[Closed] Selling bikes - whole or in bits

My recent tactic has been to keep an eye on the wanted ads. Can be slow going but managed to shift quite a bit on there.

[quote=rugbydick ]I've been trying to sell my bike recently and have had next to no interest... this is not a stealth ad btw!
I've priced the bike at what I consider to be a reasonable price (based on what I can see other similar bikes advertised for), and have offered to meet buyers to potentially save them the cost of shipping - yet there seems to be little interest.
So... would I have more luck (and maybe more cash) stripping the bike down and selling the individual parts, or should I persevere and hope that a buyer for the complete bike comes along soon?
Might depend on how old and what standards. The old 50% after year 1 and 10% each other year doesn't always seem to work.

If the bike is quite a way from standard then stripping and selling might be a better strategy. Not everyone sees things the same way. On the plus side if you sell everything then you should make a bit more, on the negative side you may end up with some bits you can't shift. Selling a bike whole will generally get you less but removed a lot of hassle.

TBH it depends totally on the bike and the parts. Quite often, if a frame was never sold as a standalone it can end up fetching a surprisingly high price (I sold my Camber Pro frame for pretty much what a whole bike was selling for frisntance) but other times you'll be left with a load of bits that have pretty neglible value.

If you've got a use for the interchangable parts like drivetrain, brakes etc that makes a big difference, generally these things are worth more kept and reused than they are sold.

Size matters. There is the most demand for M and L size frames. XS and XL can be tough to move as the number of people that need that size is comparatively small.

TBH it depends totally on the bike and the parts

Agree with this. I sold a bike a few months ago and added up the likely sale price of all the parts (using past eBay sales aa reference) and then just listed the whole bike at that price. The bike sold so must have been the right price and much less hassle than selling 10 separate items (along with the fact that a lot of the parts wouldn't even sell that well as separate parts.

Other bikes I have sold as parts as when adding up the price it was a fair bit more than the price a complete bike would have gone for. I even bought a bike once just to strip it (£500 bargain bike sold the parts for £900!)

If it's not selling, you are asking too much for the market you are trying to sell to.
Either change the market place e.g. Stick it on eBay, or reduce the price.

Edit Intense Carbine with [b]26" wheels[/b] - that might be your problem

Stuff sells better on eBay. Much bigger market place, and usually get a slightly better price, but, eBay is ALWAYS a lottery with respect to buyers and you often lose any increase in price to the ~14% you'll pay in fees. It's the price of doing business.

Whilst it’s not necessarily what you’re after, the bike is priced too high. My nukeproof mega 14’ sold for £1400 6 months ago, and that was up to date in terms of geometry, wheelsize etc. Granted yours was more expensive in the first place, but it’s also older.

In bike years, it’s now a 4 year old bike, would you pay £1350 for a 4 year old, out of date (in a lot of people’s opinions) bike?

Thanks for the input folks.

It was on eBay too but the bidding only went up to £700 which (especially when you take off fees) I wouldn't be prepared to let it go for.

Parts it is!
Stripped it down this morning and will see what happens...

This is what I do.

1.Clean bike
2.Dissasemble
3.Take photos
4.Put bits in box in attic while I sort adverts
5.Can't be arsed there's always something better to do
6.Finally bite bullet
7.Photos lost
8.Take box down and repeat steps 3-5

I've taken to selling whole bikes for less than I think they're worth. At least I get some money.

^ true story. i've already got bits.. including some purple i've been meaning to put on..

eBay maybe on a pre-xmas slow down too..

I know someone who makes a fair bit selling stuff (not bike) on eBay and they've gone from making 1K profit per month to almost nothing in the last three weeks.

btw on the topic. i'm reading with interest as I have an old bike which is a tough sell at what it cost to put together, but could be worth as much in parts. i'll do some research.

but i'm guessing. a good basic split is.

- frame + bars
- forks
- crank arms/chain rings etc.
- wheelset
- mechs individual unless matching set

only thing is, the one i'd break down is cable disc operated so i don't know if it'd be worth splitting that out, or bundling with the frame or wheelset

btw some big towns have charities that build bikes, any left over spare bits could be donated to their parts bins. i've donated to, and picked from one local to me.

btw it is also true that some bikes are overpriced on ebay and people either relist £50 cheaper repeatedly until either they give up, or someone makes a cheeky offer. case in point i guess. I got my bike for a good price almost a year ago, and i've yet to see a similar model priced as low since then. I'm even seeing much older models priced higher..