What's the used vintage bike market like where you live?

[dirttorpedo]

I've been needing to make some space in my garage/bike shed and have been trying to sell a couple of vintage bikes and the market seems completely dead. Or the prices have dropped so much that I'm waaaaaay overpriced at 60% of what I paid for the bikes originally 5 or so years ago. And these are very good condition vintage bikes.

Is this the same all over? I'm getting to the point where I might just donate them to the local bike charity.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I think the vintage Market is suffering a strong post Covid slump in the UK.
But there's a risk that bike charities further undermine value.
You could just sell them cheaply, like an ebay auction starting at 99p, and give the money raised to any charity or homeless person if you don't want it.
Hopefully that will ensure a lucky and grateful new owner

 

[vtwinvince]

Except for rare, high end stuff, the market is definitely in the crapper in North America.

 

[Thias]

We just had that same discussion at the German classic forums. Seems to me, that all that money printing is showing its ugly side effects. People struggle to pay the bills. Food and basic necessities become more and more expensive. The rent! The stuff that you can't postpone to buy. No money left for their hobby.
It's the same with other stuff I know of. Vintage radios are suddenly half the price. Car prices have gone down, too. I was thinking about selling my 2003 SL500, but looking at the prices I think I'll keep it for a few more years.
Prices for homes have come down a little bit, too. Which is a good thing, though. For most people.

 

[Tootyred]

Yep deffo agree. Either top end selling for people with endless deep pockets or dead as a coffin nail.

The few bits i have left, im selling for 1/2 the price i would have done 2 or 3 years ago, just to get them to move out the workshop.

Ebay doesn't help the reality of the situation as every day i see items going round and round, week after week at stupidity high prices.....but as its what everybody else is asking, they just keep going in a pricing fairyland .

People just haven't got the money for a hobby any longer, not at those old prices.

 

[W7Ford]

The values seem to have dropped back to pre-covid levels around here. I've seen a few things at comparable prices. It was getting to the stage where I was priced out of the hobby, so I'm grateful as a buyer that things have normalised.

 

[Tootyred]

. It was getting to the stage where I was priced out of the hobby, so I'm grateful as a buyer that things have normalised.

Yes, that aspect is certainly better! But sadly I feel more are trying to sell to raise much needed cash than buying now.

Either that or we will be back to people with vast hoards of kit, scared to sell, which helps the hobby not one tiny bit!

 

[benjabbi]

Either that or we will be back to people with vast hoards of kit, scared to sell, which helps the hobby not one tiny bit!

Unfortunately this is where I'm at currently. It's not so much money lost, I mean it's spent already and keeping and not using get's me nothing. It's more the time and effort cleaning, listing and packaging, just to end up with £4.50 puts me off doing it.

 

[Ingola]

Back to precovid levels here in Canada often lower. If your buying awesome selling not so good.

 

[Ingola]

Yes, that aspect is certainly better! But sadly I feel more are trying to sell to raise much needed cash than buying now.

Either that or we will be back to people with vast hoards of kit, scared to sell, which helps the hobby not one tiny bit!

I use to sell vintage audio and they often have the same hoarding issues. The trick is patience they will get overwhelmed and have to sell often at rock bottom prices.