collegefor30

Three More Winter Sales

2011-03-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Although I knew things would be slow throughout the winter, that hasn't stopped me from at least trying! My key is this: don't be afraid to list bikes in the winter, but don't let them go for less than they'll likely go in the summer. I don't mind if none of them sell right now, I just don't want to minimize my profit margin just to get rid of them. These three bikes were exceptions to the usually slow winter. The first, a Bianchi San Jose single speed road/trackbike wasbeautiful! If it were a little smaller, I would have been tempted to keep it! Ipicked it up down in Colorado Springs for $250 and listed it for $500. I was surprised to

an email from someone in Topeka, Kansas that wanted to buy it. He said his dad would be in Denver the next week and would come by with $500 cash, and he did!

The second bike was an older Trek 6000 that my friend, Evan, found at Goodwill. He called me and told me about it. For $50, I liked it enough to have him buy it for me. I brought it home, gave it some TLC and put it on craigslist. A few days later a nice Indian gentleman talked me down to $150 for it. I was happy with the 3x profit and he was happy with a good bike for only $150!

The third bike was a Trek 4900 that I picked up a few months ago for $100 expecting to hold on to it until summer came. This was a steal for this bike since I thought I could get between $250 and $300 easily for it. In a weak and compassionate moment, though, a nice middle eastern man, who had just moved to downtown Denver, asked if I would take $250 for it. He was thrilled to get it and I was happy to give him something to commute on. That brought the total of these three winter sales to $900, or a $500 profit. The new total of the college fund is up to $2,300! The sun is starting to come out and we're almost 25% of the way there! An update of a different nature is that I found out a few days ago that I was accepted in to the grad program of the school that I would like to attend; the University of Northern Colorado! Now I just have to pay for it! Only $7,700 to go!!

2010 Gary Fisher Utopia

2011-02-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

The woman selling this 2010 Gary Fisher Utopia hybrid bike said that she had ridden it a total of 4-5 times, and it was obvious! The bike looked just like it did months before as it sat on the showroom floor of Weatridge Cyclery with an $879.99 price tag on it. She was willing let it go for $250. I was prepared to hold on to it until the summer but when the offer of $500 (if I delivered it) was given, I jumped at it. As with all bikes, I aim to sell for double what I have paid for the bike. The $250 profit brought the new total to $1800. Almost to the 20% mark!

Best time to buy a bike? When nobody else is buying!!

2011-01-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to think that winter is the best time to buy a bike. Must be because there's about as many people looking to buy bikes in the Colorado winter as there are people looking to buy snow tires in Houston. I picked this steal of a 2006 Specialized Rockhopper for $100 and quickly sold it for $300 cash (and a $50 REI gift card but we won't count that.) Add another $200 to the total!

Grindin it out, one bike at a time!

2010-12-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

Nothing too special here, but I picked up this Trek 4300 last week for $100 and sold it yesterday for $200. With any bike, if I'm not pretty sure I can resell it for at least double what I paid, I don't go for it. I've recently picked up 3 more higher end bikes that I will hold on to until summer so I needed to make some room. The total now is up to $1,375 and is slowly moving forward even in the dead of winter! I would like to be to $3,000 by the time bike season rolls around again. Slowly but surely!

Triathlon bikes sell best while it's snowing

2010-12-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

That's the only logical conclusion, I guess. This Quintana Roo Kilo road bike is designed for triathlons. I picked it up for $300 a couple weeks ago. Like the other bikes, it would sell for 20% or so more in the summer, but I was satisfied to settle for the $550 I was offered today. That's a profit of $250 bringing the new total to $1,275. Starting to take some big steps!

Who buys bikes in the winter??

2010-11-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well apparently there actually are people that buy bikes in the winter (besides me, of course). When I bought this Specialized Rockhopper FSR from a guy in Parker, CO he thought I was crazy. I picked it up for $200 and didn't put any work in to it besides marketing work. The profits are definitely lower in the winter. This same bike would sell for $400-$450 in the summer, but I settled to just get rid of it for $300 to make space.

Space is rare these days. The last time I checked I had 8 bikes sitting in the spare bedroom. Any overnight guests are surrounded by expensive mountain bikes. Sounds good to me! I will continue to try to get rid of bikes throughout the winter, but for now am happy with holding on to the remaining 7 or 8 until summer.

Not what I had planned, but I take em as they come!

2010-10-26T17:47:00.000-06:00

Things are slowing down! This winter could be a great time to gather up some good deals here and there and sit on them until the Spring bike fever hits. Unfortunately until then, the selling will be minimal. However, here and there I'm sure I will be able to get rid of a bike or two and slowly move towards the goal.

Last week I picked up this Trek 4100 off craigslist. Someone had it in their basement and hadn't ridden it in years. It needed a tune-up and a new chain. She only wanted $60 for it. If she hadn't lived 5 minutes from me I definitely wouldn't have gotten it as many people called her within 10 minutes of listing the bike.

I had aspirations of fixing it up and selling it, but eventually decided to sell it as another project. Someone decided it was worth $150 to them just as I bought it, and that they would put the work in to it. Not what I had in mind, but a quick $90 none the less, bringing out new total to $925. I should be to my first thousand soon!

The Gary Fisher Connection

2010-09-12T20:00:00.000-06:00

I think we found the key; Gary Fisher bikes! Last week I picked up this Gary Fisher Wahoo that had 2 flat tires but looked brand new. It was a $600 bike about 5 years ago new. I was able to pick it up for $120 and already had 2 new tubes to replace the flats with. There was actually someone who wanted the last Gary Fisher I had, and I was able to interest him in the bike without needing to list it or mess with e-mails. I was able to sell it for $350, so a profit of $230. That brings our new total to $835!! While I'm expecting things to slow down some over the winter, at this rate we'll be there in a few months!

3rd time's a charm!

2010-08-26T21:32:00.000-06:00

If every investment paid this type of dividends I'd be to my goal in no time! I found this 2006 Gary Fisher Tassajara Disc mountain bike on craigslist from a nice buy who was leaving that weekend for Afghanistan for a year with the Army and was getting rid of everything he had. This bike new was $900 and it had about $200 of extras on it. I was thrilled to pick it up for only $80! I wasn't as thrilled when I realized that upon loading it in my car, I locked my keys in my car and myself; out. It was slightly embarrassing going back to his apartment to ask him to help me get the keys out. I learned something new about my car that day; it was designed with a "feature" where you can't open it without unlocking it, even if pulling up the lock or on the handle. I guess this is so people can't reach in and open it through the window.

Anyways, a few hours later my wife showed up to unlock my car. If it weren't for such a great deal I might have been upset, but considering I also walked away with a lamp and a snowboard for only $10 more, how could I be upset?

So after cleaning up the bike and replacing the front and rear tubes it was ready to go back on the market. I was able to get $500 for it for a profit of $420. This brought the new total to $605; about enough for one masters credit! We still have a long ways to go, but we're moving in the right direction for sure!

Take 2- off to a good start

2010-08-15T08:23:00.000-06:00

While checking out garage sales this weekend I found this little BMX bike for $35. It looked brand new, as was confirmed by the seller. She said they bought it for their son a few years ago and he hardly ever rode it. After communicating with 4 different people, a couple met me half way to get it for $140 for their son. Looks like we're up to $185 after 2 transactions. There's a long ways to go but we're moving in the right direction!

Here we go!!

2010-08-10T18:56:00.000-06:00

My $30 is gone! But the good news is, I have this 10 year old broken bike. Great news, eh? It is if it's all part of the plan. Over the next year, I will find bikes that I can put minimal work in to and market them well enough to turn a profit of 2-3 times what I paid for it. Since buying this bike yesterday, I have tightened a few things, put new tubes in the tires and cleaned it up, and sold it for $80. Day 1 is a success! I now have $80 for college! Unfortunately that's not enough for 1 credit hour (or even 1 book for a class for that matter.) The game is on!