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Anyone with a prolific ebay account want to sell my bikes on commission?

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
...I have been thinking about hawking most of my stable and I know I can likely get the best price on ebay. Only deal is I dont sell on there and even if I decided to, Id have a brand new account, no feedback, all that stuff.
I could send my bikes, you could part them out, sell them as a whole, whatever makes the most money. Or I could just take pics, give info, etc.
Anyone want to make some money?
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
It probably would, but if someone's that particular about what they sell and wants the items in hand, it may be that sending the bikes is the better way, especially if they want to part out.
It's all up to whoever, if anyone does, wants to do it.
 

4xBoy

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
7,014
2,847
Minneapolis
I'll do it, I will even send you a check today for 50,000 American dollars I just ask you send me the bikes and a check back in the amount of 2,000 dollars. :twitch:
 

jsh191

Monkey
Nov 16, 2006
110
0
birdsboro, pa
a few questions...

what kind of "commission" are you talking about?

how much stuff do you have for sale?

ultimately, how would you like to handle the shipping, listing situation?

i have a well established account, and have sold bikes/components in the past... would be up for it (potentially).

help me help you...
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
I got a couple full bikes that I could sell complete. A cheap roadie with some nice parts and a nice (albeit 02 model) MTB with very nice parts all around.
Also I have another nice HT frame which could stand to go.

I have no doubt that listing the pieces individually would bring in more money, but would also be alot more time consuming, and managing the sale, shipping, listing, etc. That's where Im fairly clueless, inexperienced.

As for how much "commission" how much is one's time worth? I dont know where to begin.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
yo BS,

i can do this for you in that i'll post an ad and field questions (by forwarding them to you) if you keep the bikes but send pics. then you would ship 'em direct.

http://myworld.ebay.com/toshiclark/
Well what do you think? Should I bust all this stuff down and send you pics of the mulititude of parts w/ descriptions? Do people tend to get near the value of a bike if it's a complete? I got thomson stems/seatposts and stuff on them, that I know sell high on their own, yet the frames, probably arent worth that much. (o2 AC1, Giant Alu road frame, Cove Handjob)
It's a call I cant make, cause i never sold on ebay.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
i think you're going to get way less than you might expect. eBay has a glut of everything, and it's hard for buyers to pick items out of the morass.

on second thought, i actually think jbp has a good suggestion: part out a few of the pieces to get some feedback, and then list the rest.

my personal strategy is no reserve, $0.01 starting bid, and "listing" the advertisement in the classifieds here, on pinkbike, on nsmb, and on mtbr's paid classifieds if it's big like a frame or a fork. in these "listings" i just describe the item and provide a link to the eBay ad.
 
There are some timing issues also. You don't want your auction to close on a weekend or on a holiday. Most people buy during business hours. You want it to close with plemty of bidders available so they can get in bidding wars, which can escalate prices most pleasingly.

Heres an idea - try RM Classifieds :lighten:
Good folks in general, but a very limited market compared to eBay.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,938
13,133
Portland, OR
i think you're going to get way less than you might expect. eBay has a glut of everything, and it's hard for buyers to pick items out of the morass.

on second thought, i actually think jbp has a good suggestion: part out a few of the pieces to get some feedback, and then list the rest.

my personal strategy is no reserve, $0.01 starting bid, and "listing" the advertisement in the classifieds here, on pinkbike, on nsmb, and on mtbr's paid classifieds if it's big like a frame or a fork. in these "listings" i just describe the item and provide a link to the eBay ad.
:stupid:

If you don't care how much they sell for, then you might get a nice surprise in the end at the final price. I use DHL for bikes because they have been good and are a lot cheaper. My DH bike (48 pounds and a HUGE box) was only $40 coast to coast with $2k of insurance.
 

Quo Fan

don't make me kick your ass
Sell a couple of low-buck items first, to build your rep, buy a couple of things and pay for them when you win the auction. Look at what others are selling and their shipping costs. Don't forget to add some to cover your insertion fees and shipping supplies.
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Alrighty, might just go solo then, no real rush I suppose. Thanks for the info.
Keep in mind the time of year as well. Many people might be broke because of the holidays.

I lost my ass on my last Chameleon, and a buddy just came up on a very, very sick new Bullit for half the build cost. Seller was pissed as he thought a 2K reserve would bring many offers. He failed.

My buddy is more of a roadie and scared of falling down the mountain, so I'll post pix when I buy it from him...
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Is that a disease particular to roadies? One of my riding friends has the same problem - an absolute terror of falling off.
I think it might be. A buddy who I rode a lot of XC with a few years ago was always freaked, and because of that he always crashed.

He even explained to me on a ride that if he got hurt, we could stash the bikes and I could walk/carry him back to the truck.

:disgust:


Edit: He moved back to the East Coast with his 3 Klein Mantras. I'm just sayin'...
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
I think he is. I just would rather take less money than to hassle with this myself, but whatever.

Im not riding my bikes and they arent getting any newer, so it seems I should just cut bait now and get what I can out of them.

BTW opie, Im planning on buying some touring/trail/commuter bike with the proceeds.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
It's a size M either 17 or 17.5 and fits me 6ft w/ a 110 stem.

It's olive drab green in great condition w/ just a few scratches/cable rub. No dents, gouges, anything. Im a total poser.

 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
I skipped all of the banter and just to give you an idea, most eBay places charge 15-30% to list an item. I charged a shop I used to work for 20% when I listed their crap on eBay.