rower2cyclist

Hi all-It's time for an upgrade....

What is the best way to sell my bike? Is it eBay or local Craigslist? Or are there other websites?

Am I exposed to fraud when selling on eBay and what are the things to consider when selling on Craigslist? I honestly have no clue. Please help

Thank you and wishing everyone a good offseason!

rpenmanparker 

eBay is pricey but no muss, no fuss. No security issues. Full protection from scams. Largest market exposure. The only downside besides price is lacking and shipping the bike. But it is worth it. I like buy it now plus make best offer. I get my highest returns and fastest turnover that way.

mcours2006

Agreed. eBay likely nets you the best price because of the exposure. Selling locally is probably less of a hassle, and who knows, you might get lucky and get the price you ask for. It's been known to happen.

You do need more patience when selling locally if you're sticky on the price. You may have to wait months.

tnburban

I've bought and sold multiple bikes on CL. Just make sure you are upfront and very clear on any issues with the bike (scratches, wear, etc) so that there are no surprises for the buyer. And meet somewhere very public and let them know the price is the price and cash only. Some people think if you want $700 for a bike, and you show up and they say all I have is $550, you'll make the deal because you came out.

I've bought some components off ebay, but never a bike.

asiantrick

I sold and bought my last 2 bikes on EBAY. Easiest and quickest. Might not be the most profitable though when selling

RPK79

I've bought and sold all my used bike goodness on either Craigslist or a local Facebook bicycle trading group.

FlashBazbo

I sold one bike by word of mouth this year -- by far, the best way to sell. I ended up with a good price and a very happy buyer.

I'm in the process of trying to sell one on Craigslist. No packing. No shipping. But buyers can still be located a long way away. With the bike listed a month, I've had two SERIOUS potential buyers. But both were from at least 3 hours away and one didn't buy because the packing/shipping differential of $170 was more than either of us was willing to take on.

One problem with Craigslist -- besides making sure you meet in a secure location -- is the possibility of no-shows. (For that reason, unless I've vetted the buyer first, I don't drive more than 15 minutes to meet.)

exmechanic89

As others have said, eBay has much wider exposure. But their fees, and packing and shipping a bike is (to me) a major hassle. You also risk the person saying it wasnt described properly and wanting their money back.

On the other hand, CL buyers expect to pay pennies for everything, so getting a decent price is pretty tough, imo. Personally I try to be careful what I buy, so that I dont have to sell a bike later, because it's a pain no matter which route you go.

shelbyfv

I've bought bikes on both ebay and CL and never had a problem. I've only sold on CL, I just don't want to bother with packing and shipping. If you have just the occasional bike you are ready to move along, CL is easy. I would meet someplace safe like a Walmart. I've priced the bikes lower than I know they are worth but with firm pricing. I've also thrown in unexpected goodies at the sale, extra parts, tires, accessories. I like to see folks happy!

GrainBrain

Are you buying a new bike from an LBS? I wonder if they would offer a trade in, but you'll probably get very little.

CL can be ok to buy/sell, I've done it but be prepared for lots of obnoxious scam messages. Worse is people who want to pay nothing - I have a crappy car with newish tires for sale on Craig's now listed at $400, and I receive almost nothing but txt messages that say "bottom dollar?" I mean really, your not even going to look? Lots of tire kickers

I'd try eBay or word of mouth. The best time to list on Craig's is a little before or during peak riding season. Good luck!

SSLtech

I've bought and sold on CL several times, Frequently sellers KNOW they'll get offered less "to make the deal happen now", and often times they will build in a buffer.

My son's last bike I bought on CL from 200 miles away. Drove to see it, it was righteous. They were asking $1200, but the seller was into kids triathlons, and it had been her kid's triathlon bike, her kid competed at state level and often took fastest split time for the bike sector, and she was keen to see my son progress in triathlon, plus she had intended to bring the bike up to my city a week earlier, but forgotten to pack the bike... so I ended up driving down there... Long story short, she had asked $1200, I got it for $1000.

GREAT purchase.

Sold the bike a few years later. I had put some upgrades on it (shorter crankset, new aero wheels etc.) and I listed it for $1000, thinking I'd sell for anything over $800.
I listed it on eBay for $1000 FIRM. -By the time shipping and ebay fees (allow 15% between eBay fees and PayPal taking their cut) were accounted for, I reckoned I'd still end up with ~$800. I ALSO listed it on Craigslist (hey, it's free to list on BOTH, so why not list on both?)

After about 2 months of swatting away pesky offers around $400 (one insultingly low at $250!!!) a buyer contacted me, looking to buy a triathlon bike for his son. he was looking to spend about $500, but interested to see what made a $1000 asking price bike worth the asking price. He was going to test ride a Raliegh for $450 with his son, but asked if he could try mine out also. Of course I agreed.

He came, tried it immediately after the Raleigh, and recognized that this was without question a noticeable improvement. He asked if there was any wiggle room, I openly told him that anything under $800 walked, and that all he had to say was $800.00 and it was his. He and his son played with it for another ten minutes before he happily bought it. -Nice buyer. I think I tossed in a few extras.

List on both, BUT

Craigslist: Meet at a public, safe area. Many city police stations will have designated "safe trade" areas directly out front of the stations. Build in a margin for sensible negotiation (~20% perhaps) but tell tire-kickers and low-ballers to stroll on without wasting your time meeting up. If they promise $1700, then turning up with only $1500 is insulting, and you shouldn't be married to the idea of just getting some money, or you'll take whatever low amount they offer.

eBay: FIND OUT HOW MUCH IT WILL COST TO PACK. (Some bike shops will give you the package that new bikes come shipped in, but they may ask for a $20 "donation" for helping you out) then ADD to that the cost of shipping. Then subtract about 15% for eBay and Paypal fees... You'll be surprised how much of a bite all this takes out of your sale price.

Also, list with Facebook Marketplace if you do the FaceBook thing. Same precautions as Craigslist.

Ramona_W

Off season? It's just getting decently cool in the 602.

rower2cyclist

OMG thank you everyone who took time and respond to my questions. You guys are the absolute BEST!!!!!!!!!

rower2cyclist

Ramona-All the major races are behind us in the Northeast, it's now mostly group rides which paces nowhere near mid-summer speeds and maybe a few gran fondos still left in the calendar.

motosonic

I prefer eBay because, like others have said, there's a lot more exposure. Although the last bike I sold on there, the buyer tried to screw me, so be careful. I had my LBS pack and ship the bike to make sure that it was safe, secure and well-packed.. and it was.. I inspected it before it was sealed up and shipped out. The buyer, waited 12 days after he signed for the bike to then claim to eBay that I "cut all the cables and removed them from the frame". Why on Earth would I do that? lol This was a 2012 Wilier GTR with internal cable routing and basically the shop just removed the bars, stem, and front wheel and that's it. He sent in pictures to eBay, claiming I owed him $150 for new cables and labor.. but it's a load of nonsense.. I had to have the Bike shop tech that packed it certify to eBay that the cables were not cut or removed. It was just an unpleasant and long process. So, just be careful. Take lots of pics before you ship if you're selling.

rower2cyclist

Thank you-That is my biggest concern, I am wondering what kind of protections I have as an eBay seller and what I need to do before I pack & ship the bike. Of course I will take pics before I ship but wonder if the bike shop can give me a report about the condition of the bike.

motosonic

Believe me, If I sell another bike on eBay, I'll be taking pictures and getting a 'report' from the LBS that packed it detailing it's overall condition at the time of packing and what was done.

rower2cyclist

I will do, thank you.

BigPoser

Don't forget about Pinkbike. I've sold several bikes and other items on there. I've always used Bikeflights to ship as they are considerably cheaper than going through Fed Ex or UPS directly. Ebay is great, but you lose 10% for fees, and the another 2.9% (plus .30) to Paypal.

kbarch

Depends how much trouble you want to go to.
When I wanted to upgrade my bike a while back, I really didn't want the hassle of trying to sell the one I was replacing. Not having an ebay history didn't help. Consignment places can do the job nicely, but they take a big cut. Fortunately, the shop I was getting the new bike from took a much smaller cut as part of the deal - cleaned it up, took photos, managed the auctions (took three tries) and packed it and shipped it - all stuff I had no time for, so I was happy.
When I tried to sell my motorcycles on Ebay, there were too many would-be scammers, and I had no reputation as a seller, so it never worked out; managed to sell them for something close enough to what I was asking on Craigslist.

syang81

Most ads on ebay quote the cost of shipping as $150, do you guys find that that price is pretty accurate to ship most anywhere in the continental US?

softreset

Because of the DIM weight of a standard bike box, yeah that has been my experience. Using a service like Bike Flights can help (sometimes) but of the last half dozen bikes I've sold on eBay the average price of shipping has been about $150 per bike.

Ti473

Facebook buy and sell groups/marketplace

jaxgtr

IF you go the ebay route, use something like Shipbikes.com to ship it. They have special pricing from Fedex and are quite reasonable. I've used them to ship several bikes I have sold and the last one was to a BF member. I've ship that bike from the East Coast to the West Coast for less than $50. You can get a bike box from an LBS, then all you have to do is pack the bike securely in the box, recommend using pipe insulation for the tubing on the frame, bubble wrap, and some zip ties to keep it all together and then fill the void with old newspaper.

Leinster

I sold a frame recently on Facebook Marketplace; I had bought it off eBay several years ago, and sold it for the same as I paid. The buyer drove over an hour to pick it up (I suspect he only really wanted the fork). I had it listed for a couple of months, and fielded several "Is this still available? will you take 20% off?" questions before the buyer came and picked it up.

I've rarely sold anything bigger than a shoebox on eBay, due to shipping pricing, as others above have noted. I have bought bikes off eBay, and got good deals (one bike is my main commuter bike to this day).