Used bikes and parts

[Oldbikeguy1960]

You're obviously doing something wrong....

Maybe you could tell us all what that is.
Many of us have had the same experience, I for one tried multiple methods of listing, some so far as to copy a listing exactly but with my own photos, seller info and reduced price. I then watched as the other item sold and mine did nothing.
Maybe it is something else.
I know for a fact that eBay sells items themselves and I can prove it.
I sold a set of beautiful 1969/70 Honda CB650SOHC carbs to a buyer in France. He paid, I shipped to eBay Global Shipping. Then eBay canceled the sale claiming gasoline smell and fluid leaking from package.
Bullpoop.
The carbs were disassembled, cleaned with soy based cleaner (no smell) rebuilt and some parts replaced with chrome parts I had then shelved for 6 months. I had built them to use, then i used a different setup I made and put them up for sale. When I boxed them, I bubble wrapped, stretch wrapped and then put them in a bag and heat sealed them, put them in a box, bubble wrapped and heat sealed it in another bag, then boxed that to ship. I have shipped international before and I always check what needs to be done and I exceed it.
When I got the notice, eBay let me keep the money but I requested the carbs back instead and told them to keep the money. They refused claiming shipping was too hazardous.
Again Bullpoop.
They reimbursed the buyer as well. (Nice of them). I was not happy, but they basically told me to come to Silicone Valley and pound sand. At that point eBay was out $250 and a little time. This is important.
A month or so later guess what? The carbs showed up on eBay listed under a "business" account for sale and the pricks used my listing, right down to the description and photos taken on weathered planks on my front porch.
So eBay doesn't sell things to inflate prices and make themselves look good right? They listed them with a duplicate listing to mine, except one difference. I sold them for $250 but they relisted them buy it now for $450!!!!! They even offered Global Shipping Program on them!!!!!
Yes, eBay is a bunch of shysters but not only on rules or fees. They outright stole my listing, hijacked the carbs and listed them at an enormous profit and after telling me they couldn't ship them to me they had shipping costs in the listing!
Tell me what I did wrong. Please.
Sometimes the answer is the answer whether some people believe it or not.
The End
Rob

 

[TWDay]

The problem is bike aficionados have become greedy. If you look at the prices on items needed to restore a bike on ebay and other sites it is absolutely ridiculous. The prices are so high that many people wait either for the cost to be reduced or they find what they are looking for through local bike groups or they just put the project away and forget about it. Having an old, rare bike is not like having an old rare car or truck. Vintage bikes don't hold their values like vintage and classic cars and trucks do. Everybody loves a beautiful original or restored classic car or truck, but the numbers drop for vintage bicycles. If you go outside of your vintage bike groups like The Cabe and others, you don't have the collector/admirer base that cars and trucks have, yet those in the bike hobby think that their bikes and parts are gold. As an auctioneer I see this ALL the time. Many folks think they have a gold mine, and then when we do a real life appraisal they see that what they have does not have the public interest like other hobbies.

To give an example: I have a 1967 Schwinn Stingray I want to restore. To buy the parts I need will end up costing close to 1000.00 if I buy them separately. Yet on ebay there is an unrestored 1967 Schwinn Stingray, a complete bike with very nice parts and its only 500.00. Even has the original seat. And I saw a seat like it listed for 230.00. THAT ladies and gentlemen is why your parts don't sell. The buyer is patient and will eventually get what they need, but not from you. Or they will shelve the bike until a later time, disappointed that they can't complete the restoration.

Like I tell estate sale and auction clients, you have to know what the market will bear before you decide to price your stuff. Otherwise you will not realize a sale and end up tossing most of what you have in a dumpster.

 

[TWDay]

And by the way, don't use ebay. At one time you could use ebay as a barometer for values on just about everything. Not any more. Use sites like The Cabe and Rat Rod bikes if you are looking to sell or buy bikes and bike parts. Usually, those members know their REAL value and assist other members with getting what they need to do restorations and repairs. That is how the vintage car and truck folks do it. I know, I've been helped and I've helped folks for over 40 years restoring cars and trucks as both a hobby and a business. I can't tell you how many parts I've given away or had just given to me over the years while doing a restoration. Everybody wins.

 

[TWDay]

Maybe you could tell us all what that is.
Many of us have had the same experience, I for one tried multiple methods of listing, some so far as to copy a listing exactly but with my own photos, seller info and reduced price. I then watched as the other item sold and mine did nothing.
Maybe it is something else.
I know for a fact that eBay sells items themselves and I can prove it.
I sold a set of beautiful 1969/70 Honda CB650SOHC carbs to a buyer in France. He paid, I shipped to eBay Global Shipping. Then eBay canceled the sale claiming gasoline smell and fluid leaking from package.
Bullpoop.
The carbs were disassembled, cleaned with soy based cleaner (no smell) rebuilt and some parts replaced with chrome parts I had then shelved for 6 months. I had built them to use, then i used a different setup I made and put them up for sale. When I boxed them, I bubble wrapped, stretch wrapped and then put them in a bag and heat sealed them, put them in a box, bubble wrapped and heat sealed it in another bag, then boxed that to ship. I have shipped international before and I always check what needs to be done and I exceed it.
When I got the notice, eBay let me keep the money but I requested the carbs back instead and told them to keep the money. They refused claiming shipping was too hazardous.
Again Bullpoop.
They reimbursed the buyer as well. (Nice of them). I was not happy, but they basically told me to come to Silicone Valley and pound sand. At that point eBay was out $250 and a little time. This is important.
A month or so later guess what? The carbs showed up on eBay listed under a "business" account for sale and the pricks used my listing, right down to the description and photos taken on weathered planks on my front porch.
So eBay doesn't sell things to inflate prices and make themselves look good right? They listed them with a duplicate listing to mine, except one difference. I sold them for $250 but they relisted them buy it now for $450!!!!! They even offered Global Shipping Program on them!!!!!
Yes, eBay is a bunch of shysters but not only on rules or fees. They outright stole my listing, hijacked the carbs and listed them at an enormous profit and after telling me they couldn't ship them to me they had shipping costs in the listing!
Tell me what I did wrong. Please.
Sometimes the answer is the answer whether some people believe it or not.
The End
Rob

With eBay, nothing surprises me.

 

[PCHiggin]

I listed a 23" frame 1975 Paramount P10-9 in orange for a friend last summer, he hadn't ridden it in a long time, and finally decided to part with it.
It was on Campy hubs and clincher rims, and pretty much all original. He bought it new, rode it sparingly and hung it on a wall.
He wanted $200, I listed it for $500 after putting a fresh set of tires on it and regreasing the BB, HS, and hubs. It was ready to ride. It never got a single email, not even the 'still for sale' emails. He said lower the price and see what happens. So I put it up at $250. Again, nothing, not a single question, offer, nothing. Meanwhile, I had sold two dozen old beater bikes at $100 or more each.
I took the thing down and just gave him the $200 figuring I'd get that back out of the parts. I put it back up at $500. Then finally around New Years I got an email on it. A guy half way across the country was interested in it, he asked the right questions, called and talked about it for a bit, and said he was going to see about either making the drive or finding a way to get someone to pick it up. After a month, he calls, says he's making the drive, he's coming from Indiana, I'm in New Jersey. He tells me he'll be at my place around 5pm the next evening if all goes right. He calls me several times through the following day, tells me he's running a bit late due to an accident but the GPS now says his ETA is 8pm my time. He calls back at 8:15pm, tells me he's crossed into NJ and wanted to know what exit was best off the highway. He tells me where he's at, and he's not more than 15 minutes out. I tell him to take the next exit, and gave him instructions what to do after that. He calls me asking which way to turn at the light right off the highway, I tell him to go right, and make your second left and I'm right there. I walked out front so he could spot me and the bike.
That was the last I heard from him. Not another call, he never showed up, never emailed, nothing. I had tried to call him 10 minutes after that last call but it just rang. I pretty much waited around and adjusted my schedule to meet this guy and he doesn't show, and worse yet he apparently made up the whole story for kicks? I back searched his phone number, turns out he's in his mid 60's, and does live in Indiana, and at the time I found several posts on another forum where he was selling something and had left his phone number on that for sale page. So I know the name and phone number matched, and that he was into bikes. The one post he left was about him driving 900 miles to buy some bike in TX the year before.
I never saw any new activity beyond that though. After thinking about it, he was likely able to make his conversation sound right and ask the right questions about which way to go by looking at Google maps but what gets me is why?
He had to devote as much time as me to the whole charade, and to come out of it with what?

I gave up and parted it out last winter letting a friend of mine list the parts on ebay. I came out about $50 ahead after fees and likely lost money if I counted my time in it.

I'm pretty convinced that most of what we see selling for big bucks on fleabay is staged these days. The items I see in under Sold Listings seem to come out of nowhere.
There have been items that I was actively searching for that appeared in the sold category under the very name or title I was searching for and yet they never showed up for me while they were listed?
I also have searched an item I have for sale to see where to price it, and I find others just like it, listed for three times what most others are at. I tried using contact seller to ask a few questions and I get either no response, or it tells me I cannot email the seller and that all info about the item is in the ad, all while there is no info in the ad, just a picture and heading.
The other result is finding one of two similar items with high bids on Wed. just like mine, then a long list of the same item all with the same pics, but under different ebay names, all listed for crazy prices. Yet after the sale ends, none of those high dollar items can be found and the item that did have bids is gone as if it never existed. Its almost as if eBay somehow generates ads to fill the search results as you search so that you don't find nothing. Then there's the items that show up which are completely unrelated to your search. I searched for a Shimano Baitrunner Reel' and the first four items are reel parts, only one for that reel, then a starter for a Mack truck, some car tires, then one used reel for five times what its worth, then somd underwear, and way down at the bottom, marked items you may be interested in were two beat up and battered used reels, both with the same pics, one for $14.73 wth five bids, the other for $396.07 BIN.

Had a guy call on a bike a few years ago, he supposedly lived on the other side of town, a good distance from me. I gave him directions to a gas station near my house and said I'd meet him there, told him to call when he arrived. He called, said he was 2 mins away, and asked for my address. I again told him to call when he arrived @ the gas station. Never heard again from him, LOL! I don't get it other than them wanting your address so they can come back and steal from you or they're just bored and are sitting in moms basement in their pajamas and have no life?

 

[Oldbikeguy1960]

That can be and is a problem for some I know.
But if a guy is selling something nice at a lower cost than ones listed next to his and they keep selling and he doesn't, what could be happening there?
I cannot speak for everyone. I no longer sell on eBay since Managed Payments started. When I did on my seller account I had about 900 ratings with a 100% positive feedback that was 5 stars as far as the eye could see. I still had the same problem I described way more than once.
Are people just attracted to rusty old parts thinking that makes them authentic?

 

[mrg]

My eyes are sore, too many words and not enough pictures!

 

[Oldbikeguy1960]

Too Late. SHE'S HERE!!!!!

 

[dirtman]

That can be and is a problem for some I know.
But if a guy is selling something nice at a lower cost than ones listed next to his and they keep selling and he doesn't, what could be happening there?
I cannot speak for everyone. I no longer sell on eBay since Managed Payments started. When I did on my seller account I had about 900 ratings with a 100% positive feedback that was 5 stars as far as the eye could see. I still had the same problem I described way more than once.
Are people just attracted to rusty old parts thinking that makes them authentic?

Long time reader, new sign up here.

I watch it happen over and over on eBay, there will be three or four items listed, often new items by the same seller, and only one gets any bids. One item gets run up, yet the other identical items never get a bid.

I sold quite a bit on eBay back in the 2000's but quit after they stopped letting sellers leave negative feedback for bad buyers.

Time and time again I'd list multiple items, in the same category, with the same search words and title, yet only one would get any bids, often getting bid up far beyond its value, all while identical items just went completely untouched, no bids, no views, yet they were listed identically. It was as if no one could see those ads.
I hear a lot of this same sort of complaints from a few buddies who still sell there too.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Odd thing about eBay is that sometimes the number of watchers will be presented, and other times not.
If the number is zero, why not so state, and I do have interest in how many competing or prospective buyers might also be watching.