The Pro’s Closet?

[dannynoonan]

Took a look at Pro's Closet inventory to see if they'd listed my bike (the one I sold them for $2875) -- they did, for $4099:
https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...se-5c-carbon-l

I wonder why they bothered swapping out the Reverb dropper that was on it. The brakes were fine too; wonder if new pads are just a routine thing for them.

$4099 is insane for that bike....

Haha El Chup, I saw your bike for sale in a Google ad on the Washington Post just now, looked like something I seen before. Sure enough here it is!! That thing must be in high demand.

Oh wait, no that's just how the Google machine works, and they trying to get me to buy it. Lol

[panchosdad]

I sold some wheels to them for 1260, listed now for 1499, seems a reasonable markup.

[Dee Hubbs]

They are buying bikes again. I submitted my bike this morning, and got a price this afternoon.
Not what I hoped for.
Anyone want to buy a Large Intense Tracer 27.5. Mag pricing would be -$500 from my Pinkbike listing.

[davjr96]

I sent them some wheels with 1000 miles on them that are $499 MSRP and got $200 for them. Can't complain about that.

[XtrPickels]

They are buying bikes again. I submitted my bike this morning, and got a price this afternoon.
Not what I hoped for.
Anyone want to buy a Large Intense Tracer 27.5. Mag pricing would be -$500 from my Pinkbike listing.

Been wondering if their prices are going to come down

[El Chupacabra]

Haha El Chup, I saw your bike for sale in a Google ad on the Washington Post just now, looked like something I seen before. Sure enough here it is!! That thing must be in high demand.

Oh wait, no that's just how the Google machine works, and they trying to get me to buy it. Lol

That's funny! TPC business model must be working, or at least working well enough during this time of no bike inventory.

[jm2e]

I was told they currently have over 2500 bikes waiting to be checked into the system.

That's funny! TPC business model must be working, or at least working well enough during this time of no bike inventory.

Maybe their business model is controlling the entire used bike market volume?



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[climberevan]

Maybe their business model is controlling the entire used bike market volume?



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It's working for Blackrock et al in real estate.

[Kirkwood]

Over the past two years during COVID, I went down the rabbit hole with bikes then last year I sold two bikes to The Pro’s Closet. Personally, I chose The Pro’s Closet because I’m tired of the awkward (haggling), lack of seller response and shady feelings that come with selling on bulletin boards like Craigslist and FB Marketplace.

Last weekend I was at Sea Otter, I talked to a ton of vendors and people in the bike scene. There was booth that caught my eye called Crank Farm, a social auction for used performance bikes. They shared a little bit about how the auction works... no listing fees, no re-listing fees, each auction has a live feed, they’re partners with IMBA and members of 1% of The Planet. After meeting the founder, I looked them up to find out more about them. Seems like a good alternative.

The next time I'm in the market to buy or sell a bike, I'm gonna try out Crank Farm. Hopefully the experience feels better than the alternatives and my bike goes to someone that will ride it, not just pay up for it.


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[smmokan]

I'm curious to see if it ends up like eBay where most everything is listed as Buy It Now at retail pricing, instead of actual auctions where you might score a good deal. Just looked at their site, and right now they have like 6-7 bikes listed, so they're obviously very new.

[Kirkwood]

Very new. They launched a few weeks ago. It doesn’t look like they have a buy it now. I read their FAQ’s, it pretty extensive.


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[jm2e]

I’m surprised there hasn’t been a solid contender against eBay. It’s almost useless as a seller now between increasing commission and decreasing seller protection. As a buyer, it seems like it’s mostly sketch counterfeit stuff from overseas.


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[Bunion 2020]

Slightly OT.

NIB pair of Mavic shoes. They retail for $99.00 if you can find them in your size (difficult). Have em listed as a starting bid on Ebay at $ 75. Some guy wanted them for $ 65 I said sorry, 75 is the starting price. I Paid retail but didn't like them although I new wore them.

Yeah, Ebay blows.

[Kirkwood]

I'm curious to see if it ends up like eBay where most everything is listed as Buy It Now at retail pricing, instead of actual auctions where you might score a good deal. Just looked at their site, and right now they have like 6-7 bikes listed, so they're obviously very new.

I signed up on Crank Farm. To your point about scoring a good deal, I went thru the steps for listing a bike and they offer a reserve price option, not a “Buy it Now” option. They allow sellers to upload videos and they screen serial numbers.

[El Chupacabra]

I submitted Mrs C's road bike to PC for an offer, and they responded with several $ ranges (depending on sale / trade/ etc), and the $ amount is fine - except they said they are overstocked and will get back to me later when they can actually follow through with the offer.

Any of you have this happen? How long did PC take to follow up and make the actual offer?

[joetron]

Will be interesting to see how PC weather the imminent inventory glut.


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[Benneke10]

Interesting. Will be interesting to see how PC weather the imminent inventory glut.

They're still listing 4+ year old bikes for 80% of msrp, they probably aren't sweating too much.

[joetron]

They're still listing 4+ year old bikes for 80% of msrp, they probably aren't sweating too much.

Their pricing algorithm is based on data from the last few years….bikes sales are slowing across the board (maybe with the exception of ebikes). They’ve paid more for bikes, have a ton of inventory and have taken a ton of investment into expansion and infrastructure. I’m not saying they’re gonna fail, but it’ll be interesting to watch how they manage their inventory over the next year. There are going to be a lot of discounted new bikes in stores in the next 6-12 months.


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[Benneke10]

There are going to be a lot of discounted new bikes in stores in the next 6-12 months.

Have the supply chains recovered? I haven't been paying much attention recently but I have been starting to itch for a new bike and it still looks like most bikes I'm interested in are unavailable

[g_man80]

In some cases supply has returned, but the biggest factor now is people tightening their spending. Used bikes in the $4k - $8k range are not selling anywhere close to as fast as last year.

The Pros Closet seems to have a similar business model as Carvana and Vroom. Maybe similar to Zillow’s house buying venture too. I think they were trying to buy up as much used bike inventory as possible to control the market. Take a look and the stock for Carvana and Vroom over the last two years! It will be interesting to watch how this all plays out.

[Benneke10]

Just submitted a bike to sell to them and they offered about half of its blue book (private party) value.. in store credit. No cash offer. I guess the gravy train is over. Last year I sold them a used bike for not much less than its retail value.. in cash of course.

[One (+) Sentence]

Just submitted a bike to sell to them and they offered about half of its blue book (private party) value.. in store credit. No cash offer. I guess the gravy train is over. Last year I sold them a used bike for not much less than its retail value.. in cash of course.

Listen to Joe.
https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...e#.Y1aJ4iVMGEc

[smmokan]

Yeah, they're hurting pretty bad. The last two years they offered me crazy deals on our demo fleet (I sold all of my bikes to them in 2020), but this year it's an entirely different situation. They offered me $1700/bike for my Revel and GG demos, and those are all $6500-7500 retail. They have so much inventory they can't sell, it'll be interesting to see what happens to them over the coming months and years.

[XtrPickels]

I think they're running into the same problem that most industry companies did: Lack of proper forecasting.

Most (too many) expected the increase in ridership and demand to be a new baseline and not a wave. Due to supply chain issues, companies had to place large buys to secure their spot: Pro's closet, while dealing in the secondary market, had to do this as well.

Unfortunately for many companies, the timing came after the demand. For some, like North Face, it was containers of sandals delivered late and refused by REI. For others, Like Pro's Closet, it was purchasing at a rate faster than they were selling to build their inventory.

We are going to see a glut of product in the market next year and much it will be at reduced pricing. Companies cannot afford to pay to store their overstock.

This is going to crush the secondary market and companies like Pro's Closet are going to struggle.

[ripvw]

Their pricing still hasn’t caught up with reality. Selling a two or three year old used bike for nearly new retail pricing ain’t going to fly in this market.