Buying then splitting at profit? Opinions?

[Agency_Scum]

@Neil ( page 2 ),
very fair point mate, the " it's on CRC for half that " crowd do indeed provide a service to the retro community. Doesn't stop me issuing ( in my colourful mind ) fatwas on the pious buggers though.

 

[Coleman]

I don't see a problem with selling for a profit, searching ebay for a badly listed bargain, taking a risk on it, stripping, cleaning, listing and shipping all takes time and costs money, you've got to be good at what you do and know your stuff to constantly make any kind of profit - in which case fair play to you!! I am too lazy and too much or a horder to be any good at selling stuff on

People that sell crap annoy me most.

Sometimes it is sad to see a 20 year old bike that has survived intact and in good nick for the whole of its life get broken up cause it suits the market but that's life and I'm probably too sentimental about it anyway - I have two bikes that I'd find hard to sell for that reason and a third that has been around the houses on this site gradually getting less and less original, I felt sorry for it and its almost back to its original spec, even with a few of the original bits which will make me happy will get some pics up when its done.

 

[cce]

you know what else i buy? those weird builds with modern 6 inch forks on old frames, the ones you think "who the hell would buy that?"

all the parts then end up back with the people who appreciate them most, and i get some dollar for my time.

 

[GT-Steve]

well, a tough debate this..

I buy and sell a fair bit on here, and sometimes I forget what ££ I've bought stuff for (I daren't keep a list or I'll have a heart attack :shock: ) and occasionally I've upset the person I bought from.

And someimes I buy from ebay and I make a few quid here off the parts I don't want, and sometimes I lose money... it's the swings-and-roundabouts thing here that is impossible to predict.

What's upset me in recent time is when I sold a bike to an enthusiast, and delivered in person.... and by the time I'd got home some of the parts were on ebay (or on sale here, I can't exactly remember now, as it's not really that important in the grand scheme of things).

If there's profit to be made... then fair play, imo - it's your own money and a bit of free enterprise to make profit is ok in my book..

money out of Karma parts is poor form, but otherwise it's a free world, isn't it??

 

[janus]

buy it, sell it, don't sell it ....

who cares?

 

[mechagouki]

I've purchased complete bikes cheap. Upgraded them. Rode them, Split them. Sold the parts. To be honest, it's very rare if it is profit making (if it is it's peanuts and in no way covers the cost if I factored in an hourly rate of £20). Lke anything else it's swings and round-abouts, but it evens out to keep the fleet running and having minor upgrades at a lower reasonable cost and it's some fun on the way. I have been known to sell too cheap, and at the moment I'm running at a loss with the damn Swedish postal prices.

20 quid an hour would make you better paid than any bike wrench I've ever met. Going rate for an experienced bike mechanic in Toronto is about $15 an hour.

 

[legrandefromage]

I've purchased complete bikes cheap. Upgraded them. Rode them, Split them. Sold the parts. To be honest, it's very rare if it is profit making (if it is it's peanuts and in no way covers the cost if I factored in an hourly rate of £20). Lke anything else it's swings and round-abouts, but it evens out to keep the fleet running and having minor upgrades at a lower reasonable cost and it's some fun on the way. I have been known to sell too cheap, and at the moment I'm running at a loss with the damn Swedish postal prices.

20 quid an hour would make you better paid than any bike wrench I've ever met. Going rate for an experienced bike mechanic in Toronto is about $15 an hour.

£6.08 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over

I barely scraped £900 a month for a 45 to 50 hour week.

 

[hydorah]

Isn't it amazing how much more you get for parting out a bike, that selling the whole thing?

I mean, the difference is huge, my Zaskar brought me around £400 when I split it

And often if you are after stuff, you'll pick up a whole bike with the majority of the parts you want for buttons

Late '80s StumpJumper with full XT, £40 - Which supposed to be for parts but is now on the build list!

I think it would be nice to keep bikes whole at least, but it appears to be economic suicide

Which I know is a slight tangent to the profiteering question! I reckon profiting is OK and the feedback pages really help, if you got what you wanted at a price you were cool with, then all's well

I seem to buy all my RB stuff from GT-Steve and Mike!

 

[cce]

I've purchased complete bikes cheap. Upgraded them. Rode them, Split them. Sold the parts. To be honest, it's very rare if it is profit making (if it is it's peanuts and in no way covers the cost if I factored in an hourly rate of £20). Lke anything else it's swings and round-abouts, but it evens out to keep the fleet running and having minor upgrades at a lower reasonable cost and it's some fun on the way. I have been known to sell too cheap, and at the moment I'm running at a loss with the damn Swedish postal prices.

20 quid an hour would make you better paid than any bike wrench I've ever met. Going rate for an experienced bike mechanic in Toronto is about $15 an hour.

i can easily get £20 an hour in my chosen profession, so i'm not gonna work for any less

 

[neebsta]

I don't see the issue myself. Only like a car breaker, but for bikes. Brings to the market parts that might not have been available had the bike not been broken. As this is a retrobike forum, I'd hazard a guess that most of the bikes on this forum are put together from parts off hundreds of broken for parts bikes.

You can't have it both ways!