Bike Pricing

Shrano, what kind of dog do you have?  The color in the pic makes me think of my dogs! 

 A bit more of what he's been looking at:  2001 Lemond Zurich on ebay for around $750, he just found a website, www.bikepedia.com, that said this bike sold for $2000 back then. 

eBay is blocked here at work : (

but try searching completed listings for the models your looking at.  Should give you an idea of what the used prices are.  I've bought a few bikes from ebay, as long as you know what your looking for you may be able to find a deal. 

However, there is nothing like a new bike...  check for 2008 leftovers like others have said too.

I have heard generalizations for pricing used bikes as a markdown of 25% for the first year, then a further 25% each year thereafter, but again, it depends on the product, it's availability and demand.

There are a few "blue book" pricing guides on the net, just do a search. Some of them are a membership/subscription-type service whereby you have to pay a small fee to use and I can't vouch for any of them.

I will disagree that ebay is not an accurate reflection of the market; in fact, I use ebay as a market barometer all the time for many things (we have several collections of very obscure items). Remeber, an item is worth what the masses are willing to pay, so if you think and item is overpriced, but they are selling well at that 'overprice', then it is actually priced right. Take into consideration what the flavour of the week is as well, such as Cervelos which tend to sell for higher than comparable bikes. As well, as a prevvious poster stated, some markets will bring the prices down, such as a smaller town where cycling is not pupular and finding deals can be much easier.

I think it's important when pricing a bike to understand what you're getting.  You could easily be lured into buying a bike that seemingly sold for $2k, but is worth less than what you're about to pay when comparing apples to oranges.

 The reason for this is that is a bike is about more than just the frame.  On my bike, the frame accounts for less than 1/2 the cost.  If you look at the value of the frame, the group and the wheels, you'll have a better idea about what you're getting.

Take a look at Specialized.  They offer the Tarmac at price points from $2,200 to $8,500.  In this case, someone could try and sell an '08 Tarmac at $4k, and tell you it used to sell for $8k when, in reality, they're selling the $2k model.

 So, to wrap this up, I would price whichever bike you're looking at by adding the value of the group set, the wheels and the frame with about 10% added on for things like stem, bars, post, seat, etc.  Even better, figure out your minimum group and wheels and the type of frame you're looking for and look for bikes that match that criteria.