rustystrings61 

Howdy, all. This week I've listed a couple of bikes on FB Marketplace.

This one is listed at $40 -

Early 70s Mercier 200 - classic French-built bike-boom-era 10-speed! This one is a bitsa or a Frankenbike with the original Mercier “Luxtub” tubing frame, an Akisu replacement fork, Shimano shifters operating SunTour derailleurs, and Weinmann centerpull brakes with nice hooded levers. EDIT - I have fitted nicer wheels featuring alloy rims and serviceable tires. Bearings are all good and have been serviced. It’s ready to go
!




And then there's this one listed at $60 now -
25-in 1986 Schwinn World Sport; all bearings serviced, wheels trued and cables adjusted; durable Bell Streetster tires are barely used with a lot of life left in them. THE perfect errands/campus/coffee shop bike featuring a main frame of 4130 chrome-moly tubing, dependable 12-speed Shimano gearing and a comfy Avocet saddle. Ready to roll! Local pickup only!






Are my prices realistic? So far I've had one guy who asked me to show him the Mercier who then bailed because he really wants a nice vintage collectible and not a beater like this; then I had a lengthy go-round via FB messenger with a guy who first wanted the Mercier, then the Schwinn, then both, all the while being bullying and low-balling to the point I ended the convo by saying, "No. We're done. Have a nice day."

Thoughts? I mean, apart from cultivate greater patience ...

3alarmer 

.
...I'm thinking that you're not asking too much money, and that this is why I am reluctant to run CL ads to sell my bicycles.
A lot of the lower price bike buyers are not especially knowledgeable, so they end up buying at Walmart or Costco.

AS you have discovered already, a lot of the old bike guys are looking for something "collectable" (whatever that means). It's a problem.


I would say treat the whole CL sales experience as more of an opportunity to observe humanity. And pop some popcorn. :

bikemig 

Great prices so be patient. You may find that asking more money is helpful. People think that a low price means that bike is crummy and needs work. I'd ask a $100 each or more on these bikes and document all the work you've done. Plus explaining why these are good bikes is helpful. You've probably done all of these things but I think a good ad is really helpful in case your description was brief.

hayden52

I agree. These are very nice bikes, $40 and $60 is WAY too low. I would ask at least $200, and call them vintage.

TugaDude

Perhaps they are priced so low that people think there's something wrong with them. The bike market is inflated right now, in some markets incredibly so. I'd raise the prices and just be patient.

Clang

I'd agree with the others on pricing.

One thing I'd recommend is retaking your pictures on a sunny day. Wash the bikes and shine up the chrome on the Mercier with some wet aluminum foil. Find a prettier backdrop than that dirty wall. That way you have nice current photos with the correct wheelset on the Mercier.

Vonruden

Just let me know when the Vincitore is for sale.

Oldsledz

I have sold a lot of bikes here in Michigan this summer in June I could have sold those two bikes fast for what you are asking, but it is getting late in the season now and the ones I have for sale now are getting much interest.

randyjawa 

You might have missed including an important word in your listings. The word is "vintage" believe it or not.

repechage

The blue bike looks sad, so does the Schwinn... think presentation.
lower the saddle on the blue one, just looks cramped and awkward. could use a silver seatpost.
wipe off the rims well, make the whatever chrome shine.
The dirt about the bottom bracket does not imply serviced. (red bike)
I would consider not photographing at least one or two images out in the sun.

vintage is a good key term and raise the prices by $100.

Insidious C. 

Your prices seem good to me. It generally takes me a week to sell a bike that I have priced fairly (meaning well below typical CL ask). Often I will only receive one response. Best of luck!

Chuck M 

I don't sell bikes, but I spend a lot of time browsing CL and FB Marketplace for bikes that I think I need. While these bikes aren't what I'm looking for, the prices don't stink on ice. I think your presentation is lacking. As others have mentioned, lighting, angle and location can make a difference. Many online ads feature bikes against a garage door, fence or are obviously taken the moment it is removed from a storage locker. Make your ad stand out a bit by not making your ad look like those.

Edit: I'd probably be interested in the Mercier were it local even with the pictures not being flattering. Better pictures and you may be able to bump the price and in the end the worst case is you negotiate back to what you originally listed it at.

SurferRosa

Take them to the nicest park near your house and photograph them in the partial shade with the sun behind you. And jack up your prices a bit.

Kabuki12

Yea , Out here they would have sold quickly at that price. I know CL can be challenging sometimes but I have sold a couple of bikes and it turned out OK. It IS true that the "vintage" word helps. Cool bikes for little money get sold fast around Southern California , but I have never sold a bike for less than $150 even an entry level bike.

Jeff Neese

Maybe it's just the photos, but that blue one looks like a rattle-can paint job, and someone even painted fake chrome on the fork and rear stays. There doesn't appear to be any decals at all, so you have no idea what that bike actually is. It looks like there's easily $40 worth of parts, though.

2old

I agree with above; some individuals don't bother to even look at bikes <$100 or so. Put them in for $150 - $200 with a long list of their positive attributes, maybe with a "will consider offers" statement and wait a few days.

xiaoman1 

IMO, Priced low but in need of a cleanup to present well and sale for the asking price...start sell number a bit higher with the option to make an offer.
GLWTS, Ben

wrk101

Shows how dead the Greenwood market is for vintage bikes. Selling locally is all about location. I stopped messing with the lower end stuff as even if I get the bike for free, by the time I replace consumables, I lose money. The World Sport is both low end, and big (size wise). I struggle selling anything that size.

If I see a really cheap bike at a garage sale, say $20 or less, I will pick it up and drop it off at the co-op. The co-op has the advantage of "free" consumables that I do not have.

The other thing I look for on cheap bikes are parts. If there are some decent parts, I might buy. In the world of old MTBs, I look for decent cranksets, thumb shifters and pedals.

I have also found selling on FB marketplace a complete waste of time. Again, its all location. FB marketplace may be a great place to sell stuff in some markets.

Now I do a lot better picking up the high end stuff instead. Might pay $400 to $600 for it, could be worth $750 to $1000. Thinking back to the last three bikes I have bought most recently, $300, $400, and $250. Returns were quite good on those buys.

If the goal is to make a profit, or some $$ for your bike fund, aim higher! And consider some as part outs.

Tires on the Mercier look really bad. Nice tires sell bikes. Buyers think tires are really expensive.

Mr. 66

I have the Schwinn going a little higher at about $125-150.

the Mercier I don't know, that may be better to sell as a bare frame, fork headset for $30, and hold parts for another frame.

I would put a cleansing on the bikes, and the photo spot shouldn't have anything that draws a negative like clutter, trash cans. I think your siding could use a wash as a background goes.

Mr.Toolbox

Respray the Mercier frame pink and buy new decals afterwards it should easily sell for 200 usd.

CliffordK

I agree... $150 to $195 should be a good price.

I'm not familiar with "Luxtub". So, perhaps some explanation of what it is for the bike people.

Make sure you list the frame size. Center of the BB to the top of the top tube along the seat tube. 58cm for the Mercier, 60cm for the Schwinn?

I like sizes in cm, but you can also do inches.

If you are selling a "commuter bike", I wonder if things like a basic bike rack would help. I regularly find them for about $5 at thrift stores.

Personally I do very little on Facebook. So, it is either on Craigslist, or I don't see it.

Oldbikenut

Prices are more then fair!!!

jdawginsc 

Double the price. If they don’t sell in two weeks, raise it again.

I actually did that the end of summer to pare down the overstock I bought last year for the student bike giveaway.

himespau 

When prices are too low (or free), I tend to get a lot more hassle and less serious people (and more no shows) than when I raise the price a bit.

rustystrings61 

All good and useful information, and thanks! It's not so much that I seek to maximize my profits, I was just hoping to blow out these two bikes cheap and fast to people who would ride them. The Greenwood market is SOOOOO dead for vintage it's not even funny - though if I was up the road in Greenville, that would be another matter. If I was in Greenville I would splash "VINTAGE!!" all over the ads and watch the hip folk knock each other over in their rush for them. But, alas, I am not.

The Mercier IS rattlecanned, and the front fork does indeed have chrome spray paint on it in an attempt to match the very tired real chrome on the rear. It's cheap because it is a basic French gaspipe beater - Luxtub was Mercier's equivalent of Liberia 102 tubing, or Peugeot's basic stuff. It takes a 25.4 mm seatpost. But still, a running bike with tires that hold air, no matter how cosmetically challenged, ought to have moved by now at $40.

The World Sport is low end, but serviced and running reasonably well, and a good choice for someone to get around on. I guess it's a sign of how dead the market around here is. Of course, realistically, it always has been. I had a Centurion Signet in good running shape, nicer than either of these, sitting in the LBS on consignment for more than a year with no bites.

Thanks for your time, y'all! If they sit around much longer, I'll donate them somewhere. The Mercier was a clunker challenge bike a few years back, and the World Sport temporarily donated its wheels and crankset to my 2020 entry, so I suppose I got my money's worth out of them!