The price issue - again....

[troje]

Just put it on Ebay with a £1 starting price and no reserve. Post the link to it here on the right subforum. The price for what it sells is the most realistic price of your stuff.

 

[BlackCat]

How do I price things? Are there are principles?
I will ignore all the nonsense around Kleins and Graftons and very rare esoterica.
But what about reasonable bog-standard items?

Of course the standard response will rightly be...what people are prepared to pay...or ‘the going rate’. But this doesn’t really get to it.

I thought about cars...new cars tend to depreciate by around 10% the moment they leave the showroom. Odd...since they have not changed in any way physically. I know that Veyrons increase after purchase, but we are back in Klein territory there. I have always assumed that this immediate depreciation is down to a small measure of inflation through company purchasing of vehicles - elevating the price over the price the consumer is prepared to pay.

But in the retro community I like the circulation of parts (good for the planet; good for building; good for a sense of community) and I like doing as much Karma as possible. That’s simple.‘I have this and it’s free’. I like that, and do it as much as I can. But I have to buy heaps of extremely expensive new parts for my own and my son’s current bikes - and some parts are eye-watering, especially top end suspension forks. One recent build for the Grom was not short of 4000 and that was done with second hand forks and frame. So I’d like to recoup some cost on some of the retro stuff in the store boxes. But the thing is this: in selling something, I would like to feel a sense of ‘ah that money coming in is useful and I did not rip the purchaser off in any way’ and have the purchaser feel ‘well I am glad I bought that, it was a fair price’.

So...a real case...I have a perfect rear wheel with very few miles on it. Mid 90’s. Quite rare rim. 9/10 condition. A new wheel now will cost me 120 for the hub, 80 for the rim, and 50-80 for the build. About 170 then. Yes, I know that this is a top notch modern thing. But functions in much the same way as the mid 90s rim. So what price for the 90’s wheel? It seems we have four things in the mix - function/condition, original price, replacement cost, and historical premium (if any). Fifty per cent of a modern wheel? The point is..no idea. But it would be great to hit that sweet spot where both seller and purchaser have smiles. As I said, I’d prefer to Karma things but sometimes I have to groan inwardly at the cost when the Grom manages to whang another rim or rip another tyre...

Does it all boil down to - check out any equivalents on here or ebay...stick it up and see what happens?

Price things??

What.. you mean you.. actually sell stuff!?

 

[2manyoranges]

Black Cat I can relate to that....I went through a few years of massive accumulation, and then looked at the boxes and realised that I should break the habit of '...that's SO nice, I think I will just put it on one side - just for the moment....' and finding that 'the moment' was actually more like a decade, it wold be good for the Very Nice Things to be used by others. I remember finding and re-finding a Gen1 410mm Syncros seat post - hammer and fist logo intact. Each time I felt a warm glow towards it and then put it away. I now like the idea that it is actually being used by someone, and not lurking somewhere in the workshop.

 

[Hotwheels.]

Sounds like you need to sell the Grom.

 

[BlackCat]

Black Cat I can relate to that....I went through a few years of massive accumulation, and then looked at the boxes and realised that I should break the habit of '...that's SO nice, I think I will just put it on one side - just for the moment....' and finding that 'the moment' was actually more like a decade, it wold be good for the Very Nice Things to be used by others. I remember finding and re-finding a Gen1 410mm Syncros seat post - hammer and fist logo intact. Each time I felt a warm glow towards it and then put it away. I now like the idea that it is actually being used by someone, and not lurking somewhere in the workshop.

Yep. That unfortunately resonates all too well for me, 2MO. I have so many things waiting for an as yet unspecified future build. If it’s rare, mint condition, fair pricing, I sometimes can’t help myself.

I have been trying to rationalise this addiction. I have recently taken up heavy coke use, with a side order of high stakes gambling instead, to help me economise.

But sell stuff? That would just be reckless.

I might need it.

 

[Joe*Pro]

Black Cat I can relate to that....I went through a few years of massive accumulation, and then looked at the boxes and realised that I should break the habit of '...that's SO nice, I think I will just put it on one side - just for the moment....' and finding that 'the moment' was actually more like a decade, it wold be good for the Very Nice Things to be used by others. I remember finding and re-finding a Gen1 410mm Syncros seat post - hammer and fist logo intact. Each time I felt a warm glow towards it and then put it away. I now like the idea that it is actually being used by someone, and not lurking somewhere in the workshop.

Once you’ve got the main rides you wanted, having the spares ready to keep them going for the next 10years is the next addiction.

Key I think is to only have a small spares draw (or two) and keep it tidy:

 

[Joe*Pro]

As for prices agree with nearly all above. If it’s on here it’s the same you bought it for, if it’s on the money laundering eBay it’s crazy price BIN plus make me an offer. Unless you live in Spain in which case it seems to be add a couple of zeros !

 

[Peachy!]

I seem to suffer from an imbalanced affliction… everything I don’t want or need I seem to only manage to shift for less than I paid, whereas everything I actually need I have to pay through my teeth for!
Oh and I try not to get too depressed when I see something that once was mine get sold on here for way more than I sold it for!

 

[pw_pw_la]

Interesting reading through all this.

I wish I had bought more from sellers on here, but shipping and exchange rates don't always allow for it.

That said, the few bits I have, have all been very reasonable. And kind folk have chimed-in to wanted threads of mine, just to alert me to sales elsewhere.

Everyone seems to price things pretty fairly here, for the most part. Unfortunately the bulk of these two builds of mine have come through eBay, and, occasionally, a reasonable, friendly seller, willing to work offline.

That's definitely been the case on the current build, and I'm certainly grateful for it.

Less grateful to UPS, however. Who just this week finally gave up and admitted they lost the lovely set of Cooks that Kokies had been kind enough to take off eBay and sell me for a very reasonable price.

I'm out half of what I spent (UPS, for some reason, won't pay out the full value), and am thoroughly depressed at the idea of trying to track down something that fetches such high prices for a remotely reasonable price all over again.

Oh, and @Joe*Pro: Steady on now! It's not even the gear, it's the neatness that gets me all hot and bothered...

 

[Once A Hero]

Case in point on original RRP...
£20 on the bag, £35 to you sir!

Specialized A1 DirtRodz Bar Ends - Retro Lightweight MTB 1990s - Unopened | eBay

Specialized A1 DirtRodz Bar Ends. Nice lightweight bar ends that will look fantastic on your retro MTB restoration.

www.ebay.co.uk