2nd hand market

<p style="text-align: left;">I've experienced the same. How badly do you want rid of it?</p>

explained better here, essentially unless it's entry level or high end, the market is dead

Yeap very dead. It's a buyer's market if you can find someone selling something you want that has also realised this. Unfortunately many are still hanging on for peak covid prices or asking pretty much what the now overstocked shops want for new.

it's also the fact that a lot of places like CRC, Pauls etc etc are knocking things out for insane money, like the Nukeproofs for 50% off, Rocky Mountains for 50% off. It means that 2nd hand prices have to be through the floor to sell.

What @weeksy said.

Some of the discounting going on is nuts at the moment. Earlier in the year Trek were doing about 35% off a load of their e-bikes. Now Specialized are doing 50% off some of their e-bikes, there's often used bikes advertised for £1000+ more than new!!

Must be a massive kick in the nuts if you've just spent £7.5k on a bike and it's now just under £4k new for the same thing.

<p style="text-align: left;">seems so, I put up a frog 48 on facebay last week.  normally you arm is ripped off for a decent kids bike.  3 contacts all by scammers. prices seem to be 50-100 less than last time I sold one too</p>

It’s a buyer’s market if you can find someone selling something you want that has also realised this. Unfortunately many are still hanging on for peak covid prices or asking pretty much what the now overstocked shops want for new.

Kind of like the housing market is in a mortgage crisis

Totally dead now. I’ve been keeping an eye on a few different bikes (hard hitting, long travel enduro bike with a relatively low budget) recently for my brother so browsing Pinkbike regularly and almost nothing is moving. The really cheap stuff is (sub £700) but nothing mid-market.

Controversial perhaps but many sellers are in a total dream world. Asking crazy prices for knackered or hammered bikes. Scratches on a fork stanchion? (Never deep and won’t affect performance of course). There’s a potential new fork needed. Tires worn? There’s £120. When were the fork and and shock last serviced? £230 and the faff. Bearings done recently? Of course not. Another £100.

At this point he’s better off buying a £2k new Nukeproof Giga or YT Capra. Won’t have the most incredible spec, but it will work and if something doesn’t, a reasonable warranty.

Whilst I’m on my soapbox, a 27.5 bike is worth a lot, lot less than most people are asking. By and large the market desire (rightly or wrongly) has moved to 29 or mixed. Ceiling price of a 27.5 bike, unless it’s something really special is probably about £1600.

I bought a coctic rocket for what I thought was a bargain this winter.

Quickly decided I didn't like it. It was very difficult to shift.

There was one on eBay for double what I bought/sold mine for.

Just because that what one person or lots of people have it priced at doesn't mean yours will sell if it's priced lower.

The more expensive one was still for sale 2 months after mine went.

I bought it for £700 and sold mine for £780, £700 after fees.

This one is still for sale at £1200.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275525470479?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-7JAPHo_Q6m&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=a9M6NJdMTVq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

As always, it depends. Mainstream stuff is always slower & harder to sell anyway - even in a sellers market.

Decent kit always sells & still sells for good money. It’s not as strong as it was, but it’s not the disaster that some people are making out. I just ignore the chancers & it sells when it sells 🙂

There is a noticeable drop in decent stuff for sale in general though.

As others have said, just look at the cost of brand new bikes/parts and you'll see there's not much reason to buy second hand.

It would be interesting to look at the hike in RRP prices of the last 5 yrs says, and see if this is now some natural realignment of prices to where they should be.

It was obvious around lockdown that RRP prices just rocketed because they could.

I've been looking at Orbea Rise's. 2nd hand ones are coming up and people think they are selling a bargain because they paid silly high prices. Reality is I can buy a brand new one for not much more money, and more importantly one with warranty as Orbea do not transfer warranty, which I think is shocking.

How many bike companies these days actually do transferrable warranty ?

I moved on a Scandal frame in about 48 hours, and had 4-5 people interested in it. It was realistically priced though.

I'd say bike prices are just coming back down to pre-covid levels where bikes almost immediately lost 50% of their value and carried on depreciating, but a lot of sellers are refusing to accept that. The people who wouldn't ordinarily have bought used bikes were pushed into it by a lack of stock which drove prices up, but now there's plenty of discounted new stuff available combined with a used market where a lot of people are trying to find some extra cash to offset the old cost of living.

650b (on a mountain bike) is a death sentence in the used market right now.

steelisideal
Free Member

Great comment.

I am planning to offload a reasonably desirable steel FS frame with a cult following - but I reckon I may as well wait and see if things pick up a bit, and keep it as a spare bike for a late summer trip in the meantime.

Excess of 2022 bikes has forced retailers to drop prices which in turn has massively reduced prices of 2nd hand bikes. Either split the bike or reduce the full bike price.

I sold what would have been two 3k+ bikes last year for around 4.5k in parts this year. Not one offer for the full bikes. But... The money was going towards a new bike which was also reduced so I didn't see it as a loss...

If your selling because you need the cash unfortunately you may not get as much as you think.

E-bikes innit

Not (as) many people wanting normal pedal bikes.

Go in JE James and look at what they have their shop floor full of

I’ve been a merchant of doom re: second hand market for some time, however just sold a decent quality road bike in a week on FB marketplace.

E-bikes innit

Not really - it's the same for the 2nd hand ebike market. Absolutely loads for sale not shifting because you can buy new at low prices. FB market place is filled with them.

People who bought a 5k bike 1or 2 years ago trying to offload for now for 3k which is only £500 less than you can now buy the same bike new from a shop.

only £500 less than you can now buy the same bike new from a shop.

for most brands without a warranty.

i'd buy a s/h non e-bike without a warranty, but no chance on a ebike.

Kind of like the housing market is in a mortgage crisis

This...

E-bikes innit

Not (as) many people wanting normal pedal bikes.

And this just don't make sense to me. Looking over on the EMTB forums and another couple of places, people seem to be throwing thousands at e-bikes despite us being told that there's this huge cost of living and mortgage crisis going on. Maybe I'm just a bit careful (tight!) with my cash but it just doesn't add up in my mind.

I think the whole e-bike secondhand market is a whole different discussion though!

Its priced well according to similar specs and in excellent condition.

Everything on the 2nd market seemed to be overpriced when I looked, so your valuation is why it's not selling. It's a buyers market and you've got 2 choices; reduce the price until it sells, (the actual market price-point for your bike) or stash it away until some sort of uptick happens in the 2nd hand market, but that may be years away if at all. The bike segment, like loads of other leisure segments in the last 2-3 years is awash with unwanted gear.

I reckon there's something in the ebikes thing. A lot of people will be happy with their pedal bikes and seeing their next purchase as an eeb.

But that doesn't mean they can afford a new one right now and the risks of buying used are well known.

I think it's a contributing factor, rather than the main one though (which is Truss & Kwarteng).

There are still some silly asking prices about - was looking at gravel bikes for ages and the prices were too high, still are.

Given the riding I do, I actually wanted a CX bike, and one with rim brakes due to the amount of 'spares' I have. Eventually found a good Colnago World Cup for just over £300. I still spent a bit on gravel tyres (for my main wheelset - came with road tyres), extra cassette, then replaced some manky bolts and brake pads, and all the cables. Cost another £150 to get it how I wanted it - would have done this on any bike).

Now Specialized are doing 50% off some of their e-bikes,

Oooh, where's that please?

Not really – it’s the same for the 2nd hand ebike market. Absolutely loads for sale not shifting because you can buy new at low prices. FB market place is filled with them.

People who bought a 5k bike 1or 2 years ago trying to offload for now for 3k which is only £500 less than you can now buy the same bike new from a shop.

Prime example of this on another site.

A Specialized Levo that you can currently buy new for £5.5k, the guy has stripped it back to bare metal and upgraded drivetrain/suspension/brakes now he's asking £7.5k for it despite it being secondhand. Seems absolutely insane to me.

Surprised that Cycle2Work hasn't been mentioned. Why would I spend £1000 cash on a used bike when for the same cost to me I could get a new £1500 bike with warranty?

Definitely dead 😉 I ended up with my 2nd hand V2 RipMo at around 60% of what it was originally advertised for.  It'd been for sale for about six months and had the price dropped twice.

I looked on PB at what 2nd hand Rascal's (the Revel I stripped to build the RipMo) and there's some strong money being asked for the few examples on there. Based on the fact they didn't sell, I think I'll stick mine on the wall rather than sell it for not very much (and I don't need to cash right now).

I don't expect the market will improve tho - agree with the ebike shift.

I'd bet it's just a market correction. 2nd hand bikes were really expensive in lockdown and afterwards when the supply wasn't there. Now we're in a cost of living crisis and facing an incoming recession, people who are worrying about their bills, buying food or taking a £500 a month hit on their mortgage aren't looking to buy an expensive luxury like an expensive MTB.

At the same time a tidal wave of back-dated stock arrives.

We're seeing a hige rise in inflation for essential goods like food and clothes, but we might be seeing stagflation when it comes to bikes, too much discounting and lots of people will put of buying new bikes, assuming they'll be cheaper come autumn / winter.

@nbt it's the Harrowgate Concept Store I think. You have to call them to get the best price. As far as I know it's only on Levo SL and Kenevo SL with the old 1.1 motor.

legometeorology

It’s a buyer’s market if you can find someone selling something you want that has also realised this. Unfortunately many are still hanging on for peak covid prices or asking pretty much what the now overstocked shops want for new.

+1

Same with a lot of markets.

Motorbikes, usually go mad at Easter, if anything prices dropped slightly.

Gym/fitness kit. Last year you couldn't get stickered in the UK made in China recycled crumb plates for £2/kilo, now competition/commercial plates are struggling to get that. And big stuff like racks just isn't moving at all unless priced very keenly (I just sold a Mirafit M220 rack for £90 which is probably good going, there's an Again Faster wall mounted folding rack with spotters that's not sold for £100, that's >£400 worth of rack!)

I've sold quite a lot recently to clear space and raise some cash for other projects, but I've been pretty realistic with the pricing. Unless there's another pandemic sometime soon you're better off cutting the price right down now to find that one bargain hunting buyer as it's only going to drop further.

Gym/fitness kit. Last year you couldn’t get stickered in the UK made in China recycled crumb plates for £2/kilo, now competition/commercial plates are struggling to get that. And big stuff like racks just isn’t moving at all unless priced very keenly (I just sold a Mirafit M220 rack for £90 which is probably good going, there’s an Again Faster wall mounted folding rack with spotters that’s not sold for £100, that’s >£400 worth of rack!)

I'm still seeing people on Facebook market place trying to shift 1" steel plates for £2/kilo, it's never happening 😁

I bought a (barely) used top end bike this time last year from someone who worked in the industry. Mentioned that the used bike market is dead - far fewer people want to drop hundreds/thousands on a used bike when they can get 0% on a 6 or 7 grand e-bike etc.

I’m still seeing people on Facebook market place trying to shift 1″ steel plates for £2/kilo, it’s never happening 😁

I mean, if someone offered some 2" / 450mm / 25kg pro-plates at a sensible price (i.e. scrap) I'd take them for SBD's and spend the savings on some really thick flooring. But a lot of that stuff was bought over lockdown, at lockdown prices and people aren't going to accept that any time soon.

I bought a (barely) used top end bike this time last year from someone who worked in the industry. Mentioned that the used bike market is dead – far fewer people want to drop hundreds/thousands on a used bike when they can get 0% on a 6 or 7 grand e-bike etc.

The new market is dead too though, hence the big discounts.

Dead's probably the wrong adjective too, I think it's just stagnant because there's a gulf between what people want to spend and what people are trying to sell for. Shops (and distributors, and manufacturers) obviously have a more rigid model with a number of bikes they have to sell by the end of the season/year, so we can see those prices being cut progressively in sales. 2nd hand there's a lot of stuff up for sale at 75% of RRP that's just not going to sell.

I’ve been buying biking stuff this year and I think the 2nd hand market is currently great.

I've recently had 2 brand new bikes with substantial discounts. Not even worth looking at used stuff at the prices people want.

I won't need anything for a while.

I was considering a used Airdrop Edit as a toy for messing around with but most of the ones currently for sale are the same ones that were up this time last year.

It's a double edged sword for sellers.

Hanging out for better prices but you are also racing against depreciation.  Better prices won't be just around the corner.

I cut my losses a couple of months ago on an impulse purchase 😉

I wanted a winter road bike and the prices were high both 2nd and new, so i just bought a few spares and remodeled my unused gravel bike into a road bike.

I toyed with selling my Cotic Flare and replacing it with a hardtail as I don't do much riding that requires a full sus now, but soon realised it's worth sod all with its unfashionable 650b wheels and 142mm rear end. So I've spent a bit on some new wheels, tyres, bearings and a mech/cable and I reckon I'll keep it forever, it's just not worth selling.

Most nice hardtails that I'd want were coming in at £3,000 plus at a reasonable (no need to plan for upgrades) spec. level. So I'm building a rigid bike in addition to the Flare.

I did look for used steel 29er frames for several weeks and they were almost non existent!

I can see an ebike in my stable in the future, but I'd only buy new, wouldn't finance one, and would prefer something lighter/shorter travel than most of the current offerings.

I'm tempted to just keep it and use it for winter but it wont get ridden much. It is in excellent condition so could strip it and sell the parts. Just don't want to put in that much time.