Nah I’ve done way better “flips” than this in the past!
Joking aside, I’m doing this as a way of temporarily earning a living whilst I do some side projects / recover from Ill health.
Looking for a bike, liaising with the owners collecting it, stripping it, cleaning it, listing it, packing it all takes time. I reckon on a complete bike strip, clean, list, pack being 10 hours work. Plus collection time/fuel cost and the cost of having funds tied up in stock, because some things can take 12 months to find the right buyer.
So I work on an expected minimum profit margin per bike. Listing at £550 doesn’t mean I expect to achieve that as buyers usually want a discount so that is factored in to the price. And don’t forget the eBay fees. And the tax I pay on the profit. I honestly don’t know how anyone makes a living selling new or used bikes out of an actual shop. Especially as you have to charge VAT if you take in £85k per year (income, not profit), which will realistically get you a £40k pa salary.
It’s a fun way of temporarily earning a living but it’s way under half what I earnt in my proper job and it’s actually quite hard work.
And, as an addition my listings are very honest. Often when I strip bikes down there are Nasty surprises. The original seller of this DB didn’t mention the top tube dents. To be fair I genuinely don’t think he knew and he did give a partial refund but my descriptions and photos do attempt to inform the buyer exactly what they are getting.
Hope this info helps explain the art of flipping to those who don’t appreciate the effort that can go in to it when it’s done properly.
Cheers, Matt
