I sure didn’t see this coming!
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Use up all the investors money, liquidate inventory… then reopen under the same name a couple of weeks later? 
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The article explains it, but mostly, it’s a new investor who stepped in at liquidation and hired old employees, but not the founder.
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Super expensive used bikes back on the market. Yay?
Joe
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Glad to see they are coming back. I’ve both bought and sold from TPC. But the most under-appreciated free service they provided was showing the actual weight for all their bikes. It was a great resource.
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I appreciate for the $1000 markup you’d save by cutting them out you get them to throw it on the scale and take nice pictures.
Based on the comments I read from employees on their way out, it’s going to be a very hard pass buying any bike from there.
Looking at the classifieds on Pinkbike, ebay, FB marketplace makes me think they never went away?
$2k for a 16 year old frame with 10 speed dura ace and old v-shapedpre-firecrest zipp tubular wheels? No thanks…
A 3 year old ‘lightly ridden’ mountain bike for just 15-20% off of what the MRSP was at the time? Pass…
Used Enve wheels for $200 less than the MRSP? Eh…I’ll wait for a coupon or black friday sale
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Pre Covid they were always my first stop if I needed anything as small as a pump all the way up to a couple full bike purchases (and sales). But the Covid price increases happened and it seemed the pros closet never got the memo that they needed to reduce their 3 year old used product prices to be competitive again.
Not sure how they intend to roll this out in the future, but if they don’t come back to earth with their pricing then there are way too many other options providing the exact same products for significantly reduced prices
If you want to sell something used, 50% should be a starting point. There’s 20% off coupons once a month from various retailers and you get it new. Unfortunately that means people need to sell it for 20-25%, which is tough to get people to do when they can get more selling it themselves.
Tough business to be in.
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I’m willing to bet that strategy was being driven by their PE partners / owners.
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I think TPC worked better as a small business. Going corporate with investors, admin costs, warehouses, etc. brings along a lot of expenses.
Essentially, they are in the used car business - people too lazy, scared to sell to strangers trade their bike in at a discount. TPC sells it at used “retail”. Supposedly, buyers are willing to pay more because of TPC’s reputation, pre-inspection, customer service, etc.
I have so many family members that are scared to sell a used car. They will gladly leave $2000-3000 on the table just so they can trade it in and not deal with craigslist, FB marketplace, scams, and strangers.
I’m sure it’s the same with bikes. Local shops should provide this service but I’ve hardly ever seen one advertise it.
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I’ve sold bikes on fb marketplace and it’s a challenge to get much back for them.
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100%. Our PE had us increase, but it was to the tune of 5-8% in most cases. TPC’s PE evidently felt a 25% markup was the norm, which takes some serious hubris, even for a PE firm
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Can you name one? I’m not aware of any other service that inspects and guarantees the quality of used bikes en masse like this. (Genuinely asking. I’ve never bought from or sold to TPC for the record, was just sharing the story)
Possible they also massively overpaid for bikes during covid and then the only way to shift them was at a loss. If doing that while also paying for all the staff and warehousing you could burn a lot of money pretty quickly.
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For a guarantee, no - I can’t name one. That said, sites like pinkbike (who I’ve purchased through) and buycycle offer quite a bit more product for quite a bit less. What you can do on pinkbike at least is look through who the seller is, their rating, and you can email them with questions or determine a path forward if the product isn’t as expected. When I purchased through pinkbike, I made sure I was purchasing through a bike shop selling a used product online, had a good seller rating, and I actually called the shop to ask about the specific bike prior to purchasing.
Did it come with a pros closet guarantee? No, but that guarantee wasn’t worth the price hike they began charging. I was good with it when it would be maybe $300-$400 more than others on a $4,000 used bike. I wasn’t good with a $4,000 used bike that costs $5,500, which is what they moved to
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Guarantees make you feel warm and fuzzy!
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