Derailleur shifter busted

The more mechanically inclined I become, the more I realize my bike needs work!!!

Today as I was attempting to re-tweak the tension on my front derailleur cable when things start going all weird. I ended up taking my entire shifter apart cuz the cable had gotten jammed between the two peices of plastic that hold the damn thing together. It looks like the little metal ball on teh end of the cable has wore away at the plastic housing it is supposed to sit in and now doesn't fit nicely in there anymore. It keeps jumping out.

Would I be able to buy one new shifter (I'm planning on buying a new bike anyways, I just need to make this one sellable) or should I consider replacing both? Will that be an expensive investment? (I only need the left shifter, the one that moves the chain over the chain rings)

Thanks... Jessica

Yeah, you can probably get just the shifter- but it depends on what you've got. Mt or Road? SRAM, Shimano, or Campy? Bar end or fancy lever pushy thing? If it's Rapidfire, Shimano's policy is that you need to throw your bike away and buy a new one :mad: . I swear the rep told me this with a straight face. He was totally serious. If it's SRAM you may be able to get a two dollar part to repair the shifter. Guess which one I ride now?
If you want to sell the bike you may want to put on a shiny new matched set for "curb appeal". $$$ wise it depends what you've got on the bike and what will be compatible with it. And you may not want to cheap out on a nice bike if you want to sell it.
So what kind of shifters are they, what's the bike, what else is on it? And how many cogs on the back? (big factor)

Lizzy