Difficulty Selling Premium Bikes

[TC Johnson]

Greetings, Paceliners,

It has been some time since I have posted here. Not riding as much since heart surgery in March 2018.

As some of you have seen in the past, I have tried to sell my Hampsten Team Pro in several places: Craigslist, eBay, as well as Paceline. I have had questions about size, measurements, tire capacity, blah, blah, blah. The price has gone from what some have called high to what now seems almost laughably low for such quality as this frameset represents, let alone the mix of components on the bike. Still no bids or offers. None.

This sounds like a sour grapes rant, but I would really like to understand what is going on in the marketplace. I can be realistic, but resist giving away this or other quality bikes I would like to sell. Is there just a glut of bikes around?

Thanks in advance for reasonable replies.

TC

[Lanternrouge]

It's really a bad time of year to be selling right now. Also, I think the used bike market has been particularly soft, even more so when you are dealing with other than the big or otherwise really well-known brands. Non-disc seems to also make it harder.

I have some nice things that aren't moving and it's even slower when your are not in the middle of the bell curve of 54-58cm.

There are some selling forums on Facebook to help get you some additional exposure.

[oldpotatoe]

Tough time of year plus market really loaded with high zoot bikes...even ‘halo’ bikes in LBS and online.
Plus, although it seems ‘Hampsten’ is well known here, in general, it’s on the ‘obscure’ end...try eBay Europe or eBay Japan.

[timto]

interests have also shifted - the big tire, low gears, disc, gravel, bike pack type bike is where I think people are diverting their cash. This is based on what i'm seeing reflected in marketing, social media as well as the type of bikes I'm interested in as well as the type of bike I've been making lately at peoples request. 1 in 10 was a 'road' bike.

All this is to say demand for the traditional road bike is at an all time low IMHO and pricing is following accordingly.

[joosttx]

Try Instagram. I am finding a much better place than forums to sell stuff. Forums I feel attract older folk that don't have deposable income. Money is going to retirement, college, and kids instead of expensive bikes. Young professions have the disposable income to splurge on expensive bikes.

[tuscanyswe]

I would have to say that i dont think your lowered price is even close to "almost laughably low".

In fact i think its still pretty high for that bike.

A used athena group is maybe 400$ wheels and the rest of the parts are likely not 600$ so your asking price for the frameset is still only what you are asking for the full bike 3200? - 1000 = 2200 for frameset?

Also bikes are usually cheaper when complete as very few would want it exactly like one has allrdy built it. So the price for this frameset is perceived as bit more than 2200 since you cant buy it without the rest of the bike and sell the parts?

2200 for used steel frame from hampsten is not what i would consider cheap, actually the opposite if anything.

Maybe i missed something and its cheaper than i think and the parts are more valuable etc or your price lower than i saw? Would not normally say anything like this but you asked :/ Its hard as if you are not a bike nut and constantly buying new stuff and frames the market can be tough to gauge or follow as its constantly changing. But now today this would still be expensive imo.

[dancinkozmo]

Originally Posted by timto

interests have also shifted - the big tire, low gears, disc, gravel, bike pack type bike is where I think people are diverting their cash. ...

All this is to say demand for the traditional road bike is at an all time low IMHO and pricing is following accordingly.

this

[tbike4]

I will second, or third timto and say that the Sunday group I ride with was all rim brake and just getting to 11 speed until a couple of years ago and then it was like someone flipped a switch and bingo, guys and girls show up with disc, Di2, SRAM etap, and not one but 2 guys have a Cipollini with 12 speed Campy electric, go figure.

[ultraman6970]

What timto says, and the end the market ends up with as excess of inventory moving around. Old and new stuff.

People is trying to get their money back aswell and the situation is that you can't make the money back unless you have pretty much EM personal bike or something so rare that only 1 was made ever... thing that is never like that.

IMO the big companies screwed the whole thing aswell because they channelized the market towards new type of bikes (well thats how marketing works anyways) and they "glut" the market with the new stuff which everybody apparently wants aswell.

No idea about your bike OP but IMO if you need the money I would try to sell it in parts and then see what happens with the frame. Another detail, if you have a custom made frame that has really wacky geometry like what serotta made time to time, those are really hard to sell.

Try adding OBO and see what people is willing to pay for it you know. You will get low ball offers but sometimes is not even that, it is just what it is you know, and I do get that it sucks but there's no money in bikes... cruel reality.

[Gsinill]

Make that $600 for f/f.
The last listing on eBay ended without bid at $1600.
Gorgeous bike but with too many already in the stable it’s hard to justify even though it’d fit me.

Originally Posted by tuscanyswe

I would have to say that i dont think your lowered price is even close to "almost laughably low".

In fact i think its still pretty high for that bike.

A used athena group is maybe 400$ wheels and the rest of the parts are likely not 600$ so your asking price for the frameset is still only what you are asking for the full bike 3200? - 1000 = 2200 for frameset?

Also bikes are usually cheaper when complete as very few would want it exactly like one has allrdy built it. So the price for this frameset is perceived as bit more than 2200 since you cant buy it without the rest of the bike and sell the parts?

2200 for used steel frame from hampsten is not what i would consider cheap, actually the opposite if anything.

Maybe i missed something and its cheaper than i think and the parts are more valuable etc or your price lower than i saw? Would not normally say anything like this but you asked :/ Its hard as if you are not a bike nut and constantly buying new stuff and frames the market can be tough to gauge or follow as its constantly changing. But now today this would still be expensive imo.

[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by Gsinill

Make that $600 for f/f.
The last listing on eBay ended without bid at $1600.
Gorgeous bike but with too many already in the stable it’s hard to justify even though it’d fit me.

Ah okay well that is certainly more reasonable but i can only work with the info i had and it says nothing about 1600 for the full bike anywhere

[mtechnica]

I think people on this forum sometimes forget that a bike that costs over $1000 is a lot of money for most people even most cyclists. The people with expendable cash probably already have good bikes or aren’t interested in anything but the latest and greatest. The easiest route is probably parting out since you can reach more people / budgets / needs. I also agree with others that complete bikes are rarely set up how you would want anyway and a lot of people aren’t interested for that reason unless they can flip the parts that come with it which usually means you get the frame for free or cheap.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by joosttx

Try Instagram. I am finding a much better place than forums to sell stuff. Forums I feel attract older folk that don't have deposable income. Money is going to retirement, college, and kids instead of expensive bikes. Young professions have the disposable income to splurge on expensive bikes.

This seems counterintuitive. I'm not saying it's inaccurate, it just seems counterintuitive. A Forum like the Paceline skews older, more affluent, and more well-versed in the value of high-end bikes. Someplace like Instagram or Facebook seems like a crapshoot. Does anyone else have any experience selling on social media sites? Joosttx could be right. I'm curious.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Tough time of year plus market really loaded with high zoot bikes...even ‘halo’ bikes in LBS and online.
Plus, although it seems ‘Hampsten’ is well known here, in general, it’s on the ‘obscure’ end...try eBay Europe or eBay Japan.

What is considered the "best time" of year to sell?

[John H.]

It is not hard to sell a premium bike- It is hard to sell a premium bike for premium prices.

This is even more true with a frame from a small builder. Other than 1-2 guys (like Richard Sachs)- the bike depreciates heavily. Probably 50% of purchase price immediately.
A well known brand like a Trek or Specialized will do a little better- But don't expect to recoup a large % of purchase price.

Reasons?

I think that we created part of this ourselves. Several years ago shops in the UK and other places in the world started selling parts, wheels, tires, frames etc. for much lower prices than in the USA. Some of the stuff was grey market, some just loss leaders. Free shipping included.
People on the interwebs (especially here) made it their lifes work to make sure everyone knew about these prices.
This did a couple things:
1.) It flooded the market with low cost gear.
2.) It created an artificially low floor for the pricing of used gear.
Say a derailleur sells for $400 retail (like a DI2 Dura-Ace). It also sells online from Wiggle for $299. This will likely drop the going rate for a used one to $150-200, maybe even less.

The other thing is the evolution of Ebay. It used to be a great sellers market for hobby type items like used bike gear.
But now with the current fee structure and also vendors selling tons of new gear- It is a less great place to sell your used gear.

Same for bike swaps- Used to be able to go to one and sell off lots gear and do well. Now you go to one and it is lots of shops selling their close-outs.