Selling a used ebike isn't easy!

WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
I thought that I would easily sell my 12 month old Proconnect Disc when I retired recently but even though there have been hundreds of views in the classifieds on this website I haven't had a single reply. At £1250 ovno it seems a bargain to me. How should I calculate its value?
Are there any other ebike websites that I could advertise it on?
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
Exactly...Ebay it and it will be gone, but only if price right.

how much was it new?
 
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WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
I haven't sold anything on ebay before.

I bought something off it last week but the last minute bidding got a bit frantic as the time started to run out.

I think I paid about £1900 for the PC Disc last March. Is £1250 a reasonable ask?

Exactly...Ebay it and it will be gone, but only if price right.

how much was it new?
 

mrpscott

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2010
25
2
Around 18 months ago I sold my two year old Wisper 905 Sports on ebay - so I could purchase the 906.

I worked on the basis that the buyer, not having any real idea of the state of the battery, would buy on the basis of having to purchase a new one. I deducted the price of a new battery from the original price I paid then knocked a a quarter off that figure to cover 2 years use. This worked out at £750, which from memory was roughly the amount I received.
 

Mike63

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 23, 2008
809
64
I've sold 2 used bikes an 18 month old Powabyke x6 for £350 and a 2 year old Wisper for £350.
...'gonna shortly be looking to sell my UM44S U Sprite for a similar amount.
I would imagine it's a lot harder to sell one at £1250....seems like too much.

....Mike
 

indalo

Banned
Sep 13, 2009
1,380
1
Herts & Spain
From experience Walkerman, I think Eddie's right. Ebay has both fans and critics but there isn't much that can't be sold if the price is realistic.

Unfortunately, good quality, high-end machines such as yours pose a challenge second-hand as many or at least, some, potential buyers will baulk at a bike with a price tag way over a grand. I think some would be more comfortable buying brand new at that money with dealer support and warranty and that's understandable.

Sadly, many of those people will end up with something really heavy and rather agricultural which will do the job but without the panache that yours offers.

Actually, I think your price seems very fair but the market determines these things.

All the best with it,
Indalo
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
I don't think around £1200 to much, just need to get a bigger audience...Ebay cheap and instant advertising.

But if you have no history of sales you cant do a "buy it now" with offers allowed, so will have to be an auction. Don't make the mistake of setting a high start price, because there will be no interest and bidding wont get started! set a reserve you are happy with and start bidding at a few hundred....

next time do yourself a favour and buy a Wisper! far more desirable and easy to shift!;):p

plus Wisper have a transferable warranty, which gives peace of mind to a second owner.....
 
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jerrysimon

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 27, 2009
3,292
112
Cambridge, UK
Unless a product is highly desirable/brand new unused etc in my experience of selling or buying provided it is in good condition you are usually looking at around 50% of the cost of it new.

A bit of a generalisation I know but its what I have found. I agree the real concern will be the state of the battery. So in your case that is £950.

Why not list it Buy It Now at that with a make me an offer option :)

Oops just read Eddie's post :(

Regards

Jerry
 
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Kenny

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 13, 2007
383
111
West of Scotland
If you were willing to the post the bike you would greatly increase your chances of a sale.

If you boxed it carefully with plenty of padding it would only cost about £20 to get it delivered anywhere in the county

There could well be a number of members interested but simply live too far away to collect. If you sold it on here you wouldn't have any fees to pay either.;)
 

Mike63

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 23, 2008
809
64
...just a thought...advertise it in the local paper...that's how I sold both mine after getting no interest in the forum...never paid costs in either case.....potential buyer can come and see it and look you in the eye while asking questions...'gotta be worth a try.

....still think it should be below 1K though :)

....Mike
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Some while ago I established a method of arriving at the right price to sell a used e-bike for and many members have used it successfully. The link to the original post is below, but I can't say a price without knowing which battery type/size you have, I can't check at 50cycles since they no longer have your model listed:

Second hand e-bike pricing
 

Mike63

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 23, 2008
809
64
....an even better idea...."keep it"...you say that you're retiring...brilliant.

...get out and about ...explore the byways and canal paths...good excercise...bet there's loads of places within 10 miles of you that you never knew existed....don't forget your camera. :)

...you can always sell it another year.....good luck.
 

rustic

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 31, 2008
288
42
North Essex
Hi, I think the price is not unreasonable, but I suspect you will need to sell it for nearer the £1k mark. I think people with that amount of cash to make such a purchase may well find the extra £hundreds for the peace of mind of buying new, with the warranty & dealer back up etc...., Second hand purchases will always have a bit of a chance element to them, so people will need to feel they have got a real bargain. Good luck though, Ebay does seem to generate a fair amount of interest in these machines, I believe it's free listing this weekend as well!!!
 

Willin'

Pedelecer
Apr 2, 2011
211
0
Well I'll admit to looking carefully at the ad and if Walkerman does indeed live in Walker then it would be easy to pop over from where I live and try the bike out. However the issues that are raised here about battery life and replacement cost having a detrimental effect on the price of even a one year old bike had already made me think twice about the price the bike was advertised at (e.g buy bike at £1250 then possibly have to fork out £500 for a new battery and you may as well have bought a new bike anyway). Even on ebay I couldn't see the bike going for more than £850 - and how disappointing is that?
 

WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
The bike has the 18A battery which has all 5 lights on. Problem about this size battery is that no one knows how long they are going to last!
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
That battery could have a four year life, but based on it's high initial capacity, three years can confidently be expected. Based on that 3 years, my formula results in £1375, based on a 2 year battery life, £1290.

So your price is almost dead on as correct and it should sell in the right market. ebay seems to be your best bet, but in a recession anything over £1000 struggles a bit, not too many people having that sort of disposable income.
 

Biged

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 7, 2010
269
0
Watnall, Nottingham
You would struggle on ebay unless you have a 100% positive feedback on a fairly large number of sales/buys at least 50 on an item as expensive as that.
You are unlikely to get more than 50% of its original value in my opinion, i have two folders for sale and will not expect to get more than that.
Why do you want to sell your bike now you have retired? seems like the perfect time to buy one, that's what i did and not regretted a minute of it :cool: