Used prices?

General
1

I’m a little confused. My impression was that there wasn’t really all that much
interest in unicycling. I don’t see many people riding, and the guy at the bike
shop where I bought mine said I was the first person to even ask about one in
over a year. Yet, when I see unicycles on auction at ebay, the prices seem very
high. If there’s not much demand, why the high prices?

For example: I’ve seen several older Schwinns sell for over $100 recently, and a
Cyclepro that was listing for more then then $74.99 that Agee Bikes sell the
same cycle for new… (www.ageebike.com/Unicycle.htm). A Hedstrom for $86?

There’s a Miyata 20" in there right now, decent condition, but certainly not
perfect (judging from the included photos). You can buy a new deluxe 20" Miyata
from www.miyatausa.com for $230, and the bidding’s presently at $162.50 for this
used one. I guess that’s still a decent savings, but it’s a lot more then you’d
typically get for something else used (in proportion to it’s initial price).

Do unicycles hold their value that well? Is there something special about the
ones that have been up there lately (collectable) that I don’t know about? Is it
such a nitch market that only people who are familiar with them already are
interested?

Greg

2

RE: Used prices?

I know what you mean the prices on e-bay sometime really seem out of hand. The
Miyata on there is truly a case in point. I don’t think that is the deluxe, but
the standard which sells for $185.00. On the other hand, the blue seats are
cooler than the green one.

> -----Original Message----- From: Greg House
> [SMTP:greg.house@SPAMMENOT.lsil.com] Sent: Thursday, July 08, 1999 3:14 PM To:
> unicycling@winternet.com Subject: Used prices?
>
> I’m a little confused. My impression was that there wasn’t really all that
> much interest in unicycling. I don’t see many people riding, and the guy at
> the bike shop where I bought mine said I was the first person to even ask
> about one in over a year. Yet, when I see unicycles on auction at ebay, the
> prices seem very high. If there’s not much demand, why the high prices?
>
> For example: I’ve seen several older Schwinns sell for over $100 recently, and
> a Cyclepro that was listing for more then then $74.99 that Agee Bikes sell the
> same cycle for new… (www.ageebike.com/Unicycle.htm). A Hedstrom for $86?
>
> There’s a Miyata 20" in there right now, decent condition, but certainly not
> perfect (judging from the included photos). You can buy a new deluxe 20"
> Miyata from www.miyatausa.com for $230, and the bidding’s presently at $162.50
> for this used one. I guess that’s still a decent savings, but it’s a lot more
> then you’d typically get for something else used (in proportion to it’s
> initial price).
>
> Do unicycles hold their value that well? Is there something special about the
> ones that have been up there lately (collectable) that I don’t know about? Is
> it such a nitch market that only people who are familiar with them already are
> interested?
>
> Greg

3

Re: Used prices?

Greg House wrote:

> I’m a little confused. My impression was that there wasn’t really all that
> much interest in unicycling. I don’t see many people riding, and the guy at
> the bike shop where I bought mine said I was the first person to even ask
> about one in over a year. Yet, when I see unicycles on auction at ebay, the
> prices seem very high. If there’s not much demand, why the high prices?

If you’ve ever searched for other types of items on EBay, you would see that the
markup encompasses practically almost every category.

For instance, I am an avid pinball collector, and I have seen:

A new South Park pinball: $4500 (It can easily be found for $3300 at a dealer).
A 1970 beat-up Kiss pinball: $5000 (Although rare, these can be found for $1500)

Other items, such as electronics equipment, computers, sports memoribilia, etc.
can either be had for great deals or for extremely high prices (many times well
above list). What I say: When shopping EBay, be absolutely fluent in what you’re
buying, so that you aren’t getting the short end of the stick.

Ryan Avery grommit@concentric.net ICQ# 17490198

4

Re: Used prices?

They usually sell more unicycles around Christmas. If he does not, he is not
pushing them.

>the guy at the bike shop where I bought mine said I was the first person to
>even ask about one in over a year.

Ebay is strange… I regularly see Mongoose D-40 full suspension bikes go for up
to $350 and the Wal Mart by my house sells them for $219, 24 hours a day! Last
week I bought a 1998 Specialized Allez road bike (was $1299 new in
98) and I got it for $162.50. It all depends.

About a month ago, I bought a 20" Columbia unicycle with chrome stand (what is
what I really wanted) for $62. Look and keep looking and you will find a good
one at a good price. About a month ago, I saw a Cyclpro (I think) that was
advertised to have cost $99 new, sell for $90 + $15 shipping. Figure that out?

Joe Mayers --------Being a unicyclist means never having to say you are sorry"

>Yet, when I see unicycles on auction at ebay, the prices seem very high. If
>there’s not much demand, why the high prices?
>
>For example: I’ve seen several older Schwinns sell for over $100 recently, and
>a Cyclepro that was listing for more then then $74.99 that Agee Bikes sell the
>same cycle for new… (www.ageebike.com/Unicycle.htm). A Hedstrom for $86?
>
>There’s a Miyata 20" in there right now, decent condition, but certainly not
>perfect (judging from the included photos). You can buy a new deluxe 20"
>Miyata from www.miyatausa.com for $230, and the bidding’s presently at $162.50
>for this used one. I guess that’s still a decent savings, but it’s a lot more
>then you’d typically get for something else used (in proportion to it’s
>initial price).
>
>Do unicycles hold their value that well? Is there something special about the
>ones that have been up there lately (collectable) that I don’t know about? Is
>it such a nitch market that only people who are familiar with them already are
>interested?
>
>Greg

5

RE: Used prices?

> I’m a little confused. My impression was that there wasn’t really all that
> much interest in unicycling. I don’t see many people riding, and the guy at
> the bike shop where I bought mine said I was the first person to even ask
> about one in over a year. Yet, when I see unicycles on auction at ebay, the
> prices seem very high. If there’s not much demand, why the high prices?

The demand for unicycles is small, but a place like ebay brings specialized
people together. I agree some of the selling prices are silly. But then again,
value is in the eye of the buyer, so as long as people are happy with their
purchases, I’m sure the sellers are too. The same is not always true. My dad was
selling some old model cars, and other people were selling similar ones for less
than 1/5 the value he considers to be “market”…

> recently, and a Cyclepro that was listing for more then then $74.99 that Agee
> Bikes sell the same cycle for new…

An old Cyclepro and a new one might be totally different. Since they randomly
change forks, bearing systems, seats, etc. you never know what you’re going to
get unless you see a picture or buy it in person. Not that this means a used one
is worth $75 either, it isn’t!

> A Hedstrom for $86?

Buyer beware on Hedstrom and Troxel unicycles!

> There’s a Miyata 20" in there right now, decent condition, but certainly not
> perfect (judging from the included photos). You can buy a new deluxe 20"
> Miyata from www.miyatausa.com for $230, and the bidding’s presently at $162.50
> for this used one.

That was actually my bid. The condition looked fine to me, it is a deluxe, and
it has the blue seat, which is generally much cooler than the green one. Most
used unicycles have very little wear and tear on them because they belong to
someone who gave up before learning to ride them. So I wouldn’t be afraid to buy
one, as long as they provided decent pictures of it.

> Do unicycles hold their value that well? Is there something special about the
> ones that have been up there lately (collectable) that I don’t know about?

I don’t think we’re anywhere close to having established, consistent values for
used unicycles. With the advent of ebay however, this is very possible now. Most
of the sellers on there, even though many are bike industry people, don’t know
squat about unicycles. That’s okay, because the better sellers describe
objectively what they see, without trying to make claims they don’t know about.
This is unlike the unicycle “jewelry” area, where an “OLD!!” clown-on-unicycle
thing was clearly from the 80’s or maybe 70’s last time I looked.

Other than the Miyata I put a bid on, I haven’t noticed anything special lately
on the ebay offerings. It’s a great place to find old Schwinns, and occasionally
something else interesting.

> Is it such a nitch market that only people who are familiar with them already
> are interested?

I don’t know who is buying all of those things. Is it just us (newsgroup
people)? I doubt it, though I know some of us are fueling their collections
this way…

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone

jfoss@unicycling.com http://www.unicycling.com

6

Re: Used prices?

>> There’s a Miyata 20" in there right now, decent condition, but certainly not
>> perfect (judging from the included photos) You can buy a new deluxe 20"
>> Miyata from www.miyatausa.com for $230, and the bidding’s presently at
>> $162.50 for this used one.

> That was actually my bid. The condition looked fine to me, it is a deluxe, and
> it has the blue seat, which is generally much cooler than the green one. Most
> used unicycles have very little wear and tear on them because they belong to
> someone who gave up before learning ride them. So I wouldn’t be afraid to buy
> one, as long as they provided decent pictures of it.
The 125mm Sugino alloy cranks on that Miyata are worth $$$$. Tom Miller at
the Unicycle Factory has them priced at $60/pair. Miyatas now come with steel
cranks (yuck!).

–
Ted Howe TedLHowe@compuserve.com