selling Keiko

ok, so here's the deal. Since racing season is mostly over (well, it goes through October-ish, but I'm not planning on any more races for a while), I'm considering stripping down the Orca and moving the components over to the Casseroll now. That way, I can get the Orca frame cleaned up and assess the cosmetic damage, and thus decide how much to ask for it. Because, really, I have no idea.

The frame retailed new for $2200. When I bought it a little over a year ago, I paid $1200. I built it up in September, and have put about 3,000 miles on it since then. It's never been crashed, has been well maintained. There are the typical wear-and-tear paint scratches on the fork, and near the drive train in the back. Other downside: it's two model years back, and the style/makeup of the Orca changed significantly in 2007. Other than that, it's in like-new condition, with a lifetime warranty.

I have an offer for $300, but I'm hesitant to commit to it. I mean, the worth of something like this is always exactly equal to what someone will pay for it, but last week I saw one on ebay for $550 with 3 days of bidding left to go. Another one sold for $800 in May (though in showroom condition, so that's not really a good comparison). So while I'm willing to undersell to avoid the hassle of listing it and dealing with strangers, I'm not sure if I'm willing to sell it for half what I might get elsewhere. Especially when I have the SystemSix languishing at the shop, just waiting for me to come up with the necessary funds to get it out of bike limbo. $300 would help with that, of course...but $500-600 would help more.

On the other hand, I've done friend deals before...I undersold the Pilot, after all. The difference, I guess, is that there was no haggling with that--I matched my asking price to what I knew my friend would be able to pay because she needed a road bike worse than I needed the cash. This time, the price was negotiated by the buyer, who wants it as a spare frame in case of crashes. Even his wife said that sounded a bit low. (He also offered to buy the entire bike for $600, which...no. Some of the parts are practically new...even if I didn't need them for the other bike, I'm not just going to give them away.)

So, I kind of have a dilemma here. Should I just take the $300 and make my friend happy? Should I ask for $400? Should I roll the dice with Craigslist and take my chances? What would you do?