Buying second-hand bike from Euroland?

Old Mathers

I'm looking to buy a relatively inexpensive second-hand carbon fibre road bike - looking on eBay and Gumtree I reckon I can find what I'm looking for in decent condition for £700-£1000 or so, and that's as much (well, a bit more) than I can afford! However, recently I inherited some money in Euro, and now I'm wondering: given that the UK Pound is so weak relative to the Euro, might it be better value for me to try to find my bike in Germany or Holland or France - buy in Euro so avoid exchange fees, and also maybe get a better price?

I've looked at e.g. eBay.de, but I don't have a clear sense of where is best to look online in countries other than the UK for good used bikes - or whether the whole idea is unwise anyway. I guess it would have to be at the top-end of the used market - like, someone who could promise the bike hadn't been ridden much, or e.g. an ex-demo new bike. If it was in the UK I'd expect to go and see the condition of the bike in person before committing, and so I could take more risks and have a wider choice; whereas what I'm envisaging here is to do it all on-line: but even so, I'm not convinced it's a bad idea. Maybe somewhere in Belgium right now is a guy with just the bike I want who still thinks of €750 as a lot of money!

Anyone with any relevant experience? Maybe someone sympathetic who lives in Euroland is reading this and has some ideas and an inkling to help out a disgruntled and wheelless remoaner?

sloppyschleckonds

Whut?

naylor343

If I were you, I really would not bother. I live in France and have lived in Germany too. Certainly in France and to a slightly lesser extent Germany, the culture is less disposable than that of the UK. 2nd hand prices are a lot higher than you would imagine. For example, I purchased a used Giant Anthem in UK on eBay in 2010 for for £750. Bikes of the same age and spec are selling for the exact same amount in France today on troc velo, their version of the bike radar classifieds. Also you may want to do a few online searches for the cost of getting a bike couriered to UK, you may be surprised at the price. On top of all this, the euro is very strong against the pound, if you exchange the money through a currency broker you will get a very good deal.

super_davo

naylor343 wrote:

If I were you, I really would not bother. I live in France and have lived in Germany too. Certainly in France and to a slightly lesser extent Germany, the culture is less disposable than that of the UK. 2nd hand prices are a lot higher than you would imagine. For example, I purchased a used Giant Anthem in UK on eBay in 2010 for for £750. Bikes of the same age and spec are selling for the exact same amount in France today on troc velo, their version of the bike radar classifieds. Also you may want to do a few online searches for the cost of getting a bike couriered to UK, you may be surprised at the price. On top of all this, the euro is very strong against the pound, if you exchange the money through a currency broker you will get a very good deal.

+1. My parents have a holiday home in Sicily and I thought I'd get a bike to keep there. I did a lot of research and found that new prices were a bit higher than the UK and second hand prices much higher.

Generally, UK has expensive houses and cheap food and other stuff, most other European countries it is the other way around. Though obviously Euro land is a big area and there will be many local market differences.

964cup

French 2nd-hand prices in particular are completely mental. I remember looking to buy a trailer there a couple of years ago and people advertising in the local classifieds wanted 80% of the price of a new one, despite their offering having rotted out wooden sides and visible rust.

There are half-sensible people in Holland and Italy, but I tend only to buy vintage kit from those countries, so I can't speak for more recent carbon stuff.

Old Mathers

Huh, that's an impressive consensus from the three of you. 'Looks like I should keep looking in the UK instead. Thanks for taking the tine though - 'sounds like you know more a out this than me....