II am a former bicycle mechanic in upstate NY and want to clean out my garage. I have many derailleurs, brakes, bottom brackets, cranks, cables etc that are all working perfectly. Lots of shimano 600, 105 and ultegra etc. How should I go about selling them off? The pictures are about 1/4 of the inventory. Any help is welcomed!
by Limp-Veterinarian916
9 Comments
I tried selling a bunch of my vintage parts at a local bike swap meet and received such a paltry sum that I donated all the unsold items to a local bike co-op. Dunno about where you live, but there’s not a market for much of this stuff unless you’ve got a vintage bike club or a community of DIY builders. eBay eats any profit with their fees.
There’s “vintage” and there’s just “old”.
Step 1: put up an online ad to help you find the right niche buyer for these obsolete things.
Step 2: Donate them all to your local bike coop.
Sent a DM.
eBay a few things (Suntour, Huret Allvit for the Schwinn freaks), donate the rest. You won’t get much but if you put a lot up simultaneously and people can combine shipping you’ll get more interest. It’s not 2006 anymore so it’s more about getting it into the hands of someone who really will use it than making a bunch of money…
I bought a derailleur from this guy and it had obviously been in the sonic cleaner. It was immaculate. It was shiny too, so he must have polished it, or put something in the cleaner to deoxidize. I kick myself for not buying the matching rear.
When I was looking on ebay there was a lot of junk and iffy stuff for completely unreasonable prices. Hardly anything has an adequate description.
I would clean it up real nice, post it for a reasonable “Buy it now”, and do “free” shipping. It will sell. Most of the stuff I was keeping an eye on sold. Run of the mill Shimano low/midrange is cheap, but anything pretty like “Deer Head” or “Arabesque” sells. Suntour seems to go for more. Campy prices are completely unrealistic and absurd (I blame “Eroica”). It’s hard to find:
1. clean so you can see the condition
2. multiple pictures so you can assess
3. description (“has bolt”, “works”, “jockey wheels intact and unworn”, “long cage”, etc.)
4. reasonable price (you can’t get an equivalent new one for the same price, including shipping)
5. matching pairs
6. reasonable Campy
7. brake levers are kind of sketchy because the hoods and pivots wear out. If you can provide a description or a link to a suitable hood that would help. Campy ergopower are available but the hoods are all stretched.
8. triple front is generally not available anymore, so I think you could sell derailleurs/shifters.
I kept looking for places other than ebay, but most of them were even more expensive. I gave up in despair and got all new stuff. The one vintage thing I bought was that front derailleur, and it’s my favorite thing on the bike.
Become a paid bike forums member, then post here.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage-sales/
Edit: Free members can read and post in most forums. Paid members can list For Sale or Want to Buy posts.
eBay is my go to when looking for vintage Campy, Huret, 3T etc and that’s where I’ve listed a few saddles in the past. Fees bite but when u need a Campy 9 speed rear derailleur eBay comes through. I’ve accumulated a NOS Selle Flight saddle, 3T bars, 3T stems, NOS Brooks saddles, etc and when I do decide to sell eBay is for me. I also realize the market for vintage bike parts is a niche market and all I expect is fair prices for me and buyer. I should have sold during Covid to get premium $$ but I like have my spare parts. And bikes, bike parts are worst investments but still being me joy.
Selling them in lots on ebay or the like might get you a few sales