Listers,
All this talk of 'market value' for a bike puts a bee in my bonnet (when I wear one). There is no 'Market Value' on old bikes, and prices only get inflated when the cogniescienti - most of who seem to be on this list - fight for a certain 'rare' bike which for most people is just an old bike, nothing more.
I have been selling on Ebay for several years now and the only thing I've learned is that I know nothing about 'value'. Consistently I get surprised at what gets bid on and what doesn't and what final prices are.
There has been talk of compiling a 'blue book' for bikes on this list - a worthy endeavor of which I (half in jest) disapprove of wholeheartedly. I wouldn't have ANY of my vintage bikes if they sold for what we on this list would consider a 'worthy' price, and I imagine for alot of you guys starting out, the situation is the same.
The old adage, 'One man's manure is another man's treasure' applies here in spades, as it does with most collecting - My mother collects cookie jars and my father collects binoculars and my brother collects baseball cards. They think I'm crazy with my bikes and records and I think they're crazy with their junk. Who's right?
-Harry Schwartzman
Brooklyn, NY