What went wrong ?

I put the Black 400 Four on ebay to make space for another project but
it didnt even come close to my 1100 reserve.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200503754386

Is it just a daft time to sell in the middle of the hodilays or could
I improve the listing ? Maybe relist with a higher starting price ?
I am feeling a tad deflated because it is a rather nice little bike.

 

You're setting your expectations _way_ too high. A lower starting
price, no reserve, would make more sense. The non-standard, and
frankly not very attractive, paintjob won't help, nor will the current
economic climate, but really, a reserve of 1100 is taking the piss.

 

Crap paint, rusty spokes, nasty aftermarket exhaust, photos look like
they've been taken on a pikey pre-fab estate.

All adds up to a low selling price.

The beauty of eBay is that you find out exactly how much your cherished
item is actually worth....

 

Oh, that was yours was it? I took a long hard look, and decided I wasn't
interested.

Colour's worth sod all, aftermarket front guard is nasty, tank decals
are even nastier, lousy description.

 

Strikes me there are 3 types of buyers for old jap shite.
Those that want a mint and original bike and will pay for it.
Those that want a spares bike and will pay as little as possible.
Those that want a cheap hack and will pay as little as possible.
Your bike will attracts two of the markets.....
Steve

 

Um, and the fourth:

Those who buy them and realise they're worth twice the purchase price if
dismantled....

 

Fifth:

Those who buy a POS, polish it and expect to triple their money.

 

Hmm - isn't #2 and #4 mostly the same? Get the parts you want for free
by selling the rest . . .

 

The market that might have been interested in this bike is another
group, then, that I'd consider myself part of: Those who either had,
or didn't but lusted after, the bike in question when they were
current and just want to have one to relive their youth.

This was me with the 400/4 I had for five years or so, then sold on to
Blaney cos I didn't use it. If I'd still had it when I had my prang I
would quite probably have kept it and use it for the occasional run
out.

And thereby not incur Ogden's disapprobrium. Which of course would
have been worthwhile in itself.

 

Actually, I paid 900 for a rather nice but non-standard bike.
I fixed up the most obvious bits, decided not to keep it, and bunged
it on ebay at a sensible price.

Repainting the tank and side panels, the correct stickers, and some
wire wool to the spokes would make it bloody nice. Finding a correct
front mudguard to replace the shiny new aftermarket one and a NOS
exhaust to replace the shiny new Motad would be rather expensive.

 

<Pushes buttons on calculator>

£550 to you, squire, and that's cutting my own throat.

 

Not.

You need to accept that you may have paid over the odds in the first
place. The fact that it's clearly not "worth" 1100 now is a clue.

Sure, it's better now than it was, although ISTR you got some of the
bits for free from TOG, but I think you've fallen victim to the
fallacy petrolcan mentioned - money spent on a POS does not always add
as much to the value as you spent.

I bought a new silencer for mine from David Silver for about 40 quid,
IIRC.

Actually, google says IDNRC. Found this old thread, indexed on one of
the really annoying "get some content from google groups and add it to
our website" sites. Seems that Blaney brought it down with him, and
now I remember fitting it the morning he left to ride the bike home.
http://www.motorcyclekb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/uk-classic/794/Silencer-repair-MOT

Further research shows that DS don't have any NOS ones any more and a
pattern one's 85 quid. I note, however, that they seem to have sourced
some rocking-horse shit in the shape of front mudguards, priced at an
eye-watering 159 quid.

 

Indeed. Add to that the cost of a Yellow paint job and you just end up
with a bigger loss when really nice ones are selling for around £1500.

The Motad exhaust and pattern mudguard will become more common in
future because the correct items are unobtainable. If it does not sell
when I relist it I will probably hang on to it and flog the blue one.

 

The pattern silencer needs the correct downpipes, two of which are
unobtainable. It already has the front mudguard.

 

The mudguard on the pics is the wrong shape, i.e. not the OEM part.

 

<Studies fingernails>

Not if you know the right people......

 

Quite. Didn't you know that, crn?

 

No, they've always been available. It's just that he's increased his
prices by about 50% recently, presumably on the basis that the market
will stand it.

 

Yebbut it was supplied by DS as an aftermarket item - same as the blue one
- who have now managed to find some OE ones.

You just cant win.

Anyway - it looks pretty.

 

More likely due to the worthless pound.