Hi guys,
I've been buying and selling bikes since I was 13. I took 19 years off from biking and got back into it when I was 31 (I'm 33 today). Back in 2003, I bought and sold my Trek Bruiser 2, a RS Boxxer World Cup (in that beautiful red) and worked all summer to buy a used 2002 Specialized Big Hit DH in Scab Red with a Marzocchi Shiver off ebay. Other than local classifieds, ebay was it for that time. I think Pinkbike might have had their Buy & Sell but it was very small.
Fast forward to today, I've sold countless bikes (from a $ to $$$$), parts, gear and apparel thanks to services like Pinkbike's Buy & Sell, Craigslist, ebay and FB Marketplace. I've had the most success with PB and Craiglist, but I've found that I'm always having to list my things on 2-3, sometimes 4 sites to get enough views or the right views. Certain items or bikes require a certain audience. It can be pretty stressful when you've got an expensive bike you're trying to get sold and it needs to happen in a timely manor.
In the past year i've had family, friends, riding buddies and more recently, mechanics and bike folks ask me how they should sell their personal bikes (because they know I do it often). It's ironic, and it shows that there's a lack of awareness of services like mtbr, Pinkbike, Craigslist, ebay. Even members of the cycling community don't know the best way to sell cycling stuff.
My question: Has anyone else wished for an Autotrader.com of bikes? Pretty much, one single listing site for cycling gear and bikes only, that's standalone? The services mentioned above are good, but they're not standalone and a lot of people are unfamiliar, unaware or uncomfortable with selling stuff using them.
I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on what you use to sell, are you satisfied, do you wish there was one listing site, etc.
Firstly, I'm mad I didnt think of your username, well done. As for your question, I dont sell a ton of stuff, usually a year or two old complete bike after I buy a new one, I mostly post to local CL for a few weeks before throwing it on PB, but the last few sales I've made have come through PB. They seem to be the autotrader of bikes in my opinion, just due to their existing user base starting a dedicated site would be a pretty big undertaking.
Poleczechy, I'd agree. And, thank you for liking the username! I'm just amazed by how many people have still never heard of Pinkbike buy and sell outside of the mountain bike community. Clearly, a lot have but I think there's a larger audience that's unaware/ unfamiliar versus aware. When selling bikes, I usually post on both those too. One or the other is bound to have success.
As far as building a standalone site, I'd want to take a similar format to Pinkbike's buy and sell (UX) and make it standalone. The advantage really only lies in the fact that it's its own site with one purpose versus being a tech and news site with a buy and sell within it. Numbers aside, I think it would be cool to see it grow and see if people started to become familiar with it. Ultimately, it would be a free listing site for all cyclists (the people!) - that's it, really simple.
I appreciate hearing your experience and hope a few more folks share theirs as well. It's so interesting to me.
Thanks!
I’ve sold a ton of bikes and gears over the years - but these days I just don’t have time to go through all the steps, so I end up letting brand new sweet gear sit until it becomes obsolete (also very little time to ride). I’m less price conscious because right now it’s just sitting there taking space.
So what I’d love is a service where I can upload some photos and other details into a template from my phone. There’d be some element of verification (maybe entering SN as required field for bikes/frames) and check against stolen bike registries. There would also be some type of simplistic value estimator to propose a reasonable price / timing of sale optimization. Finally - it’d integrate with something like Venmo and Bikeflights to make the payment and packaging/shipping process easy and safe. The Bikeflights integration should print instructions of where and when, in their local area, sellers can drop off their equipment to be packed and shipped hands-free, and just be done with it.
The buyer or seller could even opt-in for a tune-up or suspension service, or verified inspection at time of drop off or pickup.
That’s a lot of Features for a first MVP, but if it has any less, I’d just use Pinkbike again.
I also don’t think it needs to be free. You can monetize the sale costs and upcharges, and in return provide sellers the value of an easy and safe sale, and buyers a safer, easier, and more timely purchase. You’ll also make some local bike shops happier.
If you made it that easy to sell my wife’s basically unridden Patrol, I’d give you 3-5% of the sale without flinching - and probably up to 10%.
@PlunderPath667 that's funny you mention ease of use and without saying it, being able to post it (knowing that service will have the highest success rate) in one place. Maybe I'm putting words in your mouth, but this is exactly where I've seen a hole in the buying and selling... it takes a long time to sell things, it takes a while to clean your gear, take photos and write up the ad.... and then post it somewhere... or in my case, I want to get rid of stuff quicker so I end up having to post the ad on 3-4 sites and manage those listings and messages from all. It's a nuisance. Ideally, I'd love to be able to post my bike in one place. I think a lot of people do that with PB... set it and forget it until they get some movement.
Regarding the MVP, I've absolutely thought of the Bikeflights integration... they're a Portland company too (in my backyard). I think a lot of people are put off selling on a national level because they've never had to deal with getting a bike broken down, packed right and sent. I always have a shop do it for ease of mind. I think those are no-brainer integrations.
I'm a tossup right now with monetization off the bat... for one reason - Pinkbike doesn't do it. BUT, with a set of helpful features and integrations for payment and shipping, I think it would make total sense!
THANK YOU! Your feedback is awesome!
**I've always wanted to try the new Patrol!**
If it costs money too many people won’t use it for it to beat the established products. However I could definitely see you offering a service in Portland related to the site where you can monetize a large portion of the sale for people who want to drop off or ship a bike and be on their way. I think you are right there is space in the market for a pinkbike in other markets than mtb that is solely for buy/sell of bikes. I’d imagine the commuter market in Portland alone would be sizable especially with all the e-bikes I saw last time I came back. Others or bike shops could offer similar service with a good vehicle to sell nationally.
@bulletbass man again, I hope I'm not putting words in anyone's mouth, but I think a standalone buy & sell could be really helpful for bike shops on a national scale too. I like the idea of being able to drop of a bike at a location and the place ships it out and handles that crap... but, If you can (it would be easy) add a local shops based on your city heat map (like Eater) and give people direction on where to get their bike packed up, that would be a good addition too. A few people have continued to mention, it would be really good for bike shops being able to get product out. I know they are currently using Pinkbike to get products out too, but I can only imagine how annoying that would be with the huge amounts of questions and flakes. So, having a pay function would be huge.
Thank you for your feedback - again, it's so interesting hearing everyone's take. There's clearly something to be taken from everyone's thoughts - It's cool. I just need to find a bike-loving web guy that would want to help build out a MVP!
Happy Holidays!
If done well. I think there is a market for something like this as well. Pinkbike is the largest right now but it does seem like there are a lot of flakes you have to deal with or people that aren't really sure how to buy on there. It could be done better for sure.
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