Sell bike complete or part out?

[Ross]

I have a brand new carbon road frame at home in the box which was a warranty replacement for my previous frame which developed a crack. Due to the length of time it took to get the new frame and me deciding this was a good chance to downsize my bike "fleet" (n-1) I've decided to sell it.

Should I just sell the frame by itself and let the buyer decide what components they want to build it up with or should I put my used (but fully functional) Shimano components back on the bike and sell it complete? To rebuild the bike will cost me money for labour (I'm no bike mechanic) and consumable parts like gear cables and chain (not sure how much, maybe $200, maybe more). The components are a bit of a mixture of groups, ranging from R500 cranks, R540 pedals, Tiagra BB to Ultegra brakes, Ultegra FD and DA RD so this may put people off.

I'm leaning toward just selling the frame as is and either selling the components individually or even just keeping them for spares as they are mostly compatible with my other 3 bikes.

What does everyone think?

[ironhanglider]

Price wise bikes are typically less than the sum of their parts, and there is an expectation that the bits are compatible with the frame. If you put the cranks on and they couldn't turn without rubbing on the frame then you could expect a buyer to try and return it because it is not fit for purpose.

IMO there is no way you'd recoup the money from paying someone else to assemble them into a bike.

Also the likelihood is that you'd have to post it interstate if you attempted to sell it on eBay. The postage cost for a complete bike would turn some buyers off, whereas the cost for small items would be more likely to be glossed over.

Cheers,

Cameron

[bychosis]

Tink you answered your own question. If its going to COST money to build it, you won't get that back. Selling parts is also likely to end up with a bigger total. A bike is not equal to the sum of its parts in $ terms.

Downside of parting it out is that you might have a hard time selling SOME parts and it will be a longer process.

I'd probably sell the frame, seat post, headset and fork in one lot and hang onto some of the parts, I also have a fleet and like having spares, they don't take up much space.

[_mike_]

I'd probably sell the frame, seat post, headset and fork in one lot and hang onto some of the parts,

What he said