Ebay Prices and my Bike Registry
Mon, February 1, 2021 
It has been over ten years since I opened my “Bike Registry” in August 2010. My blog had started five years earlier in 2005 and a result I was getting emails from owners of bikes I had built. I realized in order to preserve these bikes there needed to be information online, so someone finding one would realize the bike had value, and there were people interested in owning one.
The Registry has worked because there is hardly a week goes by, that I don’t get two or three emails from people who have inherited a Fuso, or another bike I built, or they found one in a yard-sale, and they want to know how much it is worth.
The value of a frame or bike that I built is the amount the owner is prepared to sell it for, and the price the buyer is prepared to pay. It is the same for all vintage bicycles, or for that matter any used item for sale.
I can tell you over the last ten years that my Registry has existed, the price has held steady, on average around $500 or $600. A really nice one in mint condition with top-of-the-line components will occasionally go for $1,000, or even more. But there has to be someone willing to pay that much for a bike that is the size that the buyer needs.
On eBay at the time I am writing this there are five bikes with frames I built, priced between $695 and $2,400, plus $100 to $150 for shipping. The bike that is priced at $2,400 (Pictured above.) has been on eBay for at least three years. It may be worth that much to someone, it is in mint condition, and anyone would be hard pressed to fine a nicer one. Obviously, the owner is holding out for the right buyer.
I always assume that when someone asks me for a value of a bike or frame, they expect to sell in in a reasonable amount of time. Let me tell you a true story.
About a year ago, someone emailed me to tell me they had bought a Fuso at a yard sale for $19 and asked me what it was worth. I told him $500, thinking that this was a nice little return on his investment. Within minutes of sending the email the bike appeared on eBay at a $1,000 “Buy it now” price.
I was a little annoyed, I thought, ‘Why waste my time asking for a valuation.’ Then just to rub it in, the bike sold for $1,000 by the end of that first day, and the seller emailed me to say I had given him bad information.
This is not the end of the story. A little over a week later the person who bought the bike emailed me, excited about his purchase, and wanted to add it to the registry. He sent pictures and asked me how to fix the rusted out top tube guides. Now I felt bad for him, I could not bring myself to tell he had paid way too much for the bike.
I hate to see people get screwed, whether they are buyers or sellers. Had this seller, sold the bike for $500, I would have been happy for his good fortune, and I would not have felt so bad that the buyer had paid $1,000 for what amounts to a piece of rusted out junk.
I do not influence or set prices, and neither does the presence of my Registry. Prices of vintage bikes went down in the crash of 2008, and have yet to go back to what they were prior to that. I remember a year or so before 2008 one of my custom ‘dave moulton’ bikes went for $3,000. I have not seen anything that high since.
Simple supply and demand create the prices. I have a Facebook Group page with about 1,300 members, that is probably the extent of my following. I built 2,400 Fuso frames plus the other brands. There is a good supply out there for anyone who cares to look for one.
If all you can find is a rough one in your size, you can at least ride it until a nicer one comes along, and if you did not overpay for your first bike or frame, you can sell it for what you paid for it. Do not buy vintage frames as an investment. Entered into wisely it can be a rewarding hobby that will bring hours of pleasure and healthy outdoor exercise.
Many bikes that come up for sale have been in storage for years in a garage or storage unit, the owner will ask top dollar for it, but the bike has twenty years of dirt and grime on it. Or they cannot even make an effort to drag the bike outside to take some decent pictures, they post photos of the bike still amongst the clutter it was discovered.
Wash the bike with soap and water as you would a car, do not wipe the dirt off with a dry rag or you will scratch the paint. Chances are if the bike has spent most of its life in storage it will clean up like new and will be worth more.
On the other hand, if the bike has been stored in a barn or shed without climate control, or worse still, outside under a tarpaulin, chances are the aluminum components will be badly corroded, and the frame rusted. The bike still has some value but far less than one in nice condition. However, you may get a hundred dollars or more for it, and someone may get pleasure in restoring it. Rather that than send it to the dump.
If you have one to sell it is your prerogative to ask as much as you feel you can get. You can always come down in price. One suggestion, you start the bidding at $500 or lower and place a reserve on it at $1,000 or whatever you think it is worth and see how high the bidding will go.
If you are a buyer, the prices you see on eBay are what the sellers are asking, not necessarily what the bike is worth, it is worth what you are willing to pay. Join the Dave Moulton Bikes Facebook group it is a good place to find bikes for sale by other DMB enthusiasts who know the true value of bikes I built is not in a dollar amount but the way it feels to ride one.
Here is another article with tips on buying a used bike, and a PDF file you can download and print, on “Packing a bike for shipping.”
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Reader Comments (3)
Thanks Dave, I have 2 of your frames and love them both. One came from ebay at a really good price and one from a forum member at a fair price. Both give me the pleasure of knowing that my rides have history and much affection bestpwed by previous owners AND myself. Thanks for keeping up the registry and blog. Ride ON!
Dear Dave
responding to your ebay pricing blog - although not top dollar, I did sell your 1983 50th crit bike for $4200 on Eboy in late 2019 and there was a pro sold earlier that year for mid $3k.
I was a very proud owner of your bike and had a lot of fun building it up again and taking it for a few rides as well.
You are one of the great american builders and as we are perhaps going through a downturn in collectable bikes they will always appreciate.
Ride On- John
John,
That was an exceptional bike and you deserved to get an exceptional price. The story of that bike here: http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/10/restored-to-its-former-glory.html
Dave