.