Trade in value

How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase? Is there some sort of
formula to calculate this?

Thanks,
Jiyang Chen

In article , Jiyang Chen wrote:
How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase? Is there some sort of
formula to calculate this?

Most bike shops do not take old bikes in on trade toward new purchases,
for those that do you will be offered something based on what the
retailer thinks he can sell it for, which depends a lot on your local
market and the kind of people who shop there.

Your $600-700 guess sounds extremely optimistic to me. The margin on
the next bicycle you buy won't be big enough to allow it.

You can probably get the most money for the bike on eBay.

--Paul

Jiyang Chen wrote:
How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase?

It's always warm and sunny in your world, isn't it?

Bill "gotta love an optimist" S.

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 20:25:03 -0500, Jiyang Chen wrote:

How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase? Is there some sort of
formula to calculate this?

There is no set formula, no blue book for used bikes. Used bikes often go
very cheap, mostly because they lack the latest bells and whistles. Also,
it is harder to get one that fits, since there is no selection.

You might be able to get something from a Trek dealer, but I would be
surprised if you got that kind of money unless it was a promotional
gimmick.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but
_`\(,_ | what canst thou say? -- George Fox.
(_)/ (_) |

On 13 Mar 2004 20:25:03 EST, "Jiyang Chen" wrote:

How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase? Is there some sort of
formula to calculate this?

Thanks,
Jiyang Chen

FIrst, will your bike shop take it in as a trade? Most will avoid used
bikes because of liability issues.

Second, look at the going price for your model bike on the used
market. It might be $600-700 person to person, but I bet that is the
top limit. Do a google search, look at both the
rec.bicycles.marketplace listings under groups and the internet
postings.

Whatever the bike may go for person to person, realize that the dealer
will not give you that. They will need to cover their mechanical
expenses in going over the bike and their capital expenses in
investing in a bike that may sit in the shop for months or years. If
they gave you half of the going price, you'd be doing good, I think.
So if the bike is worth $600, they might offer $300. Consider the
other $300 money spent to avoid selling it on your own, to have the
bike shop act as your agent. 50/50 split on consignment sales isn't
unusual.

This isn't the auto market where there is a decent profit built into
every sale. A car dealer can offer $10,000 in trade for a used car
that you could sell for $10,000 because they are giving away part of
the gross profit on the new car they are selling you, and they were
going to negotiate it away somewhere else if not here in order to make
the sale. They aren't putting out real money, only playing with
various columns of funny money numbers on a piece of paper. A bike
shop isn't playing those kinds of games, and with those kind of profit
margins.

Dan Daniel wrote in
:
FIrst, will your bike shop take it in as a trade? Most will avoid used
bikes because of liability issues.

Is that true? There are several shops in my area that sell used bikes. Most
of these are near college campuses. I think many high-end shops avoid used
bikes because of the low profit margin and the big hassle factor.

Regarding how much a shop will give you for a used bike, I doubt you'll get
more than half what you paid for it originally. The shop will have a lot of
overhead in reselling it and they have to add a decent mark-up to pay for
maintenance work, sales time, floor space, risk/cashflow, etc. You'll get a
much better deal selling it yourself, but that, of course, can be a lot of
work.

"Jiyang Chen" wrote in message
...
How much money should I expect to get by trading in a 2002 Trek 2000
(which I got for about 1 grand) that's in fairly new condition? I was
thinking about $600-700 towards next purchase? Is there some sort of
formula to calculate this?

That depends. Did you ever mount your counterfeit Campagnolo disc wheel?

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 06:09:38 +0000, Ken wrote:

Dan Daniel wrote in
:
FIrst, will your bike shop take it in as a trade? Most will avoid used
bikes because of liability issues.

Is that true? There are several shops in my area that sell used bikes. Most
of these are near college campuses. I think many high-end shops avoid used
bikes because of the low profit margin and the big hassle factor.


You could be right. Three or four bike shops mentioned liability
issues when I was looking for used bikes last year. One specifically
mentioned insurance, but I could have misunderstood the others. Maybe
it was just the 'liability' of having to fix broken parts, constant
adjustments, etc. Too big a risk to assume a warranty without a
company like Shimano or Trek backing you?

Of maybe fifteen shops I can think of in my immediate area, five deal
in used bikes. Two are community training programs, one is a guy in a
small shop who does nothing but scrounge parts off the street and turn
them into 'bikes' of varying creativity and varying functionality, one
is geared towards bike messengers and beaters and works on
consignment, and one was really interested when I brought in a frame I
had painted myself and wondered if I could do some frames for them and
how fast I could turn them around and how many I could do at one time-
all I could think of was an auto body chop shop and I never talked to
them again.