That is just not how it usually works. If the buyer selects “not as described” it initiates a return not they keep the item for free. I’ve done thousands of ebay transactions and haven’t been burned a single time. There was one time but ebay covered me with seller protection.
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I’ve sold a (cheap) bike on ebay. I waited for one of their frequent seller promotions where you pay less fees. I don’t sell much, but get offered 80% off seller fees every few weeks, but I think for the bike I used a £1 flat fee offer.
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It’s a buyer’s market, but stuff does go if you’re prepared to be flexible on price. Sometimes you simply have to list something for auction with a low starting price and no reserve to generate interest and just let it go.
We recent sold my wife’s gravel bike for £800 (I’d have said a ‘fair’ price was more like £1000) and I got £550 for a pair of (immaculate) Zipp 303s wheels. Neither were great prices but both sold.
I am having issues getting my rim brake tt bike sold.
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I assume this was just crappy luck and I already spent way too many life energy units to chase it at that point. That said, I’ve never had issues selling locally on FB within several FS groups in the community. Much easier to not have to box things up, face to face interaction, transaction done
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Had the exact same thing happen to me on a non-cycling item. eBay is skewed heavily towards protecting the buyer not the seller, I won’t sell on there again.
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Have had my 2022 epic evo expert for sale locally that is in mint condition for a month now and interest but not sold. I think I will have to put the stock bar and stock seat back on and take off the pedals and drop the price accordingly to get it sold.
I don’t need to sell just don’t see myself riding it much as I have not so no need to have it sitting around. I sell on ebay a decent amount and can go that route just would need to sell it for $6K to net what I can locally at $5,200
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Have you looked at what similar items are selling for? I always search Sold items on eBay to figure current market price.
I do think at this point there is a strong likelihood that value of secondhand bikes and wheels is only going to go down. Partly because of the global economy. Partly because bike supply and demand situation seems to be skewing back towards the buyer - my LBS now has quite a few 2022 models on sale at a discount including popular bikes in popular sizes e.g. Cannondale SystemSix. And partly because I do think that bike tech has now shifted towards disc brakes and wider tire clearance. I’m not somebody who needs to be at the cutting edge of bike technology - I’m normally somebody who waits a few years for the tech to trickle down to mid range before I buy. But I wouldn’t consider buying a rim brake bike or wheels now, unless it was something a bit special at an irresistibly good price. E.g. if I could pick up a good quality, good condition race bike at a price that justified me only using it as a crit bike I might be interested!
All of which is a long way of saying that if you really don’t need those bikes and wheels any more then it might simply be the case that the best price you can get for them is lower than the lowest you think you can go, and in 6-12 months time it might be lower still.
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Reasonably priced track bikes are in huge demand where I am (Southern Ontario). I know at least 5 people who are actively looking for bikes. We bought our track bikes from this website, which acts like a hub https://www.cyclingavenue.com/en/trade-in - maybe there’s something similar you could use for your TT bike?
(ETA: just seen how many TT bikes cycling avenue have for sale - that’s way more than even a month ago!)
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I’ve definitely hit reasonable pricing on all the items. I’ve double checked with various sources and have sold some stuff already, so it’s probably more a market thing than price thing. Plus, in the title and description I say “willing to negotiate”, so that’s impossible to miss. 
@Scheherazade that’s really cool that there’s a strong track market. I’ve always wanted to try track riding but it’s just not practical in the Salt Lake area.
Know anyone looking for one in a 58cm. My son is looking to sell his (near UoT)
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I’ll check in with my crowd but I suspect that a 58 will be too big for all of them.
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Also something to keep in mind is a lot of the major retailers are having year end sales, things we havnt seen in 2 years. Keep sale prices in mind when you’re listing things. If your used price is what they’re going for new, not gonna move
I have a funny feeling people are gonna get hit hard with this in another year or so when they go to sell their 3 year old car and think that $10k premium they paid at the dealership is going to be transferred to the next owner!
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Great point! This seems to be the trend across industries where the Covid sales boom/supply chain issues led to ridiculous prices (bikes, cars, gym equipment, etc.).
When Carmax can no longer sell a 3 year old car for the original sticker price, their stock price drops and they blame it on “affordability challenges”.
I look around on Pinkbike sometimes just to see what’s out there and lots of people still want 95% of what they paid 18 months ago.
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Had a top end Scott Scale that was a quick sale, my OPEN WI.DE gravel build has been listed for a month so far.
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I’m selling a bunch of cycling clothing lately and have had WAY more success on eBay than FB Marketplace. In talking with someone else, we both feel people go to eBay specifically to buy - whereas FB marketplace, people are generally just window shopping, kicking tires or trying to find steals.
For equipment, it’s just a bad time to sell - people are getting ready for trainer season in a lot of regions and there’s just no impetus to spend good $ on a bike right now. If I was selling a bike, I’d still do FB Marketplace. @13% or whatever ebay is right now, it’s worth dealing with the “is this available?” people on FB.
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Hm. That’s encouraging. I have a track bike that I’d like to sell but figured was a lost cause because of it being a niche item (at least, pro’s closet and other sites didn’t seem to support them).
Local (Portland) velodrome closed a couple years ago 
and I’m not going race regularly now that the nearest velodrome is Seattle.
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I have horrible luck trying to sell things locally. I’ll list a price, people will negotiate me down, we agree on a price, we meet somewhere, they ride my bike and get it dirty, and then say “would you take $X?”, which is far lower than what we agreed on before I went to the trouble to take the bike somewhere and let them get it dirty. Makes me furious. I know some people enjoy this game, but I’d rather have you pull my nails out.
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I hate selling stuff. Its constant tire kickers and lowballers most of the time. But the brutal truth is there is really only one reason stuff doesn’t sell, and that is the asking price is too high for the current market. Especially right now, with even some new bikes and bike components showing up discounted, the days of getting new money for used stuff are over. I think many sellers haven’t quite caught up, and the bid-ask spread can be so large people won’t even bother trying to make a deal.
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And that’s why people go to eBay. There’s a buyer somewhere. Highest bidder wins and it’s gone in a week (or 2 if you get those people who win but don’t pay for days).
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