Helping a friend sell his high end bicycle collection remotely

I have a mentor/colleague that has a quiver of high-end bicycles (Merlins, Pinarellos, De Rosas, etc) who is going through Parkinson's and wants to sell his bikes. With his Parkinson's, he is having issues with typing and such. He doesn't want to deal with listing his collection and as such, asked for some help. He lives in Philly and I am in Wisconsin. I wasn't sure how to best help him. He is alone now as his wife passed away a couple of years ago. I don't know if he has anyone else that can help.

I did think of The Pro's Closet, which sells high-end used bikes, but they only sell bikes that are 2017 or newer. I don't think any of his are that new.

Any tips or leads on how to best do this?

 

Look at the buy/sell forums on pinkbike.com. That may help you understand the market and pricing as well as give you a place to list them. It's more of a mountain bike site overall, but there are roadies there too.
I don't know the roadie world as well, so don't know what a comparable site for that would be.

 

I guess I was thinking of a service that could help him box up the bikes and such, other than his Local Bike Shop.

 

Where in Philly is he?

 

How about Ebay them and have the LBS handle the shipping

Ebay has a massive audience and they move stuff.
Do 48 states only, and only ship to people that have been members more than 3 years

You're gonna lose a few bucks but if you're clearing house it's the way to go

 

Why not call the local bike shops first and ask them to give you a price for everything?

 

Don't underestimate the power of the beeb! If possible, can pictures be posted?

Curious, how tall was your friend? This gives a spitball approach as to the size of bike that your friend rode.

 

I recently gave up on Ebay for the most part.

I have found the easiest way is facebook specific groups. Provided Bicycles are kinda like motorcycles, there should be plenty of groups for the specific brands or even type of bikes.

Plus Facebook allows you to see an actual profile with friends and interactions whereas scammers usually are fairly new accts, with low friends and no posts.

Plus plus, no ebay fees.

That being said, I still sell everything goods and services if you accept paypal so you are protected if you do get a random scammer.

Or as others have said, have him or someone load them in a truck and take to local trusted bike shop and someone there will know the best approach.

 

You may want to direct him to "The Paceline" forum.
There's a lot of high end stuff that rolls through that place every day.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/index.php

They are also a helpful bunch. I've facilitated transactions here in Portland for folks in LAX and PA. I see it regularly on the board.
Maybe he could get someone local there through this forum.

 

Are we talking 80s bikes or 90s bikes or like 5 years ago bikes ?

 

think op said older than 2017

 

Depending on if he has any rare ones, there could be a several thousand dollar gap between a well listed/identified one versus a "here's another vintage bike for sale".

I would definitely have someone knowledgeable list them, but likely only 1 in every 10 bike shops would even know this market. Really gotta find some cranky old retired guy with too much time on his hands.

 

I have a collection of older bikes myself, might be interested to know what is available and what frame size they are.

 

Anything Klein?

 

North Carpenter Street.

 

Hit up velojawn and see if they can help. Good folks there and depending where in Philthy he is will be close by.

 

I'll find out, I am thinking it is a largely roadie collection.

 

If he has a list, that would be helpful. For each bike I would use
Make:
Model:
Size:
Equipped with:
Wheels (if different than groupo)
Pedal Type
Seat
Special trick bits:

 

Facetious Online Swap Meet For Cyclists and Triathletes is pretty good. I know some guys who offload their gear there at the end of each season.

 

Not that it really makes a difference, but there is no North Carpenter. Carpenter is an east west street that is in south Philly, and would go into Southwest, as well.