Best Site to Sell?
01-21-20, 10:36 PM
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Best Site to Sell?
Curious what everyone thinks is the best website to sell road bikes on. One is rare early 1980's Italian bike the other is a custom fixie/single speed bike with a Japanese frame from the 1970's. Look forward to hearing feedback. Also any estimate on shipping costs for a bike? Thanks in advance!
01-21-20, 10:49 PM
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eBay and use the shipping calculator to figure cost based on location (and automatically include it in the selling price).
01-21-20, 10:58 PM
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01-23-20, 06:00 AM
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"rare early 1980's Italian" says Classic Rendezvous to me. Still, you might consider posting to the new BOBishBikesFS Google Group (full disclosure: I created it just a couple days ago - current membership stands at a bit less than 300). If overall market size is your goal, then eBay is the way to go. Your ad won't be very well-targeted, but they have plenty of adjunct seller support (classification by type, up-charges for extra visibility, posting to multiple groups, etc). Finally, there is always Craigslist. It's main benefit is that it's free and if you can sell locally, all that shipping nonsense disappears. This is a slow time of year to be selling a bike though, so whatever outlet(s) you choose, be prepared to wait.
As for shipping, I agree that shipbikes.com (or bikeflights.com) are good options. Shipbikes seems to be a bit cheaper these days. Bikeflights recently switched from FedEx to UPS while shipbikes still uses FedEx, in case you have a personal shipping favorite. If you're not into packing bikes for shipping, check your local bike shop scene. I think more and more shops are used to shipping triathletes' bikes. Not to mention they will have plenty of raw shipping material to reuse from the new inventory which arrives.
As for shipping, I agree that shipbikes.com (or bikeflights.com) are good options. Shipbikes seems to be a bit cheaper these days. Bikeflights recently switched from FedEx to UPS while shipbikes still uses FedEx, in case you have a personal shipping favorite. If you're not into packing bikes for shipping, check your local bike shop scene. I think more and more shops are used to shipping triathletes' bikes. Not to mention they will have plenty of raw shipping material to reuse from the new inventory which arrives.
01-23-20, 01:24 PM
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If you are in a larger city, Craigslist still works well. No fees and no buyers remorse or shipping hassles.
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01-23-20, 06:27 PM
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Define “best”:
if best is easiest, most convenient, then sell locally on C/L or FB marketplace
if best is highest return ($), then it’s ebay where you have to pack and ship at a low cost. Buyers will not pay you for packing, so build that into price. The very highest return often is as parts on eBay.
You have to choose one: convenient or high price. You can’t get both.
And if it’s something special, don’t be surprised if the buyer turns around and parts it out, REGARDLESS of the story they tell you. Many of us have heard those stories and given a discount, only to see it parted out a few weeks later on eBay for a lot more.
if best is easiest, most convenient, then sell locally on C/L or FB marketplace
if best is highest return ($), then it’s ebay where you have to pack and ship at a low cost. Buyers will not pay you for packing, so build that into price. The very highest return often is as parts on eBay.
You have to choose one: convenient or high price. You can’t get both.
And if it’s something special, don’t be surprised if the buyer turns around and parts it out, REGARDLESS of the story they tell you. Many of us have heard those stories and given a discount, only to see it parted out a few weeks later on eBay for a lot more.
Last edited by wrk101; 01-23-20 at 06:40 PM.
01-24-20, 11:41 AM
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High end stuff, Ebay. Anything else, Craigslist, or Kijiji or any other local sales opportunity.
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