My Ebay Bike selling notes

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Falco Frank

Über Member
Location
Oup Norf'
Just sold two faithful bikes to be able to afford my first recumbent, so thought I'd jot a few pointers down.

Ebay do make selling a lot easier these days, 10 free photo's being one good point, recommendations for pricing and style of auction to use another.

I was a little disappointed at the values realised, but I guess it is what it is, they were old bikes, my Dawes Galaxy, bought from new by me, converted to city use with flat bar and XTR V-brakes sold for £200

While my Trek 1000SL with nice upgrades and spare wheels sold for only £150.

One buyer commented because I was selling two bikes together that he thought I was a dealer, so only bid the minimum amount?

Meanwhile on the cost front, Ebay auction fees were free which is just as well as the final fee costs came at £35:eek:
£20 fee for the Dawes and £15 for the Trek, yep - 10% no wonder Ebay is rich...

Sadly, to add a little insult as well, the Dawes buyer paid using Paypal, which I didnt realise the seller paid for completely and in this case, to the value of £7.03 - no wonder PayPal is rich...

So, if on a budget you might want to state cash-on-collection or cheque etc.

Or better still, advertise to a much nicer class of people on CycleChat classifieds :biggrin:
 

bpsmith

Veteran
Or check fees prior to listing and sell with a reserve so that you get the minimum that you were looking for?
 
OP
OP
Falco Frank

Falco Frank

Über Member
Location
Oup Norf'
Yes, if I had of seen the selling fee's I would of tried other places first (and sadly, I hadnt looked up CycleChat then), I did need a quick sale & I reckon Ebay, despite its many faults still brings the largest audience to auctions.

Point two, Ebay now recommends selling with a reserve too, which I did on both bikes, it was lower than I would of started at but, after running the auctions for 10 days, so that it was over two weekends, I guess it could be argued the reserves were correct because they both sold.

Allowed me to buy my recumbent in any case :rofl:
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Why bother with a reserve? We have sold five or six of my son's bikes on Ebay and we simply advertised them at the low end of the price we wanted. All of them sold and most for more than we would have accepted. If the price is too high, nobody buys them and you re-advertise.

Sometimes I think there's a psychology at play in that if something is priced cheap, buyers think it's no good. This may not apply so much in internet auctions but it certainly does when selling luxury goods.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
And I agree with the OP, that Ebay gives you access to the most amazingly wide market ever, which is why I don't resent paying fees. I have sold a tatty old leather motorcycle jacket to a punk paraphernalia dealer in Tokyo and a set of ski touring skins to a ski mountaineer in Germany and we've disposed of all kinds of outgrown clothes and shoes as our son grew up and turned them into stuff we do want. My wife is especially successful in selling her almost new clothes and shoes; a lot of it is to do with the quality of the pictures and the wording of the ad.
 

contadino

Veteran
Location
Chesterfield
Last time I looked (which was ages ago), using their reserve feature increased the fees. Which is I guess why people tend to list with a starting price and no reserve.
 
OP
OP
Falco Frank

Falco Frank

Über Member
Location
Oup Norf'
Thanks for the replies. I did offer delivery up to 50 miles and even took the time to find a bike courier that offered UK collection and delivery.

The purpose of this thread is not to complain but simply to show my experience of selling on Ebay to try and inform others.

On a positive, the nice lady who bought the Galaxy, rides everywhere and plans to fully restore it for her to use with childrens proficiency training.
 

PaulSecteur

No longer a Specialized fanboy
I tried to sell my Kraken for £250 with buy it now, i got loads of silly 50 kwid offers... it was a free ad so i did that 3 times... no buyer.

Got fed up and put it as a 99p start with no reserve... sold for £320.

Ebay, unpredictable.
 

Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
I sold an old film camera via ebay last year (Minolta 7000i).
I had been watching a similar one that went for £40.00.
Mine had a full set of filters included so I thought "ey up........quids in here".
I got £20.00 :sad:
Some you win..........etc.
 

howard2107

Well-Known Member
Location
Leeds
I have never put a reserve price on anything, and i have always achieved the price i would have liked and in most cases higher.. Its an auction, so you take your chances and it will only realise what someone is willing to pay, but that is the chance i take. However, there are some things in your favour, and the best way i find of getting a good price, is to pay attention to the auction end time. It will always fetch more if your auction ends at a sensible time like 6pm on a friday. 9pm is too late, people have gone out, 2.30pm on a Tuesday afternoon is mostly pointless, most people are at work, and avoid normal meal times, people are otherwise engaged. Also avoid Sunday afternoons. If you must end your auctions on a weekday, then make it for 9 to 10pm, this is when a lot of people are out and about on Ebay etc, they have eaten, showered etc and there is crap on the telly.

You could also try Gumtree, its free.

Cheers.............Howard.
 

Leodis

Veteran
Location
Moortown, Leeds
I've sold on eBay before but now just use it as a platform to sell via Gumtree, with seller, add and paypal fees its near 20% of the value and all the protection is with the buyer very little for the seller.
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
Experience shows that if you add a starting price it attracts no bids or watchers until the last minute. People like the thrill of the chase, and people think there's an chance they'll get it for peanuts. Good photos and a detailed description with a bit of knowledgeable flower works well. So an expensive item with five or six bids and a bargain current price gets the juices flowing. I've got an expensive pair of binos on at the moment, 99p start for stuff that sells for over £150, and in three days it has 20 bids and double that in watchers.
 

howard2107

Well-Known Member
Location
Leeds
Its my turn to fall out with Ebay, well not so much ebay, but a time waster. I sold a Carrera Gradient mountain bike for £60, and in the description i clearly stated that the gears jump. Now he has spoken to his mate he has decided that because the gears jump he no longer wants to buy it, so why the hell bid on it in the first place?
What is more annoying is that someone else also bid £60 and lost out.

Anyway if you are selling a bike on ebay look out for bids from "mortermix123" he is a time waster.

Cheers............Howard
 
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