Comments on: The Art of Buying and Selling Used Bikes and Components

By: 198

198 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:59:12 +0000

@SoOutdoors

Thanks for the stoke Lloyd!

By: SoOutdoors

SoOutdoors — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:00:18 +0000

Great article with good information. Due diligence is essential, lest you wind up with someone else’s junk.

I have linked to this article from http://www.sooutdoors.ca/cycling_blog.html

I was starting to write something like this but there’s no point in reinventing the wheel

Lloyd

By: 198

198 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:55:23 +0000

@Erik

You are completely right about the eBay descriptions. I have been down that road before too…

Thanks for the link back! You guys have some incredible riding in NorCal.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:35:29 +0000

One other bit of advice when buying from eBay, read the auction very, very carefully. Some sellers are exceptionally good at burying important information about the part in the auction. I’ve been burned before but, because it was actually listed in the auction, I had no place to complain.

Another possible resource to consider depending on where you live is yard sales, some list bike gear for sale. It’ll usually be lower end gear but you can sometimes score great stuff for almost nothing!

But this is excellent advice. I’ll post a short summary and link back from NorCal Bikers.

By: 198

198 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:25:57 +0000

@ james

Great points. A lot of sellers…especially on eBay…will try to use shipping as an extra revenue generator.

By: James

James — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:26:24 +0000

A few other pointers.

For BIG purchases there is escrow.com. It’s the only escrow site to trust.

Realize that you have to be the knowledgeable one in the transaction, and “Trust but verify” when it comes to buying, or selling parts.

You can always ask for more pictures, pictures of specific parts and the like to confirm the part’s condition.

Anf finally shipping. 2 points.

Shipping insured is reccomended. You don’t know who’s transporting your stuff and how careful they are.

The shipping for some items is a huge pain in the arse, when selling or buying. Realize with E-Bay or any non local transaction, the shipping can be a big pain. The major shipping companies – Fed Ex, UPS, and the Post Office all have calculators that seem to always be cheaper than when I actually ship.

The rates for individuals to ship a bike or larger parts to you are substancially more than it costs a business. Shipping to a residence normally costs more too – ask to ship to your work if possible.

When you look at an item, factor in that cost. And if a shipping cost is high, ask the seller why. Often a high shipping charge can be tracked to where it is being shipped from (the UPS Shipping Hub/depot is cheaper than Staples or Office Max), or the quality of packaging.

James