I'm looking for some ideas on how to organize and run a bike swap for our small town. We are not looking to generate any money from the event. Rather, we are trying put together an event where kids and adults can bring their outgrown or no longer used bikes and sell or trade them. Ideally, the event would be fun for kids and a good value to adults.
How does the swap work? Who sets the prices for the bikes? Many kids will be looking to trade-up to a larger bike. How do you deal differences in value between bike?
[email hidden] (Mike Fishkow) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:
Quoted message said:
How does the swap work? Who sets the prices for the bikes? Many kids will be looking to trade-up to a larger bike. How do you deal differences in value between bike?
Most bike swap meets are more like big garage sales. People sell stuff at whatever price they want. Others buy. Direct swaps are really hard to arrange.
If you have a bike shop in town, ask if you can use their parking lot for the event. They can sell stuff from their shop to the crowd.
As stated above, it is likely your organization's funds would come from participation fees (booth space, sponsors, etc) A local shop may be persuaded to give you a bike to raffle at the event. Try to get a media outlet to give you publicity beforehand (Radio is good for this) Many newspapers offer listings of upcoming public events if you get the info to them soon enough.
"David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Mike Fishkow said:
I'm looking for some ideas on how to organize and run a bike swap for our small town. We are not looking to generate any money from the event. Rather, we are trying put together an event where kids and adults can bring their outgrown or no longer used bikes and sell or trade them.
I'm looking for some ideas on how to organize and run a bike swap for our small town. We are not looking to generate any money from the event. Rather, we are trying put together an event where kids and adults can bring their outgrown or no longer used bikes and sell or trade them. Ideally, the event would be fun for kids and a good value to adults.
How does the swap work? Who sets the prices for the bikes? Many kids will be looking to trade-up to a larger bike. How do you deal differences in value between bike?
TIA, -Michael
Last year I have helped in an event organised by our local bike advocacy group. As a non-profit organisation, we have obtained authorization to use a school yard, empty on Saturdays. Sellers bring in their bikes and set their prices. We sell the bikes, and at the end sellers come back to collect their money or the unsold bikes. Sellers take full responsibility for their bikes. We register their names so we can trace them back if needed. We accept all bikes except those obviously so out-of-order that they would be a threat to the buyer. We provide basic assistance to buyers (saddle height...). We take a percentage (something like 10 or 20%) on the price for our expenses. The sale is usually quite successful as 70-80% of bikes are sold. But I know of people who bought an apparently good bike which unexpectedly broke a week later... Most bikes are low-end mountain bikes or kid bikes that sell between 30 and 100 Euro. There are a few more expensive bikes that often get sold only after the seller has lowered the price. And there is a fair amount of good though oldish road bikes you can get for almost nothing. I am looking forward to the next sale - it's a fun morning.
