Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

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AxelHeyst
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Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by AxelHeyst »

I have a 2015 YT Capra CF Comp. Bought it for $2,740 in 2018, off ebay. I'm the second or third owner.

The dropper is toast and not worth fixing, rear shock is probably fixable but not working at the moment. Bike is not rideable as is. I bought the kit to rebuild the shock, stripped an internal nut, and closed it back up again in disgust with myself. The frame is fine, although cosmetically well used. If the dropper and rear shock were replaced it'd be a fine all mountain rig for an intermediate rider.

I attempted to sell it as is a year ago for $(I don't remember) but was clear that I'd take best offer, and didn't get any bites, which is understandable. It seems the options are
1) Fix it to the point of it being rideable, which would involve a new dropper and either a new shock or rebuild the one that's on there, or
2) Break it down to components and sell them individually.
3) Try to sell as is again.

Anyone have opinions on the best approach here, to optimize for sale price and time spent futzing with it? I've got to do something before no one at all is interested in such an old bike (if that hasn't happened already). I'm out of touch with the MTB world, what the pinkbike crowd is in to these days.

Learning to rebuild the shock is a 'waste' of a learning curve to me because I don't plan on owning anything other than rigid frame bikes. All other bike work I'm fine doing.

(Also, if any forumites or lurkers are interested in the bike, hit me up. $ isn't the only thing I'm interested in for it. I'm 3-4 hrs from LA.)

shaz
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by shaz »

It might be the kind of thing where you just need to find the right buyer (such as someone who always wanted that exact bike). If you are not in a hurry, you could list it in all the places where it is free to list for the next 6 months or a year and see if you get any interest.

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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by jacob »

eBay as a project bike. Set a fixed price (not auction!) and drop the amount manually by X amount every week until someone bites. Obviously figure out the shipping process before listing it.

I don't know enough about fancy MTBs to know if people trade in used components.

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Sclass
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by Sclass »

I’ll start off by saying I don’t know Jack about the market these bikes. Above my pay grade.

I think if you want to squeeze top dollar out of this disaster you’ll need to understand the market.

A cheap Chinese shock will get the bike riding again. It may ruin the ride but at least you can demo it to a buyer. If you go cheap enough he’ll be able to upgrade later.

I noticed a few of my neighbors ride 27.5” bikes. I’d thought the world went 29er but I don’t understand this world. These enduro carbon bikes are a big deal in my subdivision which butts up to a wilderness area. When I see posts on nextdoor about them being stolen out of garages it makes me wonder if they should be insured.

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Ego
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by Ego »

One of the problems with selling expensive-to-ship, well used items like this on ebay is that there are people who nitpick the imperfections and demand a price reduction after it arrives. If you refuse they will return it as "item not as described" and you will be stuck with the cost of shipping in both directions.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by AxelHeyst »

Nice, thanks for the input. I'm remembering that when I originally listed it, I had it for local pickup only and it was only listed for a week or two before I bounced to Europe. I might have better luck listing it for longer, and being willing to ship. The ideal buyer wouldn't be interested in whatever half-hearted replacements I'd put on it anyways, as they'd do a complete teardown and rebuild anyway. I'm very okay with not squeezing every potential dollar out of this bike - just want to get *something*, and get it into someone's hands who'll use it.

Listing on pinkbike instead of ebay might avoid the nitpicker return to sender issue. Buyers on pinkbike are more likely to know what they're buying.

Bikes in this bracket (or rather the bracket above my old bike) definitely should be insured. My buddy had a MSRP $6k bike that he got used for $4k. It got stolen. His renters insurance hooked him up with a new MSRP $8k bike. Last I knew, 27.5" had become the standard for aggressive enduro / park oriented bikes, 29" more for trails / less steep stuff.

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unemployable
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by unemployable »

Ego wrote:
Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:00 am
One of the problems with selling expensive-to-ship, well used items like this on ebay is that there are people who nitpick the imperfections and demand a price reduction after it arrives. If you refuse they will return it as "item not as described" and you will be stuck with the cost of shipping in both directions.
How much experience do you have selling on ebay? I've sold hundreds of things, many in well-worn or incomplete condition and that never happened. Just have to make sure you describe all flaws and show everything in the photographs. I did have to a refund a couple people when items were damaged in transit and one thing I sold never made it there but that's a separate issue and like a 1-2% failure rate. Cost of doing business.

I will say the first rule of listing anything on ebay is to make sure you already have in hand the box it's going to ship in, along with whatever packing materials are required, and have an idea of the shipping cost before listing it.

Also, nowadays note ebay will 1099 you if you sell more than $600 of goods in a calendar year. This is less of an issue — but not "not an issue" as you still have the hassle of reporting — if you have a record of your cost, such as a receipt or a credit card statement. I'd print those things out now.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Best approach to selling a half-functional mountain bike?

Post by AxelHeyst »

Well, this looks to be working out in an ideal fashion. I'm going to be doing a straight trade with a forumite for a Long Haul Trucker with 2.3" mtb tires on it. Not a fatbike, but a huge step in the right direction.

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