The price issue - again....

[2manyoranges]

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?

 

[MatBH5]

It’s a good question, and I struggle sometimes. For me, most of my spares were bought in the last decade, already secondhand, perhaps never used or sparingly used (by me, since). In some cases would have come on a bike where I’ve split down, used some parts, sold other (possibly a long time later). I never deliberately buy to split and sell on though! So, I’m insulated from original values, purchase rrp etc., this really doesn’t influence me.
Hence, I typically look to sell to either recoup original outlay (most parts have appreciated in value so this leads to reasonable prices, I think) or based on what I perceive to be market rate.
To take wheelsets…
I see beautiful xtr 900/910/950 sets for £250, more usual condition sets for £150… as you go down the lineage then some xt in mint, £150… xt in great condition £100, stuff needing work, cleaning etc (or lower end) more like £50.
Unless you’ve got something boutique then >£250 is pretty rare.
That’s actually a rather small price bracket I’d say.

 

[greencat]

For me, it comes down to how poor/rich I'm feeling, whether something is cluttering up my space, hassle to find/dispose. As I've got older and one or two health scares later, I've realised that I don't have time to waste or inclination to do stuff in my spare time for peanuts unless its for people I know and see in real life or those who have helped others out online.

Generally speaking, outside of karma, I'm not going to post anything for less than a tenner as the nearest post office is 20 mins ride from here and postage is likely to fall into the small parcel (plus) category. Bikes, wheels and frames fall into a different category as I'm going to have suitable packaging and wait in for courier. I don't have a printer so that narrows it down to a courier than can pick up and print labels - and those run to around £15+. Due to the increased hassle, I can't be assed for less than 30 quid.

Some stuff takes too much thinking about eg handlebars can fall out of the various dimension limits of RM.

Trouble is that realistically most of my retro stuff falls into the five quid category ie nothing special tatty old components from the 90s/00s. Even the XT/XTR stuff isn't pretty.

If you turn up at my door though and need help, I often happy to give all manner of stuff for free.

 

[retroJIM]

I don't sell very much but when I do I tend look at completed listings on eBay or previous sales on here. If I'm selling it on here I generally deduct 10-20% from the average eBay sold price and throw in the postage. If it's something I bought on here that turns out to be unsuitable or no longer required I sell it on for the same price or less.

 

[2manyoranges]

RetroJ - I think that’s where I am heading too, now. That kind of approach keeps the wolf from the door but keeps the vibe going....

 

[Once A Hero]

I don't sell very much but when I do I tend look at completed listings on eBay or previous sales on here. If I'm selling it on here I generally deduct 10-20% from the average eBay sold price and throw in the postage. If it's something I bought on here that turns out to be unsuitable or no longer required I sell it on for the same price or less.

Yep this is the way, and also why it is important that sellers leave their sale prices in ads after the items have sold.

There's no point referring back to original rrp, you'd be shocked if did in most cases, as that was from a time when supply either met or outstripped demand (i.e. you were able to pick and choose who you bought your new 26.8dia 3dv Ringle Moby from, all at or about the same price, but now they are few and far between so the price is whatever someone is willing to pay). I'm sure I saw some NOS XT brake blocks for sale on ebay the other day, with the original price written on the box at 29.95, with an asking price today over 50....

However, you don't have to match the selling trends if you feel the rates are higher than you'd deem comfortable selling an item for.

 

[markoc]

I think the market has a lot to do with this - and I'm seeing a lot of people speculating on what we would have called "trick bits" back in the day. As an example, there are some ridiculous prices being asked on ebay for Xlite kit - some NOS, some nice, and some downright shabby in terms of condition. Add in some of the high end niche brands (Ringle, Bullseye, Cooks, Grafton etc) and I think people outside the retrobike scene are getting wise to flipping old kit. For me, ebay is now just too much of a hassle as a seller. I much prefer to pop stuff up on here, not least as it keeps the kit within the community.

When it comes down to price, I think about what I would pay for it. I've bought stuff on ebay and sold it on here for a loss as I wanted to get hold of it at the time and was willing to pay a premium. Equally I've made a few quid on the odd thing. All told, I'm likely down - but my enjoyment and satisfaction is most definitely up. RRP new is just misleading.

Bottom line is something has only got a value once someone puts cash in your hand. Doing that on here is easy. Keeping historic pricing in the for-sales is great as a guide. What I bought something for (if new, or even used) is irrelevant.

I drunkenly purchased a USE suspension post on ebay a week ago as I wanted the red fixing kit to swap to another post. I paid over the odds - and will likely sell it on here for a tenner or so less than I paid for it. Plus I'll lose out on postage. Such is life - but I have what I wanted. There's a USE suspension post in the for sale section at the moment on here for £25 with no takers, and there's a silver standard post with the seller asking 100 Euro for it. One will sell, the other won't.

I do like that the sense of community on here means no-one is trying to pull your pants down on pricing with the "I know what I've got" ebay mentality.

 

[Tootyred]

I try to be fair on price, i too use the ebay "sold" section to average out a price across a few sales...then take a bit off for good will.

I did buy a few bikes for parts and sold the rest off for funding over the years, but thats stopped as the donors are just too expensive now!

Tbh, i try to answer wanted adds if i have bits of kit to sell, as i an still a little wary of (and a little p155ed off by) offering items at a lesser price, only to see them on a traders ebay page 2 weeks later, flipping it for 50% more...you know who you are. At least the dood with the ad actually wants the part for something as they have asked for it!

Now...at the end of the day, its the traders goods and their choice, but it makes me feel like asking for more to protect myself...when i would love to ask for less to benefit the community.

 

[2manyoranges]

Hmm TTR that flipping behaviour is just plain wrong, exploiting (and debasing) the good will which exists .... and should continue to exist

 

[Tsundere]

For me it depends on many factors, I try to run my hobby like a kind of business, not to say I'm motivated by profit, not at all, I am motivated by love for riding and working on these great old bikes, and anyway i have not come close to making a profit but I try to keep things sensible and I'm hoping to reach a break even level sometime next summer. Right now I'm at the stage where I only spend what I raise minus 25% which goes towards clearing the initial outlay, so if I really really need something but I have insufficient funds in the RB kitty then something is going on fleabay for silly money

But if I am not looking for anything in particular, or maybe I need the space then I will give things away on here for postage money, just as others often do.