What's the best online method for selling a niche product

July 22, 2010 2:43 PM

I'm tasked with selling a bunch of bike parts. Is an eBay store the best way to do this? I could see using Amazon, eBay or perhaps Yahoo. Just wondering what's the best way to proceed.

I've got a load of bike parts, many of them are identical, like 50 Campagnolo chainrings for example.

I need to set up an item to sell repeatedly at a set price for the whole quantity, without doing auctions, and with a flat shipping price to the US.

I'm thinking eBay is the best way to do this. I'm wondering what tips people might have for getting this accomplished, and perhaps any resources for learning to do this effectively.

My concept is that I should get an online store, not just a regular user account on eBay to do this the best way.

posted by diode to Work & Money (3 answers total)

I'd go to where your market hangs out. Ebay takes a stiff cut and is generally difficult to deal with. An online community of cyclists, like bikeforums.net (which does have classified listings), seems like it would be more appropriate. I don't know where you are, but if it's a city of any size there is probably are local cycling associations/cycling blogs/cycling forums that I would try first.
posted by adamrice at 2:54 PM on July 22, 2010

People pay ridiculous amounts for classic or collectible bike parts on eBay. I know you "need" to sell them at a fixed price, but you could set that price as the minimum, and let them repeatedly go for auction.
posted by trialex at 5:55 PM on July 22, 2010

eBay would be my choice. I'd resent eBay's ever-increasing fees and generally skeevy corporate behavior the whole way, but I wouldn't know where else to go that would work any better. You need an awful lot of eyes to fall on your products before you'll sell 50 identical Campy chainrings. eBay can provide a lot of eyes. Setting up your own Yahoo store sounds like a recipe for still having an attic full of bike parts 12 years from now.
posted by jon1270 at 6:26 PM on July 22, 2010