How does Cyclesite make money?
Direct answer · Cyclesite
Listing is free, so Cyclesite charges nothing to publish an advert. No commission on private classified sales, no fee for browsing or buying, and no subscription required. You pay nothing to publish an advert, with optional paid upgrades (boosted placement, featured slots) clearly priced before purchase. Optional Buyer Protection for shipped sales is coming soon.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-21
The fee model in plain English
When you publish a private classified advert you pay nothing. That is the total cost to advertise; there is no commission on the sale itself, no relisting fee for the duration of the listing, and no charge to edit the advert. Optional paid upgrades (boosted placement at the top of category pages, featured slots in cross-category surfacing) are priced separately and clearly labelled on the upgrade screen. Business sellers, dealers, bike shops, cycle co-ops, have a separate published pricing tier with volume-based options.
Why we are commission-free on classified sales
A percentage commission model gives the platform an incentive to push asking prices up, because the platform earns more on every sale. We deliberately avoided that. Our listing-fee model aligns the platform with the seller: any fee is tied to publishing a listing, never to a percentage of the sale price. That keeps the valuation engine honest (we have no reason to nudge the figure up to inflate commission), keeps the listing-quality nudges honest (we have no reason to push you to relist or refresh just to keep paying), and keeps the marketplace healthier in the long run by attracting price-realistic adverts.
Buyer Protection on shipped sales
Buyer Protection for shipped sales, where the buyer pays before seeing the bike in person, is coming soon. When it launches, payment will be held until the buyer confirms the bike arrived as described, with a published dispute window in case it did not. Until then Cyclesite does not take or hold payment: the buyer pays the seller directly, and a seller paid by bank transfer should watch it clear before the bike leaves.
Average used bike prices by category (UK)
| Category | Average price | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| Road Bikes | £1,268 | 43 |
| Mountain Bikes | £1,256 | 27 |
| Electric Bikes | £2,043 | 13 |
Last updated: 2026-10-20
Related Questions
Does Cyclesite take a percentage of bike sales?
No commission on private classified sales. Listing is free, so there is nothing to pay to advertise. Buyer Protection for shipped sales is coming soon.
How much does it cost to list a bike on Cyclesite?
Listing is free, so it costs nothing to publish an advert. The fee for your specific bike is shown on the publish screen before you confirm. The full schedule and any current promotions are published on the sell-your-bike page.
Find Bikes on Cyclesite
Browse 248 verified bikes with automatic stolen-bike checks on every frame number supplied. Free to list, no commission on classified sales.