Telvis

I have been suffering from neck and shoulder pain and decided to go with a recumbent trike. I知 in my mid fifties and abused my body when young. The new recumbent has been a Godsend.

I知 planning to sell my two newest road bikes but I知 not sure what to ask. Are the values in bike blue book accurate? Both bikes are about a year old 2020 models. One is a Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 aluminum with carbon fork and shim and 105 gearset. I put about 2,500 miles on it but it痴 in near perfect condition. The other is a Trek Domane SLR5 full carbon. In excellent condition. It has about 1500 miles on it. I bought them both brand new. Not trying to sell with this post. I知 just trying to figure out a fair price. I just spent a ton on the trike so I知 hoping to cover some of its cost by selling these. The numbers on bike blue book look good but I don稚 know if they are realistic.

thanks,
Tim

MattTheHat 

I’d say right now n the DFW area you would likely be able to do better than Blue Book values.

Bryan C. 

I just recently sold a couple low mileage high end bikes, road and MTB. I didn't get a response to my ad until the sale price was down to 50% of retail. $6500 road bike sold for $3000 and the $4000 mtb sold for $1900.
I was happy to get that much in return.

bikemig 

Blue book bike prices are consistently terrible.

Iride01 

What's more important is how much do you value them. Or in other words, if you don't get offered what you feel they are worth, are you willing to let them sit and rot in storage or just sit around taking up space?

Even at a fair market value, will you be able to let the potential customers that are willing to pay a fair market price or higher know about your bike ?

GlennR

with the current shortage of new bikes, a 1 year old bike might be worth what you paid for it.

cb400bill

A 2020 ALR5 retailed for $2099. The 2021 version is $2199.

Considering that Gravel bikes are currently in really short supply, I'd price it at about $2000 and negotiate from there.

Telvis

I would do the happy dance to get 80-90 percent of original value. They are in great shape and like new. I didn稚 know bikes were still hot!

Bryan C. 

I think the current bike boom and hot market is on its way out. Just my opinion based on my own experience. Nothing wrong with setting a high sale price and letting the market do its thing. They're only worth what someone is willing to pay.

Look at your local bike ads and see what is for sale and at what price. Price your bikes accordingly. If you are priced higher than market rate it may take some time to find a buyer looking for your specific bike, and who is willing to overpay.

LifeNovice1

I agree that with the "grand re-opening" the market has cooled. I've noticed people on Facebook marketplace marking stuff way down from what they were originally trying to sell for. You have to remember that people are now selling a lot of those bikes that were flying out of stores at this time last year. But start at 80% retail and see what happens. You can always go down in a couple of weeks.

blakcloud

In my neck of the woods used bikes that you are selling would go from 90-110% or your paid price. I was quoted January 2022 for Checkpoint. You will have no problems selling.

SkinGriz

The fair price is whatever price a buyer is willing to pay.

Phil_gretz

^this. With perfect information available to both seller and buyer, and mutual agreement on the price, then they have reached fair market value.

Flip Flop Rider

start out high and see who bites, you can always lower it

Sy Reene

You could check prices for comparables on TheProsCloset and/or ask them to make an offer for your bikes.

Retro Grouch 

True, but you still have to find a potential buyer who is interested enough to negotiate with you.

Pop N Wood

Rumor has it Bicycle Blue Book is run by a retail bike chain. The rumor also states they purposely low ball trade in prices so that same chain can make a buck marking them up.

Don't know about the rumors but know for a fact their prices are on the low side. Especially right now.

Sy Reene

IOW, sounds like the auto blue books, who I believe the purpose was to provide sellers a price that they could feel comfortable getting as an offer from the local car dealership as a trade-in.

urbanknight

Nope. Not even close.

My favorite way to determine the market value of most used items is to check completed eBay listings of similar items. You have to take into account the condition, but it otherwise gives you a fairly good starting point.

Telvis

I知 travelling for work all this week. I知 going to post them for sale this weekend. We will see how it goes. I知 not in a huge hurry to get them sold. I will try the higher price points and slowly reduce until the sell. I can always go down on price but never up.

Pop N Wood

I've sold all of 4 bicycles in my whole life, but the times I did I priced them to sell. Too much work dealing with people who never show up.

70sSanO

This is excellent advice. If you are trying to get top dollar you have to expect people to change their minds because they are not getting enough depreciation over a new bike that comes with a warranty and maybe maintenance.

John

Telvis

Good point. When I fist posed the question I didn稚 expect the high value responses I received. I知 going to post them this weekend. I知 going to be reasonable in the pricing.