oddjob2

Must be some rumor that selling season is winding down. Since the beginning of this month, 2-3 of the overpriced southeastern Michigan DKO's are marking their inventory down by 10-20%. Some of these bikes have been sitting at stupidly high BBC like asking prices for a year in some cases. These are guys with 10-50 listings.

There was a DKO who had a 1995 TREK Multitrack 730 listed at $850. I offered 90% less at $85, he countered at $125. I went over to check it out and it needed some work, and it had MTB U brakes, but I came up to $100. No deal, so now it's listed at $250.

I find it's a little quiet, but I only prep 2-3 bikes a week and seem to have little or no price resistance. Of course, I'm no BBC pricer.

What's your experience/read?

due ruote 

None of these make sense. I give up.

[TABLE="class: AcrFinder"]
[TR]
[TH="align: left"]

Acronym[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]

Definition[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]DKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]Defense Knowledge Online[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]dKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]double knockout (mice)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]DKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]Darren Kramer Organization (band)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]DKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]Deeltijds Kunst Onderwijs (Dutch: Part-Time Art Education)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]DKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]Don't Know Option (surveys)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: acr, align: center"]DKO[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]Delta Kappa Omicron (fraternity)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

r0ckh0und 

Dirt Knocker Off'er

SteveSGP

I can't even find a bike to rebuild lately, there's almost nothing affordable posted that you could make any money on anymore.

The market here has gotten ridiculous, never mind the fact that $4.00 a gallon for fuel quickly adds up and eats away at profit. I've pretty much decided that unless something falls into my lap I'm not going to worry about it. I'll maintain and ride what I've got and if I find something to restore and sell I will.

wrk101

I am seeing in general fewer decent vintage bikes out there. Lots of crappy stuff. To be fair, most of the crappy stuff is priced pretty low.

The SS/FG conversion craze is over, which has cut demand quite a bit. The new triathlete boom is over as well. Those were two "booms" that were fueling a lot of sales around here.

r0ckh0und 

Prices around Chicago seem to be as strong as ever. I still see some deals from time to time. I've been going to the I-80 flea market quite a bit this Spring and I rarely see drop bar road bikes and when I do they're tucked away well before the gates open to the public. I have to think that bike hoarding is on the rise because I've been seeing the same bikes listed month after month after month.

eschlwc

is 'dko' a well known abbreviation? is it a bike easy to flip, or is it a flipper that just knocks off the dirt and little else?

big chainring 

Its dismal. Basicly broke even on a beautiful Raleigh Super Course and an equally nice 74ish Motobecane Grand Touring, after having had them listed for months. My Raleigh Gran Sport with Brooks Pro saddle has been listed over and over with only 2 interested parties. The last guy opted for a Schwinn Varsity over the Gran Sport! Go figure. If it sells, no profit.

BUT! I just bought a beautiful John Deere lawn mower for $50 today. 6.75 HP. I'm diggin it. Craigslist is still good for some stuff.

eschlwc

bought a couple bikes over the weekend. one a '77 grand jubile frame ($75) and another '76 'parts bike' ($60) with a bent fork and suntour cyclone gearing. hoping to put together a nice moto for under $200.

the frame owner also has three px10s for sale he showed me. one was almost complete he was selling in a bundle with another for $350. the third, i might buy from him for just $100 as it's without wheels.

toytech

DKO = dirt knocker offer, in other words a flipper who does nothing to the bike except wipe it off, if that.
In my market there is fierce competition for the bikes that are cheap enough to profit on, but sales are a little soft. I still get fair prices when I sell though since the majority of bikes being offered are more expensive and lesser models for the most part. The over priced bikes don't move and make my expensive but worth it bikes look cheap.

Shp4man

The single speed I started the thread about https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...c-type-of-bike finally sold last night at $176. A birthday gift for a teenager.

F red

Where did the extra dollar come from?

Shp4man

The guy had all 20's and I only had 4 ones.

oddjob2

Although gasoline prices are high right now, I think that there is so much bonus money floating around Detroit and credit is easy again, that buying a used bike has lost some of its luster. Most of my buyers have been retirees and grad students, fewer family buyers. Of course too, I have fewer mountain bikes for sale.

oddjob2

RJHammet seems to keep finding rocking deals in the twin cities.

Chris_in_Miami

The market has been slow here for over a year, but the major flippers don't seem to notice (if their asking prices are a reliable guide.)

F red

I've noticed that some of the flippers seem to simply run second hand bike stores, so people still pay the premium so they don't have to meet with 5 potential flakes to find something that works for them. A lot of them keep a stock of a dozen+ bikes and let people pick one.

bradtx

oddjob2, Around here it looks as if the prices have only increased. There are some FAIR prices, but they're few and far in between. A lot of wrecks for the price of an overhauled bike, if that makes sense.

Brad

geoluv

Around NYC bike prices on CL for lower end and mid end stuff has experienced a noticeable drop because of the citibike program. Instead of buying a cheap bike off CL people are just getting the membership, which is only 90 bucks a year for unlimited rides under 45 min. Plus people are selling their bikes and replacing them with memberships, so not only is the buyer pool smaller but the market is flooded. That's not to say the prices are low, they are still sky high compared to the rest of the country, but down noticeably from a year or two ago. In 2010 I sold a red ladies Schwinn traveler from the 70s that I converted to cruiser bars for $350!!!!! I bought the bike for $70. These days I am struggling to sell minty red Breezes for $199 that I bought for $100.

robtown

Beat up Roadmaster, Ross, Kent, Varsity, and other heavy steel wheeled bikes are being listed at $150-$200. Low end ladies frame bikes and MTB are $120 - $180. Better quality, better presented bikes (Centurion, Trek, Giant, Lotus, Nishiki) are $250 - $400. I don't know if any of them are bought. Many don't even get a DKO treatment.

I'm hoping that the bikes I'm working on now will look like bargains even when I increase my asking price to account for the higher acquisition costs.

rccardr 

I'm continuing to build higher end bikes and putting them away in temperature controlled storage.

Either the market will eventually come back or I'll have the most awesomest personal stable in town!

Either way is OK by me, I only build 'em for the fun of it.

Friend of mine in the Midwest who's a bike manufacturer's rep told me the other day he's missed out on $300K in late spring and early summer sales this year due to the (he thinks) crappy weather.

cycle_maven

Never any good deals in Austin anymore. The only C&V bikes are hi-ten with turkey wings and stamped dropouts offered at $250-300. Varsity's are $200. Miyata 210, stock and unrestored, at $350. Peugeots at $300. I don't think they're selling because the same bikes keep being listed at the same price. An occasional beat-up Colnago with Shimano at $800.

lostarchitect 

It's been brought up before and recently, but I wonder if a flipping subforum wouldn't be a bad idea. There are a lot of threads about flipping bikes lately.

fender1

There always are. If they would bring back the "Found at the dump or on Craigslist" sticky, it did a good job of naturally consolidating that type of info. It made it a more interesting topic with picture and stories.

To add to the thread, I have become a DKO flipper. I used to break flips all the way down and rebuild them. Not anymore. The large majority of the folks who bought and buy (not too much anymore) from me did not seem to care and were mostly driven by price. I figured if it is safe, working and since few buyers seemed to understand what went into a total redo, why do it? That way I can drop the price a bit, which is the primary attraction to the buyer.

I also have helped friends get bikes. When I work on those, I do take them all the way down and back up again.

wrk101

Sad, but I am seeing some of the same market forces here. A lot of buyers would rather pay $150 for a DKO bike, than $225 for the same bike fully rehabbed, with fresh tires, cables, bearings, grease, housings, chain, freewheel, etc.