bikeBounce's Guide to Selling a Bike on eBay
By Jordan Jones
This guide includes useful tricks for both experienced eBay sellers and for first time sellers. With these strategies, I have become an eBay Power Seller and built my company's eBay business selling downhill skis. I've also sold over 50 bikes on eBay using the same techniques I employ in my ski business. Let's get to to the bike selling:
Pictures
The first thing to do when selling an item is get pictures of your bike. Here's how to arrange pictures of your bike:
Picture 1) The drivetrain side of your entire bike.
Picture 2) The non-drivetrain side of your entire bike.
Picture 3) A close up of the handlebars, shifters, brake levers, etc.
Picture 4) A close up of the drivetrain - the crankset to the rear derailleur. Yeah, you better clean off that black grease buildup first.
Picture 5) A close up of the frame material where the brand or model is written on the frame.
Picture 6) Your choice. Take a picture of a notable part or feature of your bike. Carbon stem, rear suspension, Britney Spears autograph. Whatever makes your bike stand out.
The Bike's Specs
Next enter all your bikes specs into the bikeBounce form or directly into eBay. bikeBounce is designed to help you remember all the specs as they're all laid out for you as fields. Listing directly to eBay is challenging because you have to remember every spec that should be included. If you don't enter say what kind of crankset is on the bike or even the ring sizes then some potential buyers will simply move on to another bike listing. If someone does ask then you'll have to look up the spec anyways so you might as well include it when you list the bike and save yourself the trouble.
Be exact with your specs. If you list a brakeset as Dura-Ace and it turns out it's Ultegra the the buyer has grounds to return the bike or request a partial refund for what they deem the difference between the two.
The gem of a tip that I have here is to also include what height your bike will likely fit. Now I know all you serious riders out there know that fit is based on MUCH more than ones height. You think that if you list your Cervelo as 54cm then buyers will know what size they need or will at least do a simple measurement based on their inseam. Surprisingly many don't and you'll be bombarded with questions regarding what height person the bike fits.
So at the very least include your height and say if the bike fits you. You could also go a step further and include a range you think the bike will fit along with a website link to one of the many simple fit methods that people can do at home.
The Title
The eBay item title is the most overlooked aspect of eBay bike selling by newcomers. The item title is the title that appears in eBay's search results. The words in the title are the only words that are searchable by potential buyers (ok, there is an option to search the entire item description but I promise you that virtually no one does that). So here's the challenge, you have 55 characters to try to catch users searches and draw them into your bike listing.
Here's what to include in the item title in order of importance:
Brand
Model
the word 'Bike'
the word 'NEW' if the bike is new
Type of bike (triathlon, road, mountain, etc)
Frame size, Frame material IF the material is anything but steel
and if you can fit it (you probably can't) the primary component group
Sounds tough? It's really not and here's some examples of great eBay item titles for bicycles:
New 08 Blue T-16 Aluminum Triathlon Bike w Ultegra 52cm
NEW 2008 Cannondale Synapse Carbon 3 Road Bike 56cm
2008 Quintana Roo Lucero Carbon Triathlon Bike Medium
Remember that this is one of the most important aspects of selling your bike on eBay so use all of your 55 characters and use them wisely. There is also the option of a subtitle and I recommend using this if you expect to sell your bike for over $500. The subtitle is not searchable but it does appear in search results. The subtitle is an effective tool for drawing people into your listing and if your bike is going to sell for a decent amount then you may as well pay the extra little bit for it.
Include the features of your bike that people would likely not search for but would find enticing. Examples of great subtitles are:
Ridden only 500 miles - Excellent Condition
Includes full Dura-Ace and Carbon Handlebars
This bike rocketed me to 1,267th Place at Kona
Pricing Strategy
The starting point to figure out how to price your bike is to search through eBay's completed items. To do this, search for your bike by brand and model on eBay. The results you get will be for the current items for sale. Now scoll down a little bit and on the left toolbar under the 'Search Options' section is 'Completed Items'. Check this box then click below on 'Show Items'. If you are not signed into eBay then you'll have to sign-in to use this option. Once those results appear you have all of the sold items through the last 2 weeks of the brand and model that you originally searched for.
This should give you a good idea right off the bat as to what your bike will sell for. Look through these sales closely to pick out data that will help you sell. If there's a large number of sales (over 10) then focus your attention on the items that sold for the highest price.
Notice the selling strategies employed by sellers who fetched the most for their bikes. Did they start the auction far below the final sale price? Or perhaps they started the listing at a high price.
There's no hard and fast rule for auction pricing. Generally if there is a large amount of demand then you can start the bike at a low price. That way you know that it will reach a certain amount and you may even be able to exceed your anticipated sale price by drawing in extra bidders while the bidding is low. A bit of psychology is at work as you can draw in bidders who initially may not want to spend what your bike will sell for. But as the auction marches on and the bidding climbs higher, Mr. Bidlow gazes at your bike and envisions himself climbing Colorado's mountains on a fine fall day and...all the sudden Mr. Bidlow is a serious bidder on your bike.
Conversely, if you have a bike that is quite valuable in your opinion but is less searched for then you should start the bidding at the absolute minimum that you will accept for your bike. This is an excellent strategy if you're bike is from an uncommon manufacturer or if your bike is either extremely large or small.
Timing
When should I sell my bike? Another field oft overlooked by beginners. The time of year shouldn't make much of a difference. Supply seems to rise with demand so if you hold off on selling your ride until summer there will likely be more sellers to compete with.
However, you can make serious inroads on raising bidding by starting your listing at the right time of day on the right day of the week. There's 3 times I recommend. Even after selling thousands of skis on eBay I can't pick out THE best time but these three work well. Note that all times listed below are official eBay time, aka West Coast time.
Sunday night at 7pm
Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday at 11am
Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at 7pm
The idea here is to get people when they're at their computers and searching around for their new bike. Sunday night is good because if they've been watching your bike then chances are they can be on the computer at this time if they want to. Later in the week is good beacause workers are tooling around on their computers awaiting 5pm. Weekday nights are good because people have been tooling around their computers awaiting 5pm and they've found your bike and now their at home and ready to bid.
Now if you really want to get after it then you can take out the calendar and have your bike end on a Friday during an even numbered week within the year. Why? Payday. Spend it if you got it. It's the American way.
Using this selling guide as a buyers guide to finding INCREDIBLE deals
The idea here to buying is quite simple. Look for auctions in which the seller's listing runs counter to what I've proposed above. No pictures. No specific specs aside from the make and model. Short title. Then ask questions. Chances are the seller is kind, honest, and just didn't put in the time neccessary to fetch full value for the bike. Perhaps get the sellers phone number and give a quick call to verify a few things about the bike.
You can still get a good deal through a solid listing but if an incredible deal is what you're after then use this strategy. You'll have to be open to a variety of models by the way since it's unlikelly you'll find a specific model with such a poor listing.
Have Fun Selling
Enjoy the process and watch the bids climb. Answer questions in a timely manner. Refuse any trade offers, it'll be more trouble than it's worth. When Sergei asks if you can ship to Russia just say no, it'll be more trouble than it's worth. Don't get hung up on how much you bought the bike for when it was new. Remember that bikes are tools not jewels and your Kuota hasn't appreciated during the 5,000 miles you've put on it. Put what you're bike sells for into that new machine you've been lusting after and be happy that there's someone out there who considers your sweat stained old bike such a gem.
