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So I spent 3/4 of my bank account on my new bike and am looking for ways of getting that money back. Still got some parts to sell and bday coming up so that should take care of a bit but the rest will still be missing.
Something that came up was buying used bikes for a good/reduced price and breaking them down, then selling. So I was wondering if anyone has done this before with good results.
Maybe another option is working at the lbs over summer part time. Or the Evans near me is hiring for a part time sales assistant and the minimum age is 16 so I would be able to do it. Any advice? TIA.
Yep, this has come up before mate and people have indeed done that. As in bought, then broke up bikes to sell. They will no doubt post here.
It might even be more lucrative, possibly due to Covid/ Brexit. Brexit in the longer term is likely to be the bigger effect on diving up demand for used parts.
I worked on bikes on my 20's in a store. It's a good way to learn and can be fun. The customer definitely isn't always right though.lol
The customer definitely isn’t always right though.lol
Haha I've had to fix a few friends bikes and this comes to mind xD
sell the new bike and then you'll only have a 1/4 to find
Haha I’ve had to fix a few friends bikes and this comes to mind xD
You poor devil, it's like repairing a friend's/ family members pc... You become free tech support for life.lol
You poor devil, it’s like repairing a friend’s/ family members pc… You become free tech support for life.lol
Yes after building my own computer I became the designated tech support guy which turned out to be quite the curse
There's better ways of making money.
There’s better ways of making money.
Any hints? Lol
I fear you might not want to know.😉
How to make a little bit of money in the bike industry:
Start with a lot.
There are probably ways to make money but I don’t think this is one. Buying old bikes means old parts and is there really any demand to pay good money for obsolete bits that only fit old bikes? And who would buy old parts when they could buy an old bike cheaper. Take the job at evans, learn bikes, learn customers, bank a bit of money, then have another think about money making ideas in 6 months, when you’ll have a better insight into the industry.
And who would buy old parts when they could buy an old bike cheaper.
Retro enthusiasts looking to finish their latest build? Just got to learn about all those old bikes and parts, beat the enthusiasts to those battered old parts on ebay, then tart them up a bit to sell on for more. Not my idea of fun.
Yes I didn't necessarily mean retro parts just parts that could be sold on for more.
One I was looking at (now sold) was this:
I reckon I could have made about 150 selling all the parts seperately and maybe negotiated the price down to 320.
Unfortunately I've no idea of a search term to use but this topic definitely came up a year or so back.
From what I remember, it was possible to make a bit of money but there was a learning curve as far as knowing what to buy and required a lot of time.
Effectively a fair amount of work/time to make not a massive lot of money. That said, people do it, so it can work. Evans are likely to be getting through a lot of staff because they are in the news for all the wrong reasons unfortunately.😟 For you personally, that could be a positive though as even if positions fill fast, they won't stay filled for long I suspect.
You can make a little money but as above it is hard work. I dabbled in the past (when I worked in a bike shop) and have friends who gave it a more serious go. None of us do it anymore. What I had a little more link with is buying bikes for a particular part I wanted. For certain parts I ended up with the part for a lot less than I could have bought it for.
There are probably ways to make money but I don’t think this is one. Buying old bikes means old parts and is there really any demand to pay good money for obsolete bits that only fit old bikes?
last year there was. During the first lockdown you could sell pretty much anything for really quite silly prices. A mix of limited availability of new stuff and lots of cyclists with unexpected time on their hands. I was selling well worn stuff - a chipped, scratched rusty 13 year old inbred frame, part worn tyres and the like fit within a few quid of what is originally bought them for new
Cumulatively a shed-corners worth run of the mill okd bits that I’d been meaning to take to the recycling centre for years netted me about two grand
id have expected that bubble would have burst by now though. I doubt the demand will be as high niow.
That being said you could probably do something with this actually
Try it with one, see how you go. I fear the time, effort and peripheral costs (p&p) may erode the profits.
Bear in mind what you think of as a hobby may be regarded as income by the tax man if it got big enough.
Very interesting conversation recently between HMRC and a gentleman who couldn't see that £50k annual turnover on Ebay selling couldn't really be considered the same way as clearing a couple of bits out the shed. Though I suspect you'll not be making that much breaking old bikes.
Would love to know who tipped them off though.
Used bike prices are high at the moment. Not sure there's much profit to be made until prices settle.
I fear the time, effort and peripheral costs (p&p) may erode the profits.
Yes that was exactly what crossed my mind, these things can add up.
On another topic, does anyone know anything about applying for an Evans job without a CV prepared? Would be my first proper job so I might have to do a small write up or hopefully go in to the physical store and apply that way.
Bear in mind what you think of as a hobby may be regarded as income by the tax man if it got big enough.
£1,000/year profit is where they draw the line. Below that, go ahead. Above that, go ahead but register for self-assessment and declare it.
Note profit, not turnover.
Ive been doing this for years with all kinds of bike from Bmx's to mtb's
Trick is to know your market and what stuff is worth, Ive made plenty over the years which has helped me upgrade my bikes
Facebook market place can be a good place to start, i recently got a complete hardtail for free, the frame had snapped, after stripping everything down and cleaning it all up i made £500 by re advertising the parts back on Facebook market place
Just this week i picked up some Shimano m540 pedals for £5 and a broken Shimano Di2 rear mech for £5! the pedals just needed a re grease and the Di2 rear mech's cage was missing but i had another Shimano rear mech with a damaged body so it was just a case of fitting the good cage to the Di2 mech
The hardtail was a 26in one and the parts were snapped up quickly, good 26in wheels and forks make good money as there are quite a few people still running 26in bikes and most shops dont stock that size parts anymore
^^ Great bit of info there for the op mate. There some good knowledge going on there.👍
On another topic, does anyone know anything about applying for an Evans job without a CV prepared? Would be my first proper job so I might have to do a small write up or hopefully go in to the physical store and apply that way.
A couple of hours on a computer and you would have a CV.
I can't see a shop from a chain taking on anyone without paperwork, and a starting point being a CV.
Maybe another option is working at the lbs over summer part time. Or the Evans near me is hiring for a part time sales assistant and the minimum age is 16 so I would be able to do it. Any advice?
If you can get a job working in a bike shop, take it. The main payoff will be the experience, you need to understand how the industry works if you want to make a career of it. What you will find is that most repair jobs are not glamourous, you won't be doing custom builds of high-end bikes very often. Most of it is fixing punctures and sorting out brakes on old commuter bikes that have been neglected and abused for years.
Go for the evans job. Worst case is you get a CV together and you learn about the process.
I would always suggest gong for a job instead of making money out of a hobby. The reason being is it stops being a hobby then.
Ok thanks all I will probably go into the evans and ask about the hours so hopefully it will be a saturday job.
Not much to write on my CV as I've only worked as a waiter in a sailing club so I guess I will have to talk about my experience with building and maintaining bikes and how enthusiastic I am.
maybe if you post up your cv we can help on here (obviously with no personal details like name address etc?)
where are you based?
At 16, I'd not expect to see more on a CV than education and hobbies/achievements outside of school.
It certainly used to be the case that bike shops want qualified mechanics (Is Cytech still a thing?). Enthusiastic or not, they won't know if you're competent, and a bad mechanic is a liability.
Not much to write on my CV as I’ve only worked as a waiter in a sailing club so I guess I will have to talk about my experience with building and maintaining bikes and how enthusiastic I am.
Maybe word it in such a way that it doesn't look like a job you got through mummy and daddy, but being a waiter means experience dealing with the general public, manners, taking money, conflict resolution etc. Don't underplay that, it's great experience for a would-be bike shop worker.
If you've done any events that 'prove' you're into bikes (races, events, expeditions etc), talk about them.
This may be of use to you regards writing a CV.
And as an advert to everyone else, look up the social mobility foundation and consider volunteering, they are looking now (I'm a volunteer not involved in running it).
Regarding selling bikes I don't think it's much of a starter. You would need money to buy bikes, you may end up buying multiple bikes (£1000s) before you see significant sales if you are waiting for a good offer. There's the risk of your profit being wiped out with one bad purchase at low volumes. You'd probably be valuing your time at 0 but that might not be an issue for you. It could be an entertaining hobby - I bought a few retro road bikes years ago. Fixed them, tarted them up, rode them for a bit, sold them on. I broke even and had fun which was more than I expected. There are people in local facebook groups trying to make a business out of it. I normally steer clear of buying from them unless it is a simple/cheap part as I don't know the history. That and they ask for more than friends of friends who are just clearing out old bits they've accumulated.
Try it with one, see how you go. I fear the time, effort and peripheral costs (p&p) may erode the profits.
And it will suck the joy out of bicycles for you as well.
Yes I should have clarified but the position isn't for mechanic, but for a part time sale assistant so I assume what they are looking for is someone who is knowledgable about bikes, and who knows the Evans lineup well.
Ok so I went into Evan's yesterday, talked to the guys at the back and he said that I should come back next tuesday when the manager is in with a CV and we can talk business. Started writing my CV with some help and it's coming along nicely.
Anyone know what the starting salary is for a sale assistant at Evan's? Ad says up to 9 pounds but it could be less than that because of cuts or because I'm 16?
TIA
On a couple of occasions I've made decent money through buying job lots of bike stuff on eBay, sorting through for the good stuff and selling it on. Especially retro stuff.
A couple of years back I scored a small van load of bits (pick up only) for £30. First parts out the box were some NOS Modolo road brake levers that I immediately sold for £30. There was a load of campag bits in there too. Must of made £400, but you still have to know your market, and actually do the selling.
Car boot sales are another option (when they're open) - people sometimes don't know what bike stuff is worth.
Anyone know what the starting salary is for a sale assistant at Evan’s? Ad says up to 9 pounds but it could be less than that because of cuts or because I’m 16?
First job, no experience, I think you'd be doing well to be getting anything above minimum wage.
And that's not even considering the current climate. Evans announced >300 redundancies just last week.
First job, no experience, I think you’d be doing well to be getting anything above minimum wage.
Last job I did I got 10 an hour waiting tables. I guess I'll have to see when I talk to Evan's again. Maybe the corporate world isn't so generous xD
I mean, I could be wrong. I've never worked for a bike shop. But I'd have thought that there would be enough people happy to get minimum wage right now that they don't need to throw money at people. Especially when they're already making redundancies.
Yes that's fair enough, I'm not expecting much from the job just hoping for 6-7 pounds an hour
Minimum wage for under 18 is £4.55/hr - we are talking Evans here, so doubt they’ll pay any more considering the redundancies and putting everyone else on zero hours.
If it’s a Saturday job it’ll likely be zero hrs. My niece worked for the local sports direct when she was in 6th form and it was zero hrs.
Suited her though as she was often off playing Korfball for England and could do the odd hr or 2 in the week to help with staff shortages.
Last job I did I got 10 an hour waiting tables. I guess I’ll have to see when I talk to Evan’s again. Maybe the corporate world isn’t so generous xD
Go wait tables!
I think the buying and stripping bike parts as an income stream is a risky business - on top of all the points others have made about knowing what you are buying and selling and tying up your limited capital in stock - there’s so much stolen stuff around that you risk buying nicked bikes (and the legal consequences of that) and even if you stay clean are competing with the nicked bike strippers.
Mate of mine in Berlin started up back last year as a mobile mechanic. Repurposed the kiddie trailer and spent a good part of the summer fixing bikes for cash. Everyone wanting to avoid crowded public transport means he has a steady stream of commuter bikes.
Could you set yourself up something similar and advertise in local shops?
Last job I did I got 10 an hour waiting tables.
Some graduate salaries don't pay as well, fwiw (and it's not that far away from the average graduate salary).
https://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/whats-the-expected-salary-for-your-degree.html
The problem with selling second hand cycling gear is the profits - if you want to maximise them - aren't instant.
I bought a used bike at the start of lockdown, with the intention of sprucing it up and putting it to use. My circumstances changed and I didn't have the time, so I stripped it down, cleaned the parts up and listed them all on ebay with buy it now prices. To my surprise, I more than doubled my money (and that's after binning the stem/seatpost/bars), but I did have to wait a while for some of the less desirable items to sell.
Something else that seems possible to make good money on is cycling shoes. I bought a pair on a seven day listing for fifteen pounds, they arrived, and after testing them for a week, I found them to be a less than perfect fit. I put them back on ebay with a buy it now and made fifty quid.
I think if you're savvy enough, then there's definitely money to be made, likely more than you'd make at Evans/for less work.
Yes I think the stripping down business will have to be put on the backburner.
Job waiting tables was a limited time opportunity and an informal job (paid in cash)
I think I will still take the job even if it is minimum wage, 4.55 is better than nothing. I will be able to do more hours once summer holidays come so there should be more opportinity for work there.
Good luck. Let us know how you get on.
I’d definitely go down the Evans route. Don’t underestimate the importance of ‘dealing with people’ in any future career plans you have!
@belgianwaffle1 - didi you take the Evans job, or are you still looking?
It's a bit of a silly story really, took the evan's job with CV in hand on the day which they had asked me to come in on and the manager shouted from the back that he was busy and he would contact me.
In the end they never did, my contact details were correct on the document so I couldn't see why they didn't.
In the meanwhile I've done some odd jobs like trying to help a lady get her huge palm tree out of a pot it had been in for 7 years. Strength is not my strongest point so I had to recruit some people off of the street to help me.
Otherwise I repaired a few bikes for some friends, including a huge overhaul on one bike which had been neglected (chain, bb, tires, inner tube, grips, indexing).
The big bike hasn't needed much so I've got a DJ frame on order from a guy who is painting it but unfortunately he just broke up with his missus so that's on the backburner. Hopefully it will arrive in time for the end of exam season.
If anyone in KT area has any odd jobs, please PM me! 🙂
There's a guy in Andover who buys and sells bikes, well, he's about 20sih. He bought our Embolden off us in trade in for £550 and listed it for £750.... so £200. I don't know the figures on the others he sells, but i'd guess about a £200 mark up per bike is about his margin. When you think about what can happen when buying in a bike, even if it just needs a BB or a headset, then the margins will be small.
I'd go for the Evans job myself. It's an income, it looks good for future CV and you don't lose the income by bad luck etc.
Either that or trawling Ebay for bargains.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224500038892?hash=item34453ebcec:g:ObkAAOSwQQhgymdm
That for example ended on Ebay last night for £100, i'd have paid £150 for that .... (almost did actually) so look for badly advertised products... Even if you're making £20-30 a time on things, then you'll soon be in profit.... However it doesn't take much of a 'problem' to get stung and wipe out your profit, e.g You buy a set of forks that end up being broken which costs you £150 which you can't get back.
If you know about bikes maybe try Evans again, they've suffered a massive brain drain over the last few months, so staff who know about bikes are pretty useful. Guessing it was the Kingston store?
Nothing more to add to the above apart from good luck! You seem pretty keen and ready to try stuff and that attitude will go a long way.
I worked my way up from a sales assistant to a operations manager in retail and can advise you that if you are keen and willing to work hard and learn as much as you can - and you can communicate that to the manager it will go down well. A lot of Cvs at your age are similar so try to show that sort of stuff when you speak to that manager.
Retail is hard work but it teaches you a lot of life skills like communication, negotiation, time management etc. Don’t dismiss it as just a Sat job to get some cash in.
If you get the job I can give you some advice on how to stay in that job and get extra hours later if you need them.
A) don’t ever phone in sick unless you are really really sick. Bunking off for an England game or cos your mates are having a day out or you’ve had a heavy night on the Friday is SO obvious to your manager and you’ll soon be out on your ear. You need to be someone who can be trusted to turn in when needed on the busiest day of the week.
B) work hard, don’t assume you know better than the manager but be prepared to suggest things (and be prepared to be shot down too!).
C) learn what you sell and be prepared for the most knowledgable customer to ask hard questions - don’t BS, be honest if you don’t know. I’m always astonished at what sales people don’t know when they can put a little work in and sell so much more stuff if they do.
D) be honest with customers - don’t try to sell them what you would buy, sell them what they need. If they need a boring commuter with mudguards and a rack sell them one, and sell them all the add ons too. Don’t sell them a road bike or MTB if they don’t need one. Face to face sales are hard at first but you soon get used to asking questions and listening to what people really need and fulfilling that need. Then they’ll come back time and time again. I lost so many sales as I was honest when I said we didn’t stock what they needed - I could have sold them what we had in stock but if it wasn’t right for them I wouldn’t do. Theres no way I would let management pressure make me sell stuff to people who didn’t want it.
E) turn up smart every day to work and smile and be positive no matter what has happened to you the day before.
F) don’t take nasty customers to heart, they aren’t having a go at you (unless you’ve been an idiot), they are having a go at the shop or they are just naturally nasty. They’ll be out of your life when they leave the store.
G) if it’s a bike shop look out for anyone with a STW shirt on, they’ll be trouble 😂😂
Good luck!!
In the end they never did, my contact details were correct on the document so I couldn’t see why they didn’t.
Ring or call back in person to speak to them. Start the conversation with “I appreciate you are busy and probably haven’t had time to ring me so I’m just getting back to you about the job as I’m really keen on it”.
Maybe ring first to see if that manager is in and ask if you can pop in for a quick chat - first thing in the morning maybe 9:30 is best for most managers, cashing up from previous day will be done and the shop won’t be mega busy yet.
A) don’t ever phone in sick unless you are really really sick
Yep. Your colleagues and customers will thank you for spreading whatever illnesses you have.
Last job I did I got 10 an hour waiting tables. I guess I’ll have to see when I talk to Evan’s again. Maybe the corporate world isn’t so generous xD
I'm guessing this was for a one-off event for a few hours?
Ad-hock work always pays better, as do short days because you're taking the risk that there may or may not be any work next week and a few hours waiting tables stops you from doing a longer day elsewhere. Also in that specific case, the club's alternative was probably paying a catering agency who would have charged more but paid the staff less after their cut so they saved money going direct. You're not going to get £10/hour, the minimum wage is £4.62!
hopefully it will be a saturday job.
You might get lucky, but don't be disappointed if they say no. There's obviously overheads involved per employee (recruitment, training, payroll, HR) that cost whether you do 1 day a week or 5. A lot of companies don't want Saturday jobs anymore, it's cheaper for them to employ someone full or at least part-time and have some of their shifts on Saturdays.
[edit] didn't clock the jump from the thread being 3 months old to 3 hours.
If you want a job as a bike mechanic without and qualification take along something you have done, like a wheel build that usually get people interested and shows mechanical aptitude.
Win some Nat B's and Nat A's 😉
Thanks all for the feedback.
@akira yes Kingston store
I might try again as I know that Evan's have suffered quite badly recently. Going back in to ask about the other job I applied for wouldn't really be an option as that was months ago. I would have to start fresh.
I have recently taken up gardening and have amassed around 30-40 plants indoor and outdoor. I was maybe thinking about a job at a garden centre?
Maybe the wrong forum but has anyone done this?
yes the more spontaneous job was better paid but it was probably because of the anti-social long hours.
Anyways thanks again. Once exams are over in a week the hunt for a job will be resumed! 🙂
I've two sons working alongside two other STW forumites earning £11.50 an hour at the Cv19 test centres. Lots of jobs going with them.
I liked this...
Nothing more to add to the above apart from good luck!
Followed by about 10 paragraphs of good advice. 😁
If you like gardening AND bikes OP, and what you really need is a job, go for both. One might turn up faster than the other, or you might land a couple of part time roles, (balancing the hours may be tricky mind) but either would have useful transferable skills. They are both retail, just a different product.
Have a look at hotels / pubs / restaurants - several are looking for people, all the staff had been put on furlough and have now got other jobs.
A couple of people I know of a similar age to you have just started doing room cleaning at a hotel and are earning more than some of their friends.
Good luck
Quarterly update for anyone interested:
Went into Evans to look for a job again. This time they have changed the name of the job to 'casual' sales assistant. I don't know what the difference is between that and a normal sales assistant but I'm assuming it's something to do with the zero-hours contract.
Regardless they came back to me a few hours ago and have asked me to come in for an interview this Friday. Sounds very promising and looking forward to it.
In other news I have been speaking to a woman about content creation for a woman's photography instagram account. A bit of a different sector as my previous ventures, but I have done a lot of photography in the past years and written a few things online here and there.
Looks like things are appearing just in time for summer!
👍
I worked for Evans for about 4 1/2 years whilst at uni (and for a while after). Started in 2016 and was a decent company at that point. Interview was pretty straightforward, why want to work for the company etc, what can I bring... I had a fair amount of experience at that point though, mechanic / sales in local shop and had done a season in France as a mechanic.
If you can show enthusiam, have some basic knowledge and are willing to learn, I think that goes a long way to make up for lack of experience, as I've found in other job interviews. You don't necessarily have to be technically minded or knowledgable, although it does help. The assistant manager in the store I worked in came from Hobbycraft for instance, the area manager came from Dobbies garden centre and in the time I was there, we certainly took on people who had no bike experience whatsoever but were enthusiastic.
I'll be honest with you, even since I left in November last year, things have gone downhill a fair bit. It's now zero-hour contracts for sales staff rather than fixed contract. This does give you more flexibility though if you're young, at your age I was wanting to ride or go away racing a lot, at that time I was just working in a pub so was pretty handy. Zero hours may work in your favour, especially if it's just a bit of extra money. I had to leave to find a more permanent job after uni as I had bills to pay.
Regarding wages, I was on 5p above minimum wage, not loads but was working there between the ages of 20 and 24 so was already in the wage band above you. It's handy for experience though as others have mentioned, helps with customers and till experience.
In the interview, just relax, be yourself and try to talk about previous experience, your waiting job could be handy as you've dealt with customers before and cash handling etc. Say what you can bring to the business. Always have questions to ask at the end. A handy one I like is, 'what brought you to the company / why did you decide to work here', quite a good one to open up doors for further conversation as you get to know someone's history / background.
Good luck!