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How much should I sale a used bike?

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How much should I sale a used bike?

Old 09-28-19, 12:38 PM
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7AjX
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How much should I sale a used bike?

I'm a total noob on bicycling, but I want to explore more areas around me and make it my sport. I got my eyes on the Giant FATHOM 29 2. It's current price is 1200$. I would use it about two years and I wonder for how much can I sale it two years later, so I can decide whether to buy it or not. Any information?
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Old 09-28-19, 04:10 PM
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Too many variables to provide a definite answer.
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Old 09-28-19, 04:36 PM
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Originally Posted by katsup
Too many variables to provide a definite answer.
What are these variables? If it's in a good condition, is it possible to sale it for 800$-900$?
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Old 09-28-19, 06:55 PM
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local market, condition, miles ridden, maintained, stored where? Just some of the many variables.
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Old 09-28-19, 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
What are these variables? If it's in a good condition, is it possible to sale it for 800$-900$?
Your location
Time of the Year
Wear on the bike and components
Maintenance
Cosmetic condition
etc...

30% depreciation after 2 years, maybe if you get lucky. A more realistic number is 50% depreciation. I tried to sell a bike I bought new after 1 year, which was in excellent condition w/ new tires, for 30% off, got a few interested parties, but no one bought it. I may of gotten my price if I kept it listed longer than 2 months, but kept the bike in the end.
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Old 09-28-19, 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
What are these variables? If it's in a good condition, is it possible to sale it for 800$-900$?
No.

Why are you letting depreciation determine whether or not you purchase a bike?
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Old 09-28-19, 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Ross520
No.

Why are you letting depreciation determine whether or not you purchase a bike?
Because I will move to somewhere else, I have to sale it 2 years later.
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Old 09-28-19, 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
I'm a total noob on bicycling, but I want to explore more areas around me and make it my sport. I got my eyes on the Giant FATHOM 29 2. It's current price is 1200$. I would use it about two years and I wonder for how much can I sale it two years later, so I can decide whether to buy it or not. Any information?
you'd be better off, to buy used, and sell used.

Last edited by Metieval; 09-28-19 at 11:59 PM.
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Old 09-28-19, 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
I'm a total noob on bicycling, but I want to explore more areas around me and make it my sport. I got my eyes on the Giant FATHOM 29 2. It's current price is 1200$. I would use it about two years and I wonder for how much can I sale it two years later, so I can decide whether to buy it or not. Any information?
It'll be worth about tree fiddy.
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Old 09-28-19, 08:25 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
Because I will move to somewhere else, I have to sale it 2 years later.
Why not bring it with you?

And even if you can't, in general, most items just don't hold their value very well. Hypothetically, I would eat the entire $1200 if I had to. That's a far better option than not riding for two years. Realistically though, you'll probably be able to sell it for at least $500, which isn't a bad deal in my opinion.

Last edited by Ross520; 09-28-19 at 09:29 PM.
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Old 09-28-19, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX
I'm a total noob on bicycling, but I want to explore more areas around me and make it my sport. I got my eyes on the Giant FATHOM 29 2. It's current price is 1200$. I would use it about two years and I wonder for how much can I sale it two years later, so I can decide whether to buy it or not. Any information?
People here have been too gracious to mention that you don't "sale" something, you "sell" it. You can put an item up for sale. It can be given sale pricing, or be an item that is on sale. The person who sold it to you made a sale. But the word 'sale' is a noun, not a verb. Similarly, you would not say, "I want to transaction my bike."

Ok, as for pricing: Be aware that the depreciation curve starts out steep and flattens out over the usable life of the bike. So if you buy something new with the intention of selling it a couple years down the road, you've owned the bike during the time it depreciates most quickly. Lets say you buy a new bike, and sell it two years later for 60% of what you paid for it. You may get lucky and sell it for 70% of original, but more likely you would sell it for a lot less than 60% of original price. But we'll take 60% as the number for the sake of making the point. So for a $1000 bike you have lost $400. Your cost of owning the brand new bike for two years is $400.

Lets say you are the lucky person who bought that two year old bike for 60% of its original purchase price, and you ride it two years before selling it. You might expect to sell it for 80% of the price you paid for it. So you paid $600, and sold it for $480. Your cost of owning it for those two years was $120. Even if it depreciated to 60% of the value you paid for it, that would mean you sold it for $360, and your cost of ownership was $240, which is still less than what the person who owned the bike during its first two years of life paid.

In my calculation I ignored the costs of ownership that constitute ongoing maintenance. A new bike won't need new tires until it has a couple thousand miles on it (give or take). A two year old bike may already have been fitted with a new-enough set of tires, or the previous owner didn't ride enough to wear the first set down, or maybe it's ready for a new set. A used bike may need tires, chain, a tune-up... possibly even a rear cogset or brake pads. If it needs more than that, pass on it or negotiate a lower price.

The point to this is that if you are asking whether it's a financially sound move to buy a new bike and sell it in two years, my opinion is that it is not; that you could do much better by finding a used bike in good condition, buying it for a reasonable price, and selling it after two years.

On the other hand, maybe you could just pay to ship it to wherever you plan to go after the two years are up. Shipping anywhere in the US will cost you less than the $400 you stand to lose by selling that thousand dollar two-year-old bike for $600.
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Old 09-28-19, 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by daoswald
People here have been too gracious to mention that you don't "sale" something, you "sell" it. You can put an item up for sale. It can be given sale pricing, or be an item that is on sale. The person who sold it to you made a sale. But the word 'sale' is a noun, not a verb. Similarly, you would not say, "I want to transaction my bike."
So you know this person's first language is English?
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Old 09-29-19, 02:14 AM
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Originally Posted by dedhed
So you know this person's first language is English?

Yes, I imagine he does and he's just explaining a bit about how English (a rather confusing language) works.


As for what a $1200 bicycle will sell for 2 years later, I'd guess that at most it will sell for $600. 50%
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Old 09-29-19, 05:44 AM
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2 years old is just about the worst time to sell a bike imo. You will be taking the worst depreciation hit.
Buy used or somehow hold onto it longer.
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Old 09-29-19, 09:22 AM
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more factors

I's not just that the bike will be two years old. Few manufacturers honor a warranty for the second owner. If anything breaks on it the new owner has to bear the entire cost which can be a lot if the frame or fork is the failure. Then there is bike fit. You buy a bike from the bike store and they give you the right frame size (most times!). That narrows down the number of people willing to buy the bike because it may be too big or too small. Dream on if you expect a big return on a two year old bike.
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Old 09-29-19, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by daoswald
People here have been too gracious to mention that you don't "sale" something, you "sell" it. You can put an item up for sale. It can be given sale pricing, or be an item that is on sale. The person who sold it to you made a sale. But the word 'sale' is a noun, not a verb. Similarly, you would not say, "I want to transaction my bike."
Perhaps its grace, or perhaps its lack of interest in correcting a minor grammatical error when it's still easy to understand the intent.
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Old 09-29-19, 05:14 PM
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imaginary bikes don't sale for anything.
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Old 09-29-19, 05:30 PM
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Thank you so much for the information everyone. I said I'm completely new to bike, I even thought I might be able to SELL it (Sorry, English is not my first language) for over 1000$. And because I was too occupied by the idea of selling it, I didn't realize I can bring it with me. Now I'll just bring it with me. I bought the bike this afternoon and I will see it soon.

I wanted to reply to all your advice last night but was informed that I could only have 5 post within 24 hours, so now I'm not gonna reply to each one of you. I’ll just say thinks to all of you right here. It's really helpful. I really appreciate it!!

(I really can't reply at will and need to wait for another 24 hours and reply to just 5 people? Someone please confirm this. )
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Old 09-29-19, 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by REDMASTA
imaginary bikes don't sale for anything.
"...You don't "sale" something, you "sell" it. You can put an item up for sale. It can be given sale pricing, or be an item that is on sale. The person who sold it to you made a sale. But the word 'sale' is a noun, not a verb. Similarly, you would not say, "I want to transaction my bike." daoswald, 2019
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Old 09-29-19, 07:08 PM
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As others have suggested, you would be much better off buying a good used bike. You can't count on getting back more than half of what you paid for a new bike.
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Old 09-29-19, 07:20 PM
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prepare 70% depreciation if you wanna sell it right away so you can move out

but if you know you're gonna sell in 2 years, it's best to buy used now, then sell used later.
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Old 09-29-19, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by 7AjX

(I really can't reply at will and need to wait for another 24 hours and reply to just 5 people? Someone please confirm this. )
I believe this is only at the beginning, once you reach more than 10 posts you should not have this limit.. someone will correct me if I'm wrong..
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