polymorphself 

Obviously if you know how to pick 'em on Craiglist and at garage sales, and if you've got the skill to quickly clean up an old junker, you can resell for 3x the price or more. Do any of you do this regularly? What have you learned in the process?

jiangshi

I learned that unless you have something really nice, you aren't going to make much money for the effort expended.

KonAaron Snake 

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ing-101-a.html

KonAaron Snake 

If it's fun for you, and a hobby thing, it can be enjoyable. If you're looking at it as a consistent income stream, you'll likely be disappointed.

Colnago Mixte

"Question asked and answered 8 years ago, non-premium membership, 21 posts. Advice and comments denied. Worst thread, ever."

hobbitman

This. Unless you're flipping high end bikes, the amount of time put into cleaning up a bike usually isn't worth the money you make, or at least not to me. Expect less than minimum wage for most flips that require a full tear down and rebuild. If you can use it to finance your bike habit then so be it, but don't expect to get rich. You'll also need to see what sells in your area. Oddly enough, I've had better luck flipping walmart grade beach cruisers in my area than c&v bikes. They usually just require a patched tube or chain and good wipedown and they're ready to go for 60 percent of retail. The last one I got for free had been ridden once, but was deemed junk due to two flat tubes.

Piff 

If you lived in a city with a seller's market (Portland/Seattle/SF etc), and if you had many relatives living in other areas with a buyer's market, you could possibly make a decent buck by having them buy bikes, and send them to you. Cost of shipping/transportation of bikes, social familial cost of getting them to do this on a regular basis (assuaged by monetary appreciation from you to them), amount of extra time dealing with directing your brethren to buy this or that one...

Sounds like a massive headache. I guess the best option would be to live in a city that has very high demand for bikes that is also no more than 3-4 hours away from other population hubs (probably smaller in size) that have very little demand for bikes yet a moderate supply that is continuously replenished. That way you wouldn't have to deal with transport costs (other than gas money, which would be sizable. Save the earth/your wallet, buy an electric or a hybrid!). I dunno where this magical city would be.

noglider 

I did it for a while. It wasn't a bad thing to do when I had a lot of room and was under-employed. I think I made a tiny profit on it overall, but I didn't keep track, and I should have kept track.

KonAaron Snake 

Sometimes it's better not to know!

jet sanchEz

I used to make a couple thousand bucks over a year but I just don't have the time for it anymore. Plus, the scrap yard that I bought most of my bikes from is now a condo building.

I always found it a fun hobby but nothing more than that.

Narhay

Nice try, IRS.

cinco

I used to back when it was possible to find relatively unmolested stuff of reasonable quality and price in my area. For about ten years it's been junk at twice the price it would have been before the bad spraypaint job and lime-green wheels so I gave up. These days maybe one or two bikes worth having per year show up for sale, and they all seem to be pushing past ebay prices. When I quit I'd paid for my entire collection plus several thousand extra and these days I only buy for myself, and then only one every year or two. They're also usually the unloved, abused, and borderline-ruined bikes that scare people away at any price and would otherwise never have a chance at being returned to their former greatness.

But back when I was selling I usually worked with an eye toward preserving history rather than making money and rarely had fewer than 15 hours in any bike. I once determined that I was making on average about $2 an hour, which is cheaper than drinking and more money than anyone else has offered me to sit around and watch movies.

Spoonrobot 

I was thinking the same thing!

ETA: What in the world do you do for 15 hours on a bike?

frameteam2003

I do this---my money runs out the pockets on both sides

cinco

I assume this was aimed at me so I'll give it a whirl. After cleaning, the frame gets three stages of polish/wax, including detail areas and lug lines which need various brushes to do a good job. Wheels usually need to be disassembled to polish rims and hubs on the buffer, and it makes spoke polishing by hand easier. All bare aluminum is polished on the buffer and (in the case of Stronglight cranks and the like) much of it is lightly sanded with 1500 to minimize the possibility of rounding corners while trying to buff out scratches. Everything which has been buffed is then cleaned and waxed. In addition to thorough cleaning, shifters, jockeys, pedals, brakes and levers, etc. are disassembled, greased, and, if applicable, polished. All chromed hardware is given a light pass on the buffer after rust-removal and zinc-plated parts are usually polished and waxed by hand. Freewheels are almost always disassembled for cleaning and greasing. Other than that, it's just the usual bearing set greasing, cabling, bar tape, and general reassembly. If it's practical to do so and the frame is worthy of the extra time I'll do some paint touch-up which involves mixing to an appropriate color match, building up the new paint to a level slightly above the original, sanding it flush, and polishing. The difficulty of mixing a matching color by hand for anything other than black along with the immense increase in time required to do an adequate job means I try to avoid buying frames which need such work in the first place.

To you it may seem like it's not worth the trouble but as I indicated above I'm in it for the history, not the money.

miamijim

For a long while I kept very detailed records. And made a lot of money doing it as a hobby. Id have to check my records but I believe the last good season for flipping was 2013. 2014 saw a decline is selling prices and that's when I knew the heyday was over and sold everything. Everything.

Oddly enough as the market was shifting availability of bikes declined as well. That I cant figure out. Most of my bike were purchased from individuals not in the market, they were just moving old bikes. Why people are no longer selling bikes is beyond me and I try not to put too much thought into it. I have better things to do.

I still peruse online listings and peruse through my local sources but there's nothing. Almost. In the past year I've bought 5-6 bikes have been lucky to break even. 5 years ago those 5-6 bikes would have netted me $1000. There's just no ROI and its not a crap market Tampa thing as I sell most of my bikes and parts on eBay.

Rule #1: Know your market
Rule #2: Know your market
Rule #3: Do it because you like it. If you make money its a bonus.

Barrettscv 

I invest in good quality C&V bikes for enjoyment, not profit. However, I do try to keep my investment from exceeding market value by more than $200. I've only sold one of my C&V bikes, and it brought a $300 profit.

miamijim

More than likely I'm the only one here who's filed with the IRS. Simply, if you have 200 payment transaction and $20,000 in transactions your payment provider, Paypal, Square or whoever must provide you with an IRS 1099-K

I gave that 1009-K to my accountant with a very detailed list of expenses. IIRC I paid taxes on maybe $5,000 of net income? It kinda sucked, I had to make a spreadsheet with over 300 ebay transactions and related expenses.

wrk101

Actually, I got the same 1099 myself last year and paid taxes as well. I finally got off my a@@ and moved some high end stuff last year which ran up the PayPal significantly. Paperwork was a real PITA. Remember, its not just all ebay transactions, its all PayPal transactions. So sales on the forum, or any other sales beyond ebay also count towards the limit. And the typical PayPal transaction includes shipping. So its easier than you might think to cross the dollar and transaction amounts.

miamijim

Depressing wasn't it?

KonAaron Snake 

But did you file the business with Tampa? Collect the sales tax?

At least there's no state tax.

It doesn't sound like your accountant was very aggressive, but I'd have to see the rest of the return. If you were doing just a bit more, I'd say that you should have set up an s-corp so that it wouldn't also be subject to self employment tax.

Blatant self promotion, but if anyone has this issue, I'd gladly assist.

nlerner

For a couple of years, I was converting old road bikes into single speeds and selling them mostly to college kids via Craig's List. Then, I realized that I'd rather spend my dwindling wrenching time on my own bikes. Then, I realized that I'd rather be riding. Then, new cheap single-speeds/fixed gears came out. I'll still pick up a project now and then for kicks, but I'd still rather be riding.

sloar 

I'm horrible at it, but I still enjoy it. I call it recycling my money, plus I feel I'm doing good in the world. I buy a neglected bike, clean it and make it pretty. Plan to keep it, then find something else I want. So I sell my current purchase at little or no profit to buy another. It's a viscous cycle, but it's fun. It's all about finding the next one.

repechage

And you will pay even more in taxes if the current lawmakers get thier way.
But I digress, one secret is that expensive bikes are easier to work on than cheap ones.
Just how it is.
If you do not have the tools already, and you might need a lot unless you focusing one era or nationality... The price of admission is serious.
Good tools and equipment make the work go faster.

Gravity Aided

I did it for years, until my job improved. The last straw was when they gave me scheduled overtime and a raise, just about the time the bottom was falling out of the market around here. Then we got a bike co-op, which takes all that I learned from the previous bike flipping stunts, and pays me in trade at the co-op, a wage equivalent that's pretty good for flyover country. That's a good deal for me, and a good deal for the co-op.