I use a bunch of these for the bikes:
Amazon.com: Racor PBH-1R Ceiling-Mounted Bike Lift: Home Improvement
The Racor mounts I found locally for $10 per set, which was perfect, and I wish I had bought a dozen when I had the chance (since then, I haven't been able to find them locally). The big advantage is that they are self "locking", which works based on the weight of the bikes. I still lash the ropes to the wall for safety, but because of how the self locking works, you can use it to very gently lower the bikes to the ground - easy for my wife.
Along the same lines, I "built" my own version for our roof box (more complex design involving 6 pullies), and also use anoter home-built version also identical to the Racor for some ski equipment and also for our canoe.
Slapping the pieces together yourself is pretty easy; I use a combination of castors (with the wheels removed) as ceiling mount brackets, pullies, cheap locking caribiners and boat cleats; a simple set up like the Racor one costs about $10-$15 or so in parts.
The downside to my DIY method is that I need to lash the rope to the cleats on the wall - no self locking, and raising and lowering requires a bit more muscle - you could certainly incorporate a crank reel/winch to help raise and lower....
EDIT - missed that Harbour freight one posted on quattroworld - that's identical to the ones I use. Think I'm going to order a bunch!
