This site is still in beta but it's pretty impressive and useful:
www.bicyclebluebook.com
It's a big database of used bike prices. You enter the make, model and year of a bike by selecting from drop-down menus (if the bike's not in the database it won't show up in a menu) and you'll get details of the bike's original specs and price along with estimates for what a used model would go for in like new, excellent, good or fair condition. You can also search more generally for things like a "Trek Hybrid".
While the site doesn't have every bike and isn't really able to account for aftermarket bike upgrades or regional price differences (ie, used bikes prices are higher in places like Portland), it still is a handy starting point for figuring out if an asking price for a used bike is reasonable or just wishful thinking.
The site also offers a marketplace where registered users can buy and sell bikes. I've only browsed the site so I can't comment on the buying and selling experience.
I have no connection with www.bicyclebluebook.com but it looks like a quite well done. As more people use it, it's database should become even more complete. It's already quite impressive.
Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA
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4 comments:
Boo, scripts that call scripts are annoying with the NoScript addon. Even with everything allowed I still can't seem to select a model in Mozilla. That aside, they don't seem to have any transaction information for Velo Sport bikes. Are they really that rarely sold?
Thanks Kent, that's a very useful site. It reinforces my idea that fixing up old bikes by investing sweat equity into them results in something worth more than the sum of its parts at resale. Market value is informative and provides guidance, but it's not the end of the story--the market is possibly wrong about many things related to happy and reliable cycling.
The founder runs a used bike business around here so maybe he does have a decent record of prices, although the prices I spot checked seem on the high side to me.
How long before Kelly Blue Book sends a cease & desist for infringing on their trademark?
Not wickedly accurate IMHO. I spot checked several bikes that I own and the specifications were wrong.
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