This is not a "I want to sell this, how much can I expect to get for it?" post - the bike in question is not up for sale! I am curious to know how perceptions and demand vary from one place to another.
The story: the week before Christmas I got an SMS from a workmate (I was at home on holiday, he was working) to ask if I wanted a bike that he had collected on a job. I said yes (as I always do, N+1 free is how I have a garage full of junk!). "Be there in 2 mins" he said. And he was. The job was collecting rubbish to go to the dump (professionals' recycling dump but a dump all the same, with rather less sorting than the domestic ones) and the client had said "that bike in the garage had better go too". My mate questionned this but he was adamant so as it looked clean and together he thought of me!
It's from about 1995, probably no later, perhaps a year or so earlier. Decathlon Cobra 500 which was the entry level sportive series. This one has 7x3 Shimano RSX mechs with indexed dt levers (on a Sachs 3000 cassette hub; I thought all Sachs 3000 were freewheel hubs). The brakes are unmarked dp ones but the levers are Exage Motion (so the brakes may be a cheap idea of Decathlon, the Exage Motion sp ones that I have are clearly marked by Shimano) and the chainset is a "Dottex" (whatever that might be). It needs a front dérailleur cable and the front brake is a bit stiff but the wheels are good, even if the rims are a bit narrow by modern tastes. I would guess that in Limoges and probably most of rural France it would be unsaleable, 20€ at most. In Paris (IdF) and some of the big cities it might sell a bit more easily.
So the question is what is it really worth in other parts of Europe or the world? Should we all be chucking serviceable but uninteresting bikes in the bin?
FWIW this one will end up with guards and a rear rack or child seat (and possibly flat bars if my mate has a spare set kicking around) as a bike for daughter and grandson when they come visiting (when, Covid permitting!!!)