Advertising bikes

dosvog

Dirt Disciple
I'm selling an old bike and would like some tips on how to advertise it properly to give the potential purchasers a fair indication of the sale. Is there any information, specific to retro bikes, that I should include in the description?

Also, where is the biggest market for retro bikes? UK US?
Many thanks.
 
what bike is it?.....that will give us a better chance of advising you properly.....


when advertising it, just be honest about it.......give it a good clean up first. im constantly amazed by folk who put pics of a dirty, oily bike that clearly hasnt seen a sponge and chaincleaner for years.....detailed pictures of frame, bars, drivetrain and wheels as a bare minimum, not just one pic taken half a garden length away.....most folk interested in buying old bikes will know what they are looking at, so no emotional stories of how sad you are to let it go, you just want it to go to a good home. the only reason anyone sells a bike is because they have finished with it and they would prefer a bit of cash for it.....described accurately and clearly pictured any bike will find its place on the ladder given a couple of weeks on ebay.....dont put silly buy it now values on it, it smacks of greed and would put me of looking......are you a collector/enthusiast or have you come into ownership by chance?.....daz :D
 
It's a 1996 or 97 (not sure) Rocky Mountain Altitude TO.

Thanks for that awesome reply. Honesty is what I'd like to have when buying , so honesty is what I want to give when advertising it.

Are pictures of frame numbers important?
And do I need to bore people with a short account of it's history i.e. owner history, my usage e.t.c.?
 
US is always the biggest market, relative to the UK, given that make. The price you get might not be much different though.

If it were an Orange or Overburys things would be different.

Pictures are probably the most important thing in a listing.

History and usage certainly help to give people the bike's story. Some people like to hear that, and it reassures them about the seller.

Let's see it!
 
great.....rm is a canadian brand, and will naturally have a big following there.....plenty of love for them this side of the pond though too....the price you get wont differ greatly, but postage to the states or canada could offset the cash you get for it

a frame number will imply honesty, and allow the frame to be identified in another manner other than paintjob.....if you have knowledge of its history then i would briefly list it, but dont go ott with it.......list its faults, and back them up with pics if you deem it neccessary. a potential buyer wouldnt expect it to never have been ridden, and a little 'patina' is all part of a bikes history, and celebrated in these parts rather than avoided.

present what you offer openly, and let the buying public make its mind up. a poorly described bike will likely bite you on the arse at a later date when the person who buys it lodges a complaint with you/ebay when the unridden golden goose you described turns out to be a weather beaten pile of crap!.....

catalogues are in the archive here.....get an accurate year for it to avoid looking vague and like you are trying to cash in by selling a lost uncles cast offs that you know nothing about.....

....you do also have the option of keeping it and riding it with us reprobates.....the memories you will create will outstrip its cash value! ;)
 
just looked at pics on your previous thread......very nice......that will sell whole, or stripped as parts if you are happy doing the breaking and posting for a little more......frame aside, the cranks, stem, seatpost and fork will be of saleable value and i only looked for 5 seconds....good luck.....
 
I'll sell it whole. I'm not really interested in the money, so won't go through the effort to split it up. Besides, it's pretty much in factory spec, except for the bars. The original forks are on another bike. I even have two sets of original tires kicking about somewhere.

I'm based in Asia, but will be bringing the bike to the uk in August if it sells. Then I'll be in the South East.
 
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