Whats the best line of work to be in to find old bikes?

[Balloon Knot]

If you get yourself one of those TV shows where people will sell you stuff so they can be on TV, you can easily buy old bikes for pennies on the dollar. All you have to do is point out every little flaw, down play the value, and let it be know that you are buying it to resell it so you need to make some money on it too. And then, never sell any of the stuff.

 

[Tom Carroll]

Goodwill employees cannot purchase anything until it’s on the floor for minimum 2 hours…can’t attest to any other charities but that never seems to work out.

Garbage guys used to be all over it, they always had the koolest stuff…then modern times happened and now your fired if they catch you

 

[dogdart]

I know a guy who tows scrap cars , and always asks if there anything in the garage or basement

 

[Porkchop & Applesauce]

My buddy Jesus is bringing these to sell at the swap meet in Pleasanton tomorrow. A 41, 49, and a 50

 

[dave the wave]

bring a bike to a threshing show for a display.go to farm swap meets bring a bike and buy a swap space.people will come up to you.

 

[mrg]

It started as 11 or 12 yr old we would get jobs from my city's "Youth Employment Agency" usually pulling weeds or clearing out junk behind old peoples garages, found and drug home a lot bike stuff then a couple of yrs later we remembered seeing old longboards on peoples back sheds we would reshape into shortboards, passed up a lot of bikes then but a few yrs later when I drove a big 4x4 and was able to see over a lot of fences so I'd drive up every alley I saw looking for Klunkers and then knock on the front door, also found alot of cars, minibikes, motorcycles and old surfboards!, also did this on family trips in other states and remember my brother-in-law saying we looked like Sanford & son come home with a bunch of bikes on the motor home but that's a whole other story!

 

[Fritz Katzenjammer]

Seems like a retailer is missing the mark with throwing these examples away.
Tough to make $$ in the bicycle industry.
rusty

Most dealerships only deal in new bikes. The few used units that ended up on our floor were late model, high dollar bikes which were traded in by “ special “ customers who we wanted to keep very happy, the kind who buy several new expensive bikes a year. So the trade ins were clean low mileage stuff.

These things are forty years old and there isn’t the interest in them to be worth referbishing or selling, it just wouldn’t be profitable for the shop. They get bought in by a customer for service who is told parts are hard to find and it’ll cost several hundred dollars to bring their bike back up to top shape. They figure its better to buy a new bike and ask us to dispose of the old one.

It costs me quite a bit to fix one of these things up, if I had to pay the shop full price for parts and then pay for labour they wouldn’t be worth it. I figure it costs me nothing but my spare time to find the obsolete bits on the web, so thats an acceptable expense. Those used obsolete parts aren’t cheap, tires, cables etcetera I get discounted because I work at the shop and my labour is free. But, its still costs be a lump to get them back to top shape so most don’t figure they are worth it.

That said I rode the Centurion to work yesterday and you should have seen the resident bike snob’s jaw hit the floor. I’ll be wiping the drool off for days. Wait till he sees the Bottechia, its covered in Campy bits.

 

[HEMI426]

A friend of mine would put one Hemi valve cover on the ground at the local country flea market and some old timers walking by his space that knew what it was would say I have one of those engines in my garage or barn, he would get their phone no. and over the years he has acquired 13 engines. Only 3 were 426s, the rest were Dodge, Desotos and Chrysler. I've bought a few off him in the past.

 

[Jimmy V]

I recently retired from 30 years as a package delivery driver for a large worldwide carrier and I have acquired several bikes from that line of work.
Some were roadside finds, others I'd see while making deliveries and buy them later. I was able to get into places not normally accessible as I had a reason to be there. BTW I've bought several old cars that way too, 2 of which I still own bought in the late 90's. My route neighbors and co-workers knew of my love for old bikes too and would be on the lookout. I've gotten a few that way too.
Garage sales not so much because I often wouldn't have time to stop. I'd go back later and sometimes get lucky. Never saw anything that I regretted not stopping for. Might have lost a few I didn't see..
One of my best memories of on the job bike scores is when I drove by a barn that was being cleaned out. Always wondered what was in that barn.
I got several bikes out of that lucky find. Timing was everything there.

Also my wife is an antique dealer for nearly 20 years and always out buying. People call or contact her to sell stuff. We've gotten many bikes that way.
Usually the bikes were an incidental part of the deal. They were there amongst the other stuff she went to buy. She is how I got into the bike hobby.
I discovered old bikes and found that I like them!

 

[Jon Olson]

I go to a lot of garage and estate sales and always ask if there’s any bicycles even if they’re aren’t any for sale. I’ve been tapped on my back by an old man that said “I have some rusty junk”, to an owner of one barn sale saying “l have a POS in the pump house”. Always ask out loud and follow every tip!