Topic: Can you make money parting out old bikes?

[catzor]

I see old bikes come up on CL all the time that go for near nothing. Seems like any of these 80s and earlier bikes would thrive, at least in part, from an ebay type environment. So, you buy a complete-ish bike without a title for $200, how could you NOT make that money back(and likely a lot more)? Seems like a no brainer to me. I wouldn't care to make a boat load of money doing this, but if I just had a two or three bikes in the garage at a time, I would expect to be able to make a little money on the side while still learning a lot from the inherent wrenching, or de-wrenching, as the case may be. Maybe I could lay out the obvious pros and cons and  you guys can help sort through the idea with me?  

Pros:
-You get to play with motorcycles
-Seems like any bike that is less than 20% rust would have more than  $200 in parts on it
-Keep potentially useful parts for yourself  


Negative:
-Could get very, very space consuming
-Lots of "hidden" work (dissembling bikes, packing/labeling parts, shipping, dealing with all the ebay/forum transactions, etc.)
-Slow turnover for "inventory" (I'm really curious about what people say about this one)

What do you guys think? Ever tried to do anything like this?

[ColinMc]

I tried it the problem is it's VERY hard for me to throw anything away...and most times it's really only worth selling the big dollar items off of a bike and trashing the rest.

Then the other thing that happens...is you fall in love with pieces of junk and want to save them all...

If you can keep emotions out of it, and don't mind throwing lots of good parts that are worth nothing away...then you could probably make some money. Even then it all depends on the ebay market and how that's going for certain bike parts. I have yet to sell some FZ750 parts that are "supposed" to be worth a ton on ebay...not a single bid the last 2 times i've posted the tank and various body plastics...

[Markcb750]

No

[Anti-Johnny]

Theres a guy outside  town that Ive gone to a couple times. hes been doing this for probably thirty years. He had a few parts that he thought fit my bike, they didnt. He had about 120 bikes in various states of disassembly around his little shop. The shop was about 50 feet by 100 feet. Of that he probably had 10 feet by 10 feet of work space. the rest was full of bins of parts. A whole wall of wiring harnesses and gas tanks. Another of gauges and other various bits. Its pretty daunting, but he seemed to have a system. He has a nice little setup. He works on bikes as well so maybe this gives him a slight advantage to having to order parts. Hes probably in his late 60s and seems to be eeking out an existance buying junked bikes for parts. In total its got to be about half an acre of land thats full of bike parts.

I dont know how well he does. But it takes an incredible amount of space in this example.

[Old Scrambler]

If you have virtually free space and shelter, free or student labor, and only pay $50 to $100 for parts bikes......maybe....if you like living in the shed.

Can you part out a few bikes for good student income.......yes.

If you stick to one brand or even better, one model, you can become an expert in a few years and maybe build or restore a bike to original condition by selling parts to pay for the chrome, the paint, the numerous small items that most salvage yards don't have, and of course the obligatory $1000 for the poorly made and ill-fitting replacement exhaust system.  I try to justify one or two trips a year to the big vintage shows by selling a few left-overs at the swap meet. 

[BobbyR]

I sold on ebay in it;s early days and did it for 8 years. you can make money but as you said this is what you deal with:

Negative:
-Could get very, very space consuming
-Lots of "hidden" work (dissembling bikes, packing/labeling parts, shipping, dealing with all the ebay/forum transactions, etc.)
-Slow turnover for "inventory" (I'm really curious about what people say about this one)

I still have basement full of all kinds vintage stereo stuff which will get tossed this spring.

[youngndumb]

You know you're always welcome to leave your crap at my place...I'll only take the bits I need.

[ekpent]

Know your market and be selective. If a bike has no collector appeal then parts prices will probably reflect that A 1969-70 cb750 with some goodies-yes yes- a tired old rusty Kz400 no no.As mentioned most bikes have just several key componets worth big money and condition is always the key.Most engine parts unless aftermarket race goodies are a dime a dozen.Keep your eyes open for just the good parts and pieces on your travels and try to market them.

[Cqyqte]

Dahhhh!  I would say yes, otherwise there would be no thieves or recyclers!!!!!!

[Gordon]

Ebay is not the online flea market it used to be where an inexperienced seller could get on and make some extra money selling a lot of old stuff.  It's now geared specifically for large-volume sellers.  If you don't already have a long-established selling account with a high total number of positive feedbacks then you're pretty much doomed to failure when trying to start out selling a large number of used items. 

No matter how hard you try to please the customer, you will quickly rack up negative ratings from impossible-to-please buyers who expect free overnight shipping and mint condition parts, or who want a full refund for a part they're not happy with but still want to keep it.  The list goes on... You name a stupid, unfounded reason for an ebay buyer giving a seller a negative feedback, somebody has done it. 

Unless you're only selling the occasional used part, or are selling large volumes of brand new items on a very small margin, ebay is way more trouble than it's worth.   

[ColinMc]

Dahhhh!  I would say yes, otherwise there would be no thieves or recyclers!!!!!!

I don't think you are gonna see many 1980 Yamazukihonda rusty 100 dollar bikes being stolen...

[754]

 The high cost of NOT SELLING on ebay.. put me off for good...

[Cqyqte]

Dahhhh!  I would say yes, otherwise there would be no thieves or recyclers!!!!!!

I don't think you are gonna see many 1980 Yamazukihonda rusty 100 dollar bikes being stolen...

Thats why I also mentioned recylers

[Jordan]

You won't make much, If you specialize in one brand maybe, but if you buy a wreak or parts bike the salable parts are the ones that are damaged. Then you need to consider the epa regs for all that old fluid, rubber, batteries etc. Also taxes on inventory is higher than for junk, space will be a premium and you will need to have a real good labeling and tracking system or else you won't know what you have. People in general will not want to pay for the parts as they think you should be glad to get rid of it. I have noted some/most salvage/junk men do not really want to sell anything as they love having all that stuff piled around them. Especially if they grew up through the depression era. I have thought about and researched it some, and IMHO it really is not worth it unless you are obsessed with old stuff and a borderline pack rat.

[spot45]

I ran a MC salvage yard for years, and I still have parts left over from my days doing it full time.  To be honest there is no money in it unless you are doing it on a very large scale or a very small one.  Ebay will kill you with fees,etc.  These days all I do is go and sell parts at swap meets.

[Bodi]

Depends on where you are and the motorcycle community there. First, there are two worlds: "American" and "foreign" or "metric". These do not mix. Period. Pick one and forget the other except for catalog stuff where you have no inventory cost.
Toronto, with about 3 million in the "greater Toronto area" supports two metric bike wreckers (no V-twin specific wreckers but there are a few chopper shops that may be in the trade) in the central area and one in the far exurbs. They all complain about how bad business is but this is the way of businessmen and they're all still there (one other closed about 10 years ago). But Toronto doesn't have motorcycle friendly weather. So in Texas or somewhere with bike weather you might have a chance with less than 1.5 million people in a 75 mile radius. You have to figure in the V-twin cult issue: Canada doesn't have the religion as much as the USA so a "metric" parts shop in some areas might not do so well.
You really need to do service to stay alive. You will need a lot of tools plus someone to do the stripping and such, and a mechanic will know how better than some random dude. So sell his skills too. That makes your mechanic a profit centre instead of a cash sink. He can do service when there's business and work on the inventory when it's quiet.

[spot45]

Anyone who owns an indepedent shop and even those that are affilated with a particular make run their business with three or four streams of income.  These are repairs, parts, apparel,etc.  If all you do is part out bikes, and be a wrecker you will be closeing your doors fast.  We have a saying, "How do you make a million dollars in the motorcycle business?  Start our with two million."   

[BeSeeingYou]

I still have basement full of all kinds vintage stereo stuff which will get tossed this spring.

Careful what you toss out.  I had a bunch of early 70's vintage Marantz amps that I sold for $25 each 15 years ago that now go for $750+ on Ebay now.  Granted much of it is probably junk but there are certain models/vintages that go for $$$

[arblebang]

I was always helping my buddies out with their vintage bikes, and we would buy a junker, strip it and leave all the unwanted parts in my shed. Pretty soon I had amassed quite a collection, which led to some interesting frankenbikes, but about a year ago I went back to school, so to earn some money in the evenings I started cataloging all of the leftover parts, and selling them on ebay. Now I look for old rusted hulks, and I am not picky, I would grab a kz400 in a second if just for the carbs. Carbs, tank, seat, plastics, igniters, coils, wheels, radiators, cables, airboxes, carb boots, calipers, master cyls, headlights, gauges, heads, camshafts, cranks, headbolts, starters, titled frames, all are worthy items to sell on ebay, and fetch quite a lot. At the moment, I make about $600 a month on bike part outs, and I lay hands on about 1 bike per month.

Some people look down on the practice. For example, I just got a vulcan with a seized engine and no title. I tore it apart, and posted on the vulcan forum offering parts. Those guys responded telling other people not to buy form me because I was an opportunist and not a member. The way I saw it, I was offering these parts to them, allowing them to name their own prices (within reason), and saving these totally decent parts form rusting into the ground or getting junked. I mean, eking some kind of utility out of trash is one of the basic tenets of sustainable recycling, and I'm not saying that I am Al Gore or anything, but I don't see how it is not a win-win-win-win for everybody if the original owner gets some cash, I make a little bit of money, the postal service is helped form going bankrupt, and motorcycle owners get the parts they need.

Ebay can be a pain. It seems like they are always raising their rates, and yeah there are those impossible to please sellers. A lot of people read "as-is" and assume "perfect restored condition," and are surprised when the part they receive is not up to their expectations. The majority of the power is in the hands of the buyer, and the appeals process is biased heavily towards the buyer. But you do your best, move on, and work it out.

Times is tough man, you gotta hustle what you can. Parting out bikes has taught me a lot about mechanics, its really fun to play in the sun with machines all day, and the money isn't great, but its nothing to scoff at either. $600 covers our rent, and I earn that in the afternoon it takes me to strip down a bike, the rest of my time is spent in the AC in my underwear, posting ads.

I say do it if you can. There are TONS of bikes out there, and everybody knows somebody with a rusted old hulk in their backyard.

[Cinco]

I don't see how anyone can "make" money off ebay any longer.  The insert fees, picture fees, final value fees, and then to collect payment you have to pay paypal their fee, which is owned by ebay.  Sell a $10 item and you can end up with less than $4 in your pocket. 

If your pocketing $600 a week net net, then you are doing something pretty good.  Thats $15 an hour or better depending on how much time your putting into it.   Better watch your taxes, ebay now reports to the IRS anyone making over $XX in sales.  Everybody wants their nickle. 

I sold about $15,000 worth of car parts 8 years ago.  100s of small items up to bumpers.  Shipped them all over the world.  I wouldn't even try it now, I'd end up losing money.  I had that good feeling too like I was saving parts from the scrap yard and helping people find stuff they needed.  Now I'd just feel a probing sensation. 

[arblebang]

 

If your pocketing $600 a week net net, then you are doing something pretty good. 

Haha I wish, its only about $600 a month net net. And yes, I am sweating bullets about what to do about these taxes.

[bikebitzofvt]

Yes.  I netted about $10.00 / hour last year.  I could do a lot more but my only reason for selling is to have play money to buy parts for my bikes (90% of which I buy on Ebay) and to cut into my fed tax bill.  As an MMI grad and 15 year dealership veteran (7+ in parts, 7+ in service) I pretty much know my stuff and only deal in stuff I know to be good. 

I'd dabbled with ebay auctions for years.  I'd amassed piles of parts that I needed to thin out but I just couldn't bear to throw away.  Selling parts helps me break even on fixing up my bikes.  I went with a store subscription last year at about $17/ month.  For the amount I was selling it made sense.  I try to keep it to a max of 15 - 20 items at a time to keep it manageable.  You have to be willing to do the right thing, too.  I had 3 packages paid for and shipping labels on 'em last year when my son got sick and I spent almost a week straight with him at the hospital.  Even though I contacted the buyers and let them know what was up I refunded their purchase price and only charged shipping.  At my real job we have closely monitored internet access.  I won't risk my full time paycheck so I got an internet enabled smart phone to keep in touch with buyers and to answer questions. 

Ebay fees are climbing higher and higher - this July they're gonna start charging final value on shipping, too!  To make it worth while you have to keep raising prices to make the difference.  It's still much cheaper than trying to run your own e-commerce site, though, and darn near evereybody searches ebay for what they want as part of their buying research.

If you itemize your federal taxes (and own your own home) you can make out pretty well in that regard, essentially filing as self employed.  40% of electric, square footage, internet, phone, $0.51 per mile taking packages to post office and picking up parts and bikes, etc...  It really adds up.  Of course, you have to claim your earnings, too...  It took a few years to find the right balance.  Plus having a CPA do my taxes for me every year helps a lot, too!!!
 
I buy an average of 3 - 4 street bikes, mx'ers or four wheelers a year with the intent of adding them to my inventory.   That's the plan, anyways - time after time I end up keeping 'em, or fixing 'em for resale.  I did really well on a 93 RM250 that I'd pulled out of a snowbank for $75.00.  I made about $800 off it so far.  I still have a few bits left that I haven't gotten cleaned up and posted like forks, wheels, etc.  On the other side of the coin is a 82 CB450T - spent $125 for the bike over 2 years ago, I've only sold about $50.00 in parts from it.  But I did use the 19" & 18" comstars and the like new Metzeler tires on my CB550...

In short you need the space, tools, and know how (and a good bit of luck) to make it work. 

Good luck!
bikebitzofvt