2old

I realized the market was soft a couple of years ago at a swap meet when an individual was selling prime restored mid-80's to early 90's MTB's (he was from AZ and the frames/forks had remained pristine, then he cleaned up or replaced the parts). All were $250 or so and he had no buyers.

Tusk

Park it in the for sale section? Send me a PM?

I have family spread from Logan to Provo to facilitate. If you're between those two points, you won't be shipping to me.

TenGrainBread 

A lot of people living in cities don't have cars. Not surprising or weird to get requests to deliver. Just view it as negotiation (time is money) and respond accordingly. Not rude at all.

Kdogbikes

I like what you said about “recalibrating”. Sometimes I feel I need to sell one to get one. I live in rural Ohio so it’s really tough to sell bikes. I try to post a price cheapest on cl and let er rip. Out of all the bikes I’ve sold a dept store nishiki mtb sold the fastest. At a good price and no negotiation.

jamesdak 

Well, if they wanted delivery or to meet in the city 20 minutes away I'd understand. But when they want me to drive an hour or two to bring them a couple hundred dollar bike it just does not compute. I would never ask that of anyone. I don't look to buy bikes in Idaho because I'm not willing to go that far to get them. And I'm certainly not going to find one up there and then ask the seller to bring it to me. I do think that's rude.

I clearly state where I am at. To me I don't get folks folks in Salt Lake and Draper and such looking for a bike from me without a way to come get it. Maybe we see things differently or maybe it's because selling them really doesn't matter to me. I want the space not the money, LOL!

turtledove

Here, the problem is the bike sellers fall into 3 categories:

1. The people selling their 3 year old carbon mountain bike for 90% of the retail price
2. Moms and dads who find junker walmart bikes and sell them for $200 with titles like "Vintage mountain bike-lightly used" to sell to college students looking for a cheap commuter
3. C&V people whose genuinely vintage bikes get buried under #2 type sellers.

ramzilla

The pendulum has swung over to the supply side vs. demand side here in the Jacksonville area. I've got a nice 1988 Fuji Club that's been sitting on CL for over two months now. There's not much interest in vintage steel around here lately. Maybe if Hollywood made a new movie that glamorized old bikes the pendulum would swing back to the demand side again. There has to be a fad of some kind to attract the young buyers.

shoota 

Young Millennials and Gen Z'ers. No joke. This is how they interact in real life.

bargainguy

Today, I had someone take an Uber to my house to get a bike. Put bike in said Uber and off they went. The new normal.

I see the market as soft, but it doesn't impact me. Lots of people selling means better ability to distinguish yourself from the crowd.

I stopped being vested in the sale of any particular bike a long time ago, because I realized all my bikes eventually find their way home. If any particular buyer wasn't interested at any given time, no biggie, it all works out. I actually tell people that it's not my purpose in life to sell them a bike, but I can show them a bike that might work for them and let them decide. Seems to take the pressure of buying off, and that's better for both of us.

iab

As long as they stay off your lawn everything's cool. Right?

shoota 

Naw man it's not even like that. They really do just interact differently than previous generations. For example, in there world it's totally normal and OK to not answer someone's text or call. Like they just disappear. That would be very disrespectful in my generation but they don't get it.

ryansu

+1 I will be quick to point out that a bike is too big or too small for someone, the last thing I want to do is to push a bike on someone when I know its not a good fit.

iab

I can't tell, are you being serious? Because saying I haven't been ghosted by ******** from every generation would just be bull****.

RiddleOfSteel

As an elder "Millenial" (2-4 years just outside of X), this is true of those 10-15 years my junior or more. I don't understand the lack of remotely human interaction (aka, in person, looking at eyes, speaking more than minimally). So I know I'm getting old, but there are standards that must be upheld!

@jamesdak I fully understand your frustration with people expecting to be served. It's not only lazy and selfish, but disrespectful. I'll suffer some silly offers and even terse correspondence (that borders on curt) on their part, but if they're terse or flippant (often simultaneously so) and complete the trifecta with low-balling, then they get a terse "no" response (respectful, though, I ain't getting flagged for letting the offender know they're a jerk) or just none at all. Time to be teflon.

I may consider driving somewhere for a buyer, as a seller, but it's case-by-case and extremely rare. I always travel to the seller if I'm the buyer. I think what irks you and me about those who don't do that, and it's guys here 99.9999% of the time (as buyers), is that it's a rejection of basic DNA programming/instinct. We are (primary) hunters. If a potential buyer is on the lookout and contacting us, he needs to follow through on the hunt if he truly is interested--that's how it goes. If they wanted it delivered, guess what, that's what Ebay and Amazon and Wiggle are for. They have no car? They should know their limits and improvise or work around.

The market has softened here, or rather, evolved. Purely stock mid-level restored C&V has very limited appeal. So I upgrade to STI/Ergo setups and modern pieces for better and safer performance as well as capability, in addition to being more "mainstream" in the offering. That helps tremendously. Good pictures and a full description (size, stand over, component list, ride characteristics) continue to serve me well. A conscientious ad with email-only response largely attracts a conscientious (potential) buyer. Pricing my bikes at the cumulative price of all components (no labor, finishing kit price "compression") at their local market value usually deters low offers as the buyer, if they wanted to build that exact bike, couldn't do it for less than I did pretty much. They sell eventually, even if I want them gone sooner.

wrk101

Had a neighbor that wanted the wood I had from cutting down a tree (free of course). OK, but then he wanted it cut and split as he didn't have a saw or an axe either. "Would you like me to stack for you as well?"

As far as location, some think a 20 minute drive is a long trip. We moved from an urban environment to a rural town. Bike sales have plummeted. I either coordinate the sale and meet them at a convenient (to them) location, or I don't sell it.

sdn40

I've been thinking for a while now that anything with downtube shifters will eventually be a very tough sell. I think it's very close. The good news is that new bike prices keep going up. The bad news is if you want to fill a niche, start stocking up on brifters. Some of the first brifter equipped bikes are starting to drop into the price range of premium vintage. Pretty hard to compete with that. Just like the manual transmission, downtube shifters are dying. I'll bet most would take grip shifters or triggers instead of downtube. Adapt or die if you're a seller

Two years ago I couldn't give away a perfectly fine 50" projection TV. I had to take it apart and throw it away piece by piece.

tashi

If an entire generation is being rude to you, it might not be them that's the problem.

treebound 

I finally had a couple bikes sell for fair prices, but it took months of off and on postings.

A regular seller in my area does as bargainguy above says he does (could be the same person for all I know [ state fair park? ] ).

I’ve managed to sell several bikes to two of the bigger flippers in my area as well, they’re in the city and have better access to the carfree folks, so I see them repost my former bikes for double or more, then watch them get reposted for up to a year at times.

I’m doing the downsizing/recalibrating thing as well. Working on N*1/2 just to clear out the bikes I don’t ride or are redundant to get something else I’d rather have. I can count mine with just my fingers now and don’t even need to count with my toes.

Figure out what works, figure out how to not let people get under your skin, do what works for you, and try to not let the frustration affect you too much (yep, I’m working on this one as well). And sometimes I just move an unselling bike to the corner where I can ignore it easier and let it age a bit longer.

Bandera

Self inflicted wound: Lots of old once "premium" bikes acquired as a hobby now in a declining market globally and an uninterested local one.

-Bandera

turtledove

Saying this or that generation is so and so is all a bit silly, it's often a case of a buyer a) not knowing much about bikes (and therefore the value of the bike), b) just selfish, or c) all of the above, all of which certainly knows no bounds regardless of age.

thinktubes 

Just wait a few years until the hipsters start riding C&V.

jamesdak 

Well this sure stirred up a lively conversation, LOL! I don't mind losing money on them, I don't mind taking forever to sell them, heck I don't mind messing with the constant scammers. But the audacity of these folks here lately just surprises the hell out of me. Guess it's just a "sign of the times".

BikeWonder

They did. It started in 2012.
At least that's when I began noticing the hipster trend beginning.
Seems to be fading now? Maybe it's just the province I'm in because there's a downturn due to poor revenue from oil and gas at the moment.

63rickert

There are way more C&V bikes existing than will ever find riders. There are fewer and fewer riders willing or able to maintain an older bike. Many who would be well served by an older bike have been convinced that the maintenance is impossible. Worse, they have been convinced that normal features of old bikes. as dt shifters or skinny tubes, are only suitable for those with a death wish.

Something happened. Can't turn off italics. Anyway, was about to say it just doesn't matter how well the bike has been prepped for sale. Very few will have any appreciation of work that has been done. They don't know you aren't selling them an alley find worth maybe $20. And sadly, the fate of most all of our vintage bikes is scrap metal or landfill. It is going to happen.

unterhausen

Having lived in Utah for 6 years, I am a little surprised the OP ever finds buyers. But as far as driving them down to SLC, it's not uncommon for people outside of the SLC area to drive there fairly often, so I think maybe the people asking just assume that.

As far as forum rules go, the OP is not an upgraded member, so he can't sell here (however, y'all are familiar with private messages or no?). Also, we don't allow external links in the for sale forum either. Not sure if those rules will ever be relaxed, it used to be allowed. I appreciate that he has not bowed to pressure and linked to his CL, because I really don't like being the bad guy and deleting things like that.