How much are used bikes worth?

[maker]

For cars I think it 40%- 50% after 3 years. Rule of thumb please, not "it depends......"

 

[CRFan1]

Suffice it say MTB's and eMTB's are the worst investment you can make and one of the issue I have with the whole industry. Everyone wants newer/better and your 2 or 3 year old bike will be lucky to bring 50% IMO.

 

[Darren]

2% per month is considered normal depreciation from an accountancy perspective.
The warranty has a higher value in an ebike than it does in more established technologies.

 

[Stihldog]

Supply and Demand. It seems to be a sellers market out there right now for new and used. I sold 2 gravel and a road within days of each other. Got my asking price. Could have asked more.
Now if technology would just stop then I could be satisfied with my EMTB.

 

[steve_sordy]

I use 30% per year.
So the price would go:
Purchase price 100%
After one year 70%
After 2 years 49%
After 3 years 34%
and so on.

That is my expectation. I try to beat it by keeping the bike looking good and having receipts for all suspension servicing, new cassettes, upgrades and so forth. You can get anal about it by adding upgrades at the purchase cost at the time you bought it, but that may be going too far.

I always feel as though I'm giving away my bike for an absolute song.

 

[Mikerb]

It depends....sorry!!
Condition
Relative popularity
Any warranty remaining
Mileage
Quality of advertisement.
profile of seller
Location.

Every bike new or second hand competes against every other bike for sale new or secondhand in a similar price bracket and of similar function.

 

[steve_sordy]

To maximise your selling price, do your homework first.

Just over ten years ago, I sold a Giant Anthem X2 that I had bought very cheaply just before they went up a lot in price. One year later I advertised it on Singletrack World for what turned out to be the cost of a new frame! No wonder the phone was ringing off the hook!

 

[Pan]

I use 30% per year.
So the price would go:
Purchase price 100%
After one year 70%
After 2 years 49%
After 3 years 34%
and so on.

That is my expectation. I try to beat it by keeping the bike looking good and having receipts for all suspension servicing, new cassettes, upgrades and so forth. You can get anal about it by adding upgrades at the purchase cost at the time you bought it, but that may be going too far.

I always feel as though I'm giving away my bike for an absolute song.

Yepp residual value on ALL used sport equipment is low. From a different domain (kitesurfing) I use 30% first year and then 10% of initial price for each following year (30/40/50% etc). Based on that you are giving your bikes away. With the rise of cost of ebikes this may change and residual values may be slightly better for the better ones (like it is for certain cars) imo.

 

[jimbob]

I'm just assuming it will be worthless by the time I'm done with it, and that way I don't have to worry. Hopefully I'll get something back for it, but I'm realistic that after the warranty is up its a massive risk to anyone buying it and so the price will end up reflecting that.

I just wish they were a bit cheaper in the first place!

 

[JimBo]

I've purchased a couple-dozen-plus new ebikes since 2015, and sold all but 8 of them on Craigslist. For now, at least, I'm keeping my "Fateful Eight" - I still ride 'em all - different bikes for different rides!

I've generally gotten 60-120% of what I paid, which was usually 30% or more below MSRP or "retail" - I often buy year-old clearance models and/or consumer-direct, which is basically "wholesale".

A couple years ago, I calculated how much I put into each bike I'd sold, how much I got for them, and how many miles they had on them. At that time, it seemed I was paying about $1 per mile ridden. Ouch!

I've reduced that by quite a bit recently, mostly by asking for more when selling, and by getting even better deals up front (though things have changed a bit post-Covid).

No doubt, the quality of my Craigslistings has had a corresponding effect on the responses and prices I get. One cool result has been that I've made a few riding buds along the way - there still aren't many eMTBers in my area.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I sold a Giant Anthem

I always feel as though I'm giving away my bike for an absolute song.

Well, it seems a fair exchange .

 

[steve_sordy]

To maximise your selling price, do your homework first.

Just over ten years ago, I sold a Giant Anthem X2 that I had bought very cheaply just before they went up a lot in price. One year later I advertised it on Singletrack World for what turned out to be the cost of a new frame! No wonder the phone was ringing off the hook!
View attachment 46420

Nobody commented on the photo!!
I'm gutted. I love that photo.
I was going to frame it and have it in the house, but her indoors raised an eyebrow.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Nobody commented on the photo!!
I'm gutted. I love that photo.
I was going to frame it and have it in the house, but her indoors raised an eyebrow.

I agree, it's a stunning photo..

I was going to comment, but I noticed the tyre was on backwards and I'm not the kind of guy who likes to find humour in another guys mistakes...

 

[DrStupid]

To maximise your selling price, do your homework first.

Just over ten years ago, I sold a Giant Anthem X2 that I had bought very cheaply just before they went up a lot in price. One year later I advertised it on Singletrack World for what turned out to be the cost of a new frame! No wonder the phone was ringing off the hook!
View attachment 46420

Lovely photo!

 

[DrStupid]

Never under no circumstances buy a used bike from me. That's all I know for sure

 

[DrStupid]

I'd likely buy a used bike right now just for a rear wheel. ETA of week nine of next year for my warranty hub replacement, and week two for a direct replacment purchase.

The old saying about a bird in the hand, worth two in the bush, seems to be ringing true.

 

[DrStupid]

Or a used woman from me......

Point taken. I'll keep the one I have on both counts.

 

[His_Turdness]

I bought my 2019 Decoy with about 1000km on it for for 3k. It had at least 2k worth of new parts on it, so I thought it was a good deal. I think right now availability is so terrible, that the used bikes sell really well. Next year should be a lot better for availability, but price might be high for new bikes.

 

[Janluke]

I think its gets much more complicated with ebikes. My Merida is over 3 years years old now so well out of warranty. I paid £4300, no real upgrades just bits replaced as they are needed but all in good order so if we say its worth 30% of the purchase price thats what £1290. That seems reasonable from a selling POV but as a buyer I'm buying a 3 year old out of warranty motor and battery. If the motor packs up tomorrow thats £800-1000, a battery £500. OK you can assess the battery condition but motors as we know do just pack up. For those of us who opted for a shimano 8000 motored bike it gets worse as they are stopping production of replacement motors.

Suddenly that 3 year old ebike seems a bit of a gamble esp if powered by shimano

 

[steve_sordy]

............. For those of us who opted for a shimano 8000 motored bike it gets worse as they are stopping production of replacement motors.
.............

Where did you read that? That looks like very important info.

 

[Janluke]

Where did you read that? That looks like very important info.

From my LBS via a Shimano rep so I appreciate not exactly official

 

[jimbob]

From my LBS via a Shimano rep so I appreciate not exactly official

I think it was also discussed in one of the EP8 threads too.

 

[gdcase]

bicycle blue book

 

[Utah Rider]

I just sold a medium 2017 Turbo Levo for $3000 cash U.S. in Utah. It had the original motor but newer battery with 40 charge cycles.

 

[steve_sordy]

From my LBS via a Shimano rep so I appreciate not exactly official

I hope they will be building a stock pile before they stop production! Or at least keep one smaller production line open.

To sell thousand and thousands of motors and then just stop production without a plan to service them afterwards is dreadful customer service and irresponsible in the extreme. Affected riders will be left with a bike that cost thousands and with no way to reedy the situation.

If this is true of course. This is the sort of thing that I would be looking to the bike magazines to be pressing Shimano hard to get an answer.

 

[jimbob]

I hope they will be building a stock pile before they stop production! Or at least keep one smaller production line open.

To sell thousand and thousands of motors and then just stop production without a plan to service them afterwards is dreadful customer service and irresponsible in the extreme. Affected riders will be left with a bike that cost thousands and with no way to reedy the situation.

If this is true of course. This is the sort of thing that I would be looking to the bike magazines to be pressing Shimano hard to get an answer.

I guess there will be an initial stockpile for warranty claims and then the EP8 would work as a replacement? I know they aren't selling them individually yet, but expect they will in a year or so, and believe they're plug and play as a replacement?

 

[Sander23]

I've bought my first e-mtb (haibike sduro hardnine 4.0) for 1700 € , had a 1000km on it with a 1 year warranty sold it for 1450€.

I'll probably sell my current haibike before the 10k km mark as I have no clue how long my Bosch motor will last.

 

[steve_sordy]

I guess there will be an initial stockpile for warranty claims and then the EP8 would work as a replacement? I know they aren't selling them individually yet, but expect they will in a year or so, and believe they're plug and play as a replacement?

Just because they use the same bolt holes and positioning does not make them a plug and play replacement. The wiring harness, the connectors and much more are all very different. It is possible, someone on here has done it, but it is very far from "plug and play". We all wish it was!

 

[Dave_h34]

I'd say it is plug and play, you just need to replace a lot of stuff, or perhaps if you're lucky add a number of wiring convertors. As far as i can ascertain, the main battery motor cable is the same. You'd need new speed sensor, motor to display cable, display and switch. If you replace all the bits it's plug and play! RRP on that is probably another £300 on top of the motor cost.

 

[smtkelly]

Just because they use the same bolt holes and positioning does not make them a plug and play replacement. The wiring harness, the connectors and much more are all very different. It is possible, someone on here has done it, but it is very far from "plug and play". We all wish it was!

You'll probably see grey 3rd party re-manufacturer sellers popping up. Happens for old cars all the time.

Isn't there an EU thing where spares have to be kept in stock (right to repair) for a certain period of time (10years) on household items. Also there's an EU thing for allowing access to diagnostic tools for 3rd parties (caused the whole cloned key car theft problem) in theory would allow Grey updates and unoffical 'smart' part replacments.

Shame were leaving the EU.. :/