Is $300 too much for a MB?

[hambro]

I've been building these bikes for over a year now and I love building them. I can't afford to keep filling my garage up with bikes that I build so that means I can't keep them all no matter how much I love them. My wife says I can't build anymore until I sell the ones I have so I put them on the market. Here's where the $300 comes in: Today I loaded three bikes into the back of a pickup truck and took them up to the busiest grocery store parking lot in my area. I gave out a hundred cards with my phone number on it and spoke with at least 150 people who were interested in the bikes. Of course everyone wanted to know how much I wanted for the bikes and my cheapest one is for sale for $300 dollars. It's a Murray Westport cruiser that I totally rebuilt from the ground up. I have 250 bucks in the bike including the engine but when I tell people I want $300 for it they look at me like I've lost my mind. What do these people expect for this kind of money? You can't build a Huffy cranbrook with a new 66cc engine on it for much less than 200 bucks and thats buying the bottom shelf ebay engine. These people think that because I built these bikes in my garage that they deserve to buy them at garage sell prices I guess. Sorry folks I guess I'm just venting a litttle but it really pisses me off.

[Venice Motor Bikes]

My cheapest bikes START at $500... But, you get what you pay for!!

[BarelyAWake]

It's kinda messed up but oddly 'nuff true that sometimes you can sell stuff for too little and freak people out *shrug* It's happened to me a coupla times when selling tools and stuff (everythin' must go moving sale). When ppl see a almost new $500 item fer $75 or so - they think "OMG what's wrong w/it?" and bicker, mebbe even tryin' fer less.

I almost wonder ifn ya'd be better off puttin' "$500 OBO" on it and letting them "negotiate" you down to your actual selling price?

OFC in the world we live in, 80% of resale value is appearance alone - doesn't matter how well it works so long as it looks good sittin' there lol How 'bout a few pics of the bikes yer tryin' to sell?

[stv1jzgte]

I have seen complete bike kits for $830 from a reputable dealer, also made/assembled in a garage!

[Humsuckler]

glad to hear.... im a chronic undercutter of myself..

the lesson to be learned in the above 3 posts is mentioned in the first or second post. Too cheap freaks people out!

I bet you would get more seriousness out of people by holding some sort of ground at a respectable price! chase away the tire kickers, reel in the deal strikers. Somewhere in between there should be a little bit of paper with the fine print


i have sold one bike for $180 (quick sale, i forced it onto the buyer and he took it and never came back, so i guess it was alright lol) and one that i recently bought back for $350, and got $400 for initially. And the guy who bought it for that much was given a "buddy price" if you know what that means. I felt like i made a worthy sale. Only reason i bought it back was the guy didnt know what he was doing and admitted to me he was over his head lol

*edit: Bottom line, dont undercut your hard work and sell your creations for toy store prices. These are custom built, one off machines! ****, if we had to buy the kits by the tens i bet these things would sell for a grand.

[wes]

My thought as well, if someone thinks its to good to be true, it usually is, i dont believe thats true, but when i do get a "to good to be true deal" i wonder if the item is stolen, i recently picked up a specialized rockhopper complete bike for dirt cheap!!! and dont forget the amount of time you have invested in each one of your builds as time is money!!! Good Luck

[Maxvision]

I couldn't sell the bikes I build for less that $800 and make any profit at all. Even at $1000 I'd be making less than $5 an hour for my labor.

[bairdco]

my wheels and tires cost 300 bucks.

[fasteddy]

Fourty plus years of restoring antique furniture and selling antiques has proven what everyone has said is right.

People are funny in as much as they value what they buy, by what they pay.
At $300 you are selling to the bargain hunters who will only drive you down. At $800/1,000 you are selling to the serious buyers who won't be looking for bikes at a grocery store parking lot. Great to show them off but not to sell.

If you can, rent a storage room with electricity and put a carpet on the floor with two or three bikes. That way you can show people after work if you have lights in the room and it keeps the people away from your house so the crooks can't get to the source. A lesson I learned the hard way.
Seems if you beat thier brains out thier ears, crooks have rights.

Best of luck.

Steve.

[Blakenstein]

My new motor alone is $370.00 American for my Island Hopper.....there are mountain bikes out there wthout motors that cost all the way up to 25 thousand.

$300 sounds awfully cheap for a complete bike with motor. I paid $600 just for my front fork and that was on half price sale.

I was in a store once when I saw just a frame!!! It was priced at $3,000.00