Advice on sellling my uncle's fleet of bikes.

My uncle has finally come to terms with the fact that his knackered knees will never recover enough to let him ride his bikes again. I have offered to drive up to Manchester, bring them down to Herts and sell them for him (bikes, not knees), so will be doing this over the next couple of weeks, photographing, cataloguing, selling etc.

He built the collection up over the 60's, 70's and early 80's, and it includes:

• Hetchins (not curly), fully refurbished with partially chromed forks
  Neil Orrell touring
  Neil Orrell racing
  Holdsworth Professional (in white, though, rather than the professional blue/orange colours)
  Holdsworth (don't know which model yet)
  Condor Barrachi (lugless)

Hetchins is 22-1/2", but I think that the others are 23". The Orrell's were handbuilt for him.
Amongst the components there will be lots of campag, stronglight/TA, Mafac, Brooks, mix of 27" and 700 wheels, etc.

When I collect them I will get all of the history so that I can catalogue them properly.

So here's the question: what would be the best strategy to realise the best pricing for him: would I raise more by stripping them down and selling the individual parts, rather than by selling as complete bikes? I also notice that a number of people offer for sale first here on Retrobike and, if no interest, then list on eBay. Is this the most effective approach?

All advice gratefully received.

Retrobike or LFGSS are both good places for selling bike - buyers/ sellers tend to be genuine and look for honest prices IME. Ebay is generally more hassle because of the shipping - packing up a bike and carting it to the depot / arranging collection is a bit of a chore - particularly when you're doing lots. The upside is that prices for popular bikes / parts tends to be higher because of the number of buyers. It also depends on the componentry on the bikes - there's good demand for Campagnolo Record / Nuovo Record and Super Record - less so for other parts. If it were me, I'd split the Hetchins to get the best price for the frame on ebay - the others have less intrinsic value and probably sell whole on a forum like this.

Good advice above^

Look on ebay at similar bikes and see how much they go for to get an idea of pricing.

I'd have a think about selling them in Manchester - there'll be enough buyers within half an hour's drive to mean you'll get a good price but not have to deal with the "Will you pack for a courier" type questions...

Hetchins especially, but probably Holdsworth too, will probably go high on ebay. List them so that they end at practical times for both the Far East and US collectors markets, and state clearly what the international shipping rates will be in the auction. Clean them up and take a load of good, detailed photos and I expect those three would command pretty tidy prices.

Alternatively, sell them on here (for less, inevitably) and look forward to seeing some follow-on pics for years to come. If you sell it on LFGSS they'll just get turned into polo bikes or coffe-shop accessories, rather than ridden.

Looking forward to seeing some pics in any case!

Cheers, Gareth.

Some generic guidance here > http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88061

Good luck with the sales.

Many thanks, everybody, for the advice - much appreciated.

I have bought and sometimes sold on eBay, but I sort of do it whilst holding my nose as a result of seeing my own stolen Holdsworth appearing there a couple of years ago, and having to go through hell and high water to get it recovered.

Goldie - good advice about selling locally in Manchester, but my uncle is at the stage where he would find dealing with buyers a bit too stressful, so I do have to repatriate them down here.

Gareth - thanks for the info on LFGSS - I'll avoid that one. Also, good points about the Far East and US collectors market - I hadn't really considered those because of a) the additional hassle and b) a sentimental idea that I would like them to stay in the UK. I need to give that some more thought.

So, I will pick them up this weekend and see what the collection looks like, then clean up and photograph with a view to listing on Retrobike, eBay and CTC forum as appropriate.

I also need to convince my wife that I should keep the Hetchins myself, so that my curly can have a straight mate . (I'm not getting very far on that argument at the moment - she seems to think that "Why do you need another bike - you already have six?" is some kind of valid question....)