Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-10
BICYCLES AT SECONDHAND.
They Look Cheap, but There is Sale
for Them.

Where do you get your secondhand BIZ
cycles?" asked Star reporter Of man
whose place OF business was adorned in
front with many signs offering wheels for
sale at what seemed to be remarkably low
figures.
There were bicycles in all stages Of
dlapidation on the sidewalk and inside the
shop. Some of them, however were in fair
condition, and two or three were evidently
brand-new. A wheel marked 1855, worth
$780," was in a skeleton wooden box, and
had evidently just come from the factory.
To the eye Of one not expert it seemed to
be a great bargain.
II ail't givin' information to news
papers," said the rather flip young man
who had declared himself the proprietor
of the business. II sell bicycles at one
third Of the prices you can get them for
anywhere else. How i collect them is a
trick of the trade. That's enough, / guess"
Why this mystery. he wondered So he
went to the establishment Of a bicycle
making concern and spoke about the mat
ter to the manager.
Its very simple" said the manager. ITO
begin with, as to the new wheels. You
want to know how they could be sold SO
cheap They are back numbers. A bicycle
that is worth $135 today will sell for 500
next year-the same machine, that is to
say, brand-new. That is because a person
buying a bicycle usually wants the very
latest improvements, and is willing to pay
for them. The wheel you speak of that was
offered for $65 and worth $50 could be
purchased in New York very likely for s45
or $50 Probably 1t Is of a type half a
dozen years Old"
Where do these bicycles come fromg'
Many wheels of old patterns are still be-
ing manufactured for what they will bring
In every big city, also. there are people who
collect such bicycles as they can get at a
bargain, new or secondhand. In New
York there is one dealer liz wheels who
buys thousands in this way. Suppose that
a small shop Is going to close out business.
The proprietor has dozen new bicycles
unsold. To get the cash for them he Is
willing to take for the lot less than half
what they are worth. The dealer buys
them up. He has agents in Chicago and
elsewhere t. collect wheels"
Does he buy secondhand onesT
THE New York dealer 1 speak Of pur-
chases only new wheels. There are other
men who do business In secondhand BIZ
cycles. They get them all sorts of ways.
Some come from pawnshops, others from
persons who want to sell their wheels A
young man, for example. gets into finan-
cial hole. He has a bicycle worth s75. The
pawnbroker would only give $40 or SIS;
he takes 1t to a dealer instead, and gets
$50 for 1t in cash.
Hence the comparative cheapness Of Sec
ond-hand bicycles, l suppose?'
Yes; they are bought up cheaply, but
you pay at least fair value when you get
one secondhand. They are shipped from
one city to another, and, of course there Is
a great demand for wheels of all sorts in
Westinghouse larger demand than in any
other city Of the United States. The New
York man who collects new bicycles told
me he was satisfied to make a profit of IS
on each wheel that passed through his
hands. By the way, the secondhand BIZ
cycles you find for sale are in many in
stances, deposited by the owners with the
dealers, to be disposed of on commission"