These are the reasons why we do not make a major effort for the high ticket items as like I mentioned to Steven Thomas earlier today. Hope you don't mind me using your name Steven. But there are ones out there has made a good go of it just recent, fly over to this side of the pond for a few weeks find a bunch of key items! And bang, there you go! But a lot of cost is involved in these trips!...........We have been told why don't you do this and do that! No sir!...................We are sticking to our program! HEY! I'm sure many out there remembers the Merckx score! As the saying goes, from ''RAGS TO RICHES!''..............Turning pennies into dollars!
Anyway 3 weeks before going on line with Renaissance, We took a look around the market place and I didn't like what I was seeing! Many dealers were heavy on Chicy type items and as we all know the margins are not there! So I told my other half if we ''WANT TO GET INTO THE BALL GAME AND STAY THERE!'' We have to take a few steps back deflate our heads and offer the B & C type items! She had this look of disbelief on her face! We were laden down with Campagnolo And I mean ''BIG TIME!'' Hey! List member Big Bob Cohen came by for a visit just before the fire and he had a look see! NR rings by the thousands! 1600 NR/SR brake levers with fresh hoods! Mario G. scooped up 800 + rings and I think these are now are at Bicycle Classics!
Well we are back and everytime I see some of these high ticket items going fior what they are selling for! I get the itch! But then I Cool my jets!....And hang on to the program! Hell! When it rains it pours..........Those Paturaud straps we sold on ebay for $ 265.-. I visited a supplier one day grabbed some goods we needed, stuck my hand into the grab box pulled out these straps! I said what about these, he looked wiggeled his nose waved his pen and pushed them into the box! I said OK!....................We are off to the races.
Now if I could only match my first offer to the list of the Normal reach NR brake calipers! Old timers, remember that one? Oh what about the NR pedals! Man those were some howling times!
Nuf said!
BC Baron C...................And the gang, Renaissance cycles, Eindhoven Holland! Hey!.............................The Zeus score!
First of all, I do not usually sell stuff on e-bay, and the highest price I have obtained to date for a bike part is $ 385 (with minimal profit, as I paid not much less for the item). So this is not written out of self-interest.
I have heard from a few e-bay sellers (not Jan Johnson, with whom I have corresponded only on the topic of photographing bikes), that after each high-priced sale, they get numerous "hate e-mails" from "collectors" - who, I am sure, are not on this list - who somehow feel the sellers should have sold the parts to them, the collectors, for less, or something to that extent. So I can see them becoming touchy when somebody criticizes their auction/product.
I feel this is unfortunate. This hobby has so many facets, many of which cost very little. For example, I was told that at VeloSwap this year, you could pick up a nice 1960s Peugeot PX-10 for $ 105. Most of the missing components can be found at swap meets, etc., so for maybe $ 200 you could have a period bike with great history (one of the oldest bike manufacturers, TdF wins, etc.), which rides great, has many neat touches, etc.
On the other hand, if you want to have the rarest of the rare, even $ 3000 cranks are within reach of many people. How much did you spend on your last car?
Or, if you want to make money, you can dig around bike shops, swap meets, garbage cans (seriously, I have a set of Campy SR cranks that came from a dumpster in Austin, TX), find the stuff, sell it and get rich. Well, maybe not - the expensive items are expensive because they are rare. If you take 6 months to find a $ 3000 crankset, you might as well work at McDonalds and buy it on e-bay.
Or, if you would like the rare stuff, but not spend the money - no problem. It just takes time and dedication. For example, Argentina had quite a few nice bikes just after the war. Learn Spanish, quit your job (or take a year's leave), move down there, and I am sure you can come up with a lot of nice stuff.
That is what Grant Handley (of René Herse-selling fame) did, at a time when nobody even wanted René Herse bikes. (I know Mike Kone, who is a friend, sold his first Herse for $ 750, making a "huge" $ 250 profit and thinking how he had done well. Those were the days - not that long ago.)
Or, if you just want to ride a classic bike - never have they been cheaper. A very nice Columbus SL-framed NR-equipped bike from a lesser-known maker shouldn't cost you more than $ 500. What can you get at your local bike store for that money?
Or, if you just want to show off, why not buy the $ 2500 pedals on e-bay, then invite all your friends over, have them drool over them, then re-list them on e-bay. You probably will get back what the second-highest bidder is willing to pay - $ 2450. For $ 50, you've had a lot of fun!
Nothing wrong with any of these approaches.
Jan Heine, Seattle