This is a list of our most commonly asked questions. If you have a question that is not answered in this list please reach out to us via our Contact page.
Thank you!
Thank you for donating a bike at our event, you can also email us any time and we’ll accept donated bikes year round. Alberta Bike Swap serves as a conduit for dozens of groups that will rebuild your bike for re-use and repurposing.
All bikes on the sales floor have undergone a basic tech check to make sure you don’t end up with an unsafe ride, but it is still up to you to get a full technical checkup with a participating bike shop. Please contact us if something is drastically wrong.
Unlike an online purchase, we issue you a receipt with the purchase price and bike serial number that you need for a free registration on Bike Index. It comes in handy for filing a police report or insurance claim, too in the event of it being stolen.
Sometimes there is a rack of AS-IS bikes that didn’t pass the inspection, but would be a good ride for the person ready to put a bit of TLC into a new ride. This money is donated to a local non-profit bike group.
We have had buyers waiting for us when we arrive at 0700 but the line doesn’t start to build until around 1100. REMEMBER – the sale is at 1430. If you want first dibs on a bike, please consider volunteering rather than lining up.
We accept debit, cash, Visa, and MasterCard.
Bring your clean, ready to ride bike to the swap during the bike intake time.
You will set the selling price, but we can guide you on this.
We will tech-check your bike and record its serial number; the bike has to be immediately rideable. We have participating bike shops in Calgary and Edmonton that can fix your bike the day of the swap on your dime, our volunteer techs cannot do that for you.
You will sign an agreement to sell, which tells us where to send the e-transfer or write you a cheque and what to do with your bike in the slim chance that it doesn’t sell (>92% sell).
You will pay us a $15 rack fee per bike to put them into the sale, unless you are an AMA member. AMA members get $5.00 off, so they pay $10 per bike to get their bike into the swap.
You go away (but don’t leave town), we will sell your bike for you and we will send you the cheque or e-transfer the money, less 15%. You can expect your cheque 1-2 weeks after the swap. It is still a manual process that Laura and Chris complete between swaps, nothing is automagic.
In the rare chance your bike doesn’t find a new home, we’ll contact you (cell phone is best) and let you know to pick your bike up. It is rather inconvenient if you are out of town and your bike needs to be picked-up. We only have the space until the end of the swap.
We do not take e-bikes. Our main purpose is to provide safe bikes through our tech check process. We can’t check for a working motor or battery or controller that could impact safe operation.
E-bikes are a big unknown and therefore a huge risk for both of us.
Yes, we do rent bike racks. Rack rentals are $10 per day per rack with a minimum fee of $50. We had to start charging because our insurance tripled even though we’ve never made a claim, and we’ve had several sets of bike racks stolen.
What you need to know:
Each bike rack holds approximately 10-12 bikes. We ask that you determine the number of bike racks that you need by estimating the number of bikes you expect and dividing by 10 (the number of bikes / rack).
We have an industrial design patent on our bike racks and paid to have them built out of our dwindling life savings so that others can . The bike racks are easily broken down for easier storage / transportation. Since they are easily broken down they can be easily stolen. You are responsible for ensuring that the bike racks are never left in an open space or unlocked area.
Our bike racks can be transported in a pick up truck or van. The longest section is 12′ and the side pieces can be laid flat in the bed of the truck or van. Bring gloves, tie down, and a red flag.
What we expect:
We ask that you display our banner and give us a tagged mention on your social media
What we need to know:
- How many racks you need
- The date of your event
- The date / time of pick up and date / time of rack return
Use our Contact page to request the bike racks and well let you know if they’re available.
No, this is a bike buy, sell and donate event. If you’re selling a bike, we’ll sell it for you and there will be bikes there for you to buy.
We tech check every bike and record every serial number – our software verifies that the bike has not been reported as stolen by verifying its serial number against stolen bike databases.
The police and RCMP have recovered bikes from pawnshops and onlines sales that were sold at our swap. The police trust what we do and introduced Bike Index at our Edmonton event.
It costs us approximately $38.00 out of pocket per bike before it gets into the swap; marketing, truck rentals, venues, bank fees, food (we have over 200 volunteers), insurance, postage, printing, supplies, and so much more. We put in between $15 to $42K/year every year out of our dwindling life savings to fund the swaps.
No, we’ll sell your bike for you and mail you a cheque or e-transfer. It’s not just the convenience of the swap, you’re helping us give money back to the community by selling your bike at the swap. But don’t leave town in case your bike doesn’t sell and you have to come pick it up!
Sorry, we don’t buy the bikes, but we can help you set a price for the swap.
Bring your clean, ready to ride bike to the swap during the times indicated as BIKE DROP-OFF in the city at the location; it helps to have a selling price in mind.
We will tech-check it and record its serial number. You will sign an agreement to sell, which tells us where to send the cheque, and what to do with your bike in the slim chance that it doesn’t sell. You pay us a rack fee to get the bike(s) in the sale (AMA members get $5.00 off) to put the bike into the swap.
You go away, and we send you the cheque or e-transfer, less 15%.
We have a 92% sale rate, it will likely sell, but you have to set the right price. As part of registering your bike for the sale, you leave us a cell or phone number so that we can call you if your bike doesn’t sell. The agreement to sell form also gives the option to donate it to a local non-profit.
We only have the venue for the day, and after a reasonable number of attempts to contact you, we take the bike home and it’ll be up to you to pick it up.
Yes, you can bring your children’s bike to sell. We’ll buy the bike outright if it passes our tech check.
Clean, cared for bikes always sell better. Write-up the upgrades, last service, new parts, etc., make sure the buyers can tell the value is there.
We have the venue for the day and just don’t have the resources to handle early drop-offs or take bikes ahead of time.
Bikes range from $50 – $4000. Sellers set the price, but we encourage them to price it to sell.
I didn’t come up with this term, but it refers to a box store bike-like object that looks like a bike, smells, like a bike, but doesn’t pedal, shift, stop, or otherwise work the way a real bike should. A bike should make you want to ride it, not leave it in the alley.