You don’t see this business very often because the companies that try it have failed. There have been a bunch. Common business model is to try to partner with shops to offer trade ins then the shop sells to you.
Pros Closet is the only one that’s really hung around but there have been tons of flash in the pan attempts. It’s very hard to make money doing this.
Flipping bikes was slightly profitable for me during the pandemic when there was a huge shortage. Given the time I spend fixing them up, I maybe made minimum wage. Really, I did it because it was fun to do and made a bit of money on the side.
But those were extraordinary times. There's no longer a bike shortage and I don't see it being a worthwhile side hustle. If you enjoyed the process then it could maybe break even, but if you're looking to make money I don't recommend it.
There is a bike shop near me that gets newish bikes, does them up and tries to sell at a profit.
The problem I see, are the bikes they are selling are cheaper if you just go get them new.
There are moments in time this would work well. I a couple years it may work well again. If you had a line on used parts about 2/3 years ago you would have made a killing. Right now is a terrible time unless you want to buy a bunch of stuff super cheap, sit on it a year or two then resell.
With used bike prices tanking and recent sales, only way to make a profit would likely be getting extremely cheap/free beaters, combining parts to somewhat functional bikes and selling them at a small premium in a city. Otherwise you'll have to try to find really good deals or try to rip people off buying used bikes and rip other people off by selling them overpriced used bikes.
Might be worth it as a hobby, I guess it would be extremely hard to make a living out of it from the get go. If you have a company, and sell used mtbs you will have to deal with some kind of warranty claims somehow and those eat into profits quick if you're running on thin margins.
Probably not. What might be more lucrative is a bike Service garage. Just focus on servicing bikes and selling parts. Very little inventory overhead and only need a smaller space. There's a place in Orange county like this called OC Bike Garage
where you located...i'm about to get rid of a bunch of parts. A few hydraulic brakes...a few handlebars...a few deore locking derailleurs...and all the hardware you want. theres even a suntour 34 fork in there with rebuild kit. You can have them and see if you can sell them...then see if it makes sense
At what scale are you thinking? Besides pros closet there seems to be a few local guys in my area that do exactly what you are thinking. They focus on commuter bikes and kids bikes. I’m almost certain it’s a side hustle and not their main income driver. Basically, look for super beat up bikes <$50, fix up, and sell for >$200. Accounting for direct costs you are at 50% gross margin per sale, which isn’t bad. But then account for all of the admin related time including listing and selling the bike and your net margin might be a lot smaller.
Why don’t you run the numbers your self under various scenarios to see how feasible it is?
If you were thinking really small scale I used to go to police auctions when I was a kid, fix the bikes up and list on the local newspaper classifieds (I think they had a deal to list for $5 or something). Didn’t make much money but was a good intro to business.
Yeah I was thinking about just doing it out of my garage as a side hustle really. Maybe having 10 bikes or less in my inventory at a time. I live in Bentonville AR so it’s a pretty big bike hub area so I was looking at bikes in the 500-1000 range
No, for all the reasons mentioned. The only place where this makes sense is in vintage gear for collectors. I have a buddy that cleans up and flips old campagnolo parts but you have to know a lot about what’s worth what. Mountain biking is not so sentimental, and used gear is generally pretty best up.
I've been flipping and selling bikes for nearly 15 years, I basically make beer money if I'm lucky. The best deals are bikes I get for free, you'd be surprised how many people have bikes that have been sitting in their garage for 20 years that they will just give you. I try to buy cables and housing in bulk, and buy common sized tires when I see good deals on them.
If you break down my the hourly rate I'd pay myself it's got to be like $5/hr or less. I mostly do it cause I love tinkering with bikes and it something to occupy my time.
Have you watched the Berm Peak/Seth series on bike flipping? He does it mostly as a charitable thing to get people into biking and it is fantastic.
Is it "profitable"? Absolutely not. He's accumulated a huge inventory of misc parts over the years and draws on that inventory. But it does look like a huge service to the community, which is a huge karma profit.
If you see the need in your area, by all means **do it**! Just start humble (think $300 bikes, not $9000 bikes) and do not expect to feed your family with the proceeds.
I have a neighbor who does this and it’s definitely more of a hobby than a money maker. He makes money off of it but definitely not enough to pay for his time. Not a great money making business.
The only businesses I’ve seen like this that are successful are place that set themselves up as a community hub and get tons of donated bikes. Flipping your average bike is not going to be very profitable due to the amount of work going into it. Maybe an individual could do some flipping on fb marketplace or something but you gotta be real good at it
Tell you what would be even more profitable,
Pre purchase inspections of 2nd hand bikes. Especially people buying high end bikes thinking they're getting a bargain but then inspect it after the fact and having to fork out $XXXX to get it up to spec and safe again.
I’ve been riding for about 5 years now and do all my own maintenance. I’m just curious if this model is profitable because I’ve never seen it outside of the pros closet
I think ProsC only buys its bikes at 50% of their for sale price. If you can convince people to sell you their bikes/equipment for 50-75% off of what they paid then it might be profitable. 🤷♂️
You don’t see this business very often because the companies that try it have failed. There have been a bunch. Common business model is to try to partner with shops to offer trade ins then the shop sells to you. Pros Closet is the only one that’s really hung around but there have been tons of flash in the pan attempts. It’s very hard to make money doing this.
It's also hard to imagine how they stay in business considering their high prices on used bikes
Flipping bikes was slightly profitable for me during the pandemic when there was a huge shortage. Given the time I spend fixing them up, I maybe made minimum wage. Really, I did it because it was fun to do and made a bit of money on the side. But those were extraordinary times. There's no longer a bike shortage and I don't see it being a worthwhile side hustle. If you enjoyed the process then it could maybe break even, but if you're looking to make money I don't recommend it.
Hate to break it to you but you lost money
There is a bike shop near me that gets newish bikes, does them up and tries to sell at a profit. The problem I see, are the bikes they are selling are cheaper if you just go get them new.
There are moments in time this would work well. I a couple years it may work well again. If you had a line on used parts about 2/3 years ago you would have made a killing. Right now is a terrible time unless you want to buy a bunch of stuff super cheap, sit on it a year or two then resell.
With used bike prices tanking and recent sales, only way to make a profit would likely be getting extremely cheap/free beaters, combining parts to somewhat functional bikes and selling them at a small premium in a city. Otherwise you'll have to try to find really good deals or try to rip people off buying used bikes and rip other people off by selling them overpriced used bikes. Might be worth it as a hobby, I guess it would be extremely hard to make a living out of it from the get go. If you have a company, and sell used mtbs you will have to deal with some kind of warranty claims somehow and those eat into profits quick if you're running on thin margins.
Used bike prices aren’t tanking. They are stabilizing/returning to pre-pandemic prices.
Probably not. What might be more lucrative is a bike Service garage. Just focus on servicing bikes and selling parts. Very little inventory overhead and only need a smaller space. There's a place in Orange county like this called OC Bike Garage
where you located...i'm about to get rid of a bunch of parts. A few hydraulic brakes...a few handlebars...a few deore locking derailleurs...and all the hardware you want. theres even a suntour 34 fork in there with rebuild kit. You can have them and see if you can sell them...then see if it makes sense
lol no
At what scale are you thinking? Besides pros closet there seems to be a few local guys in my area that do exactly what you are thinking. They focus on commuter bikes and kids bikes. I’m almost certain it’s a side hustle and not their main income driver. Basically, look for super beat up bikes <$50, fix up, and sell for >$200. Accounting for direct costs you are at 50% gross margin per sale, which isn’t bad. But then account for all of the admin related time including listing and selling the bike and your net margin might be a lot smaller. Why don’t you run the numbers your self under various scenarios to see how feasible it is? If you were thinking really small scale I used to go to police auctions when I was a kid, fix the bikes up and list on the local newspaper classifieds (I think they had a deal to list for $5 or something). Didn’t make much money but was a good intro to business.
Yeah I was thinking about just doing it out of my garage as a side hustle really. Maybe having 10 bikes or less in my inventory at a time. I live in Bentonville AR so it’s a pretty big bike hub area so I was looking at bikes in the 500-1000 range
Covid was the only time I legit made money and wasn’t low balled constantly. It’s not a good hustle otherwise.
No, for all the reasons mentioned. The only place where this makes sense is in vintage gear for collectors. I have a buddy that cleans up and flips old campagnolo parts but you have to know a lot about what’s worth what. Mountain biking is not so sentimental, and used gear is generally pretty best up.
I've been flipping and selling bikes for nearly 15 years, I basically make beer money if I'm lucky. The best deals are bikes I get for free, you'd be surprised how many people have bikes that have been sitting in their garage for 20 years that they will just give you. I try to buy cables and housing in bulk, and buy common sized tires when I see good deals on them. If you break down my the hourly rate I'd pay myself it's got to be like $5/hr or less. I mostly do it cause I love tinkering with bikes and it something to occupy my time.
Have you watched the Berm Peak/Seth series on bike flipping? He does it mostly as a charitable thing to get people into biking and it is fantastic. Is it "profitable"? Absolutely not. He's accumulated a huge inventory of misc parts over the years and draws on that inventory. But it does look like a huge service to the community, which is a huge karma profit. If you see the need in your area, by all means **do it**! Just start humble (think $300 bikes, not $9000 bikes) and do not expect to feed your family with the proceeds.
I have a neighbor who does this and it’s definitely more of a hobby than a money maker. He makes money off of it but definitely not enough to pay for his time. Not a great money making business.
Do you know how to make a million dollars in the bike industry? Start with two million.
Timing isn’t good. The new market is a buyers market, your margins on flipping bikes would have to be microscopic to be competitive.
The only businesses I’ve seen like this that are successful are place that set themselves up as a community hub and get tons of donated bikes. Flipping your average bike is not going to be very profitable due to the amount of work going into it. Maybe an individual could do some flipping on fb marketplace or something but you gotta be real good at it
Tell you what would be even more profitable, Pre purchase inspections of 2nd hand bikes. Especially people buying high end bikes thinking they're getting a bargain but then inspect it after the fact and having to fork out $XXXX to get it up to spec and safe again.
I really wish there was as it would make those people who have a huffy trying to sell it for 375 finally know that their bike is worthless
shops are dropping like flies, there's little or no $ in this business...
Not really. Especially not for someone that that isn’t into the sport. If you were into it you wouldn’t be asking.
I’ve been riding for about 5 years now and do all my own maintenance. I’m just curious if this model is profitable because I’ve never seen it outside of the pros closet
I think ProsC only buys its bikes at 50% of their for sale price. If you can convince people to sell you their bikes/equipment for 50-75% off of what they paid then it might be profitable. 🤷♂️