Do's And Dont's Of Selling Bike.

[shedracer]

With the issues of bike theft and trying to prevent it, what are your views and recommendations, when selling a bike. I did think about not allowing buyers to come to my house, rather meet them somewhere like outside the local Police station, but won't this raise there own suspicions?

Anyway what do people recommend, how have you gone about previous bike sales?

[mquatrello]

One thing i've done prior to letting someone view is take a small payment through pay pal which has a verified address. This can be refunded after the viewing or taken off the sale price. It doesnt need to be an ebay transaction to do this but people new to paypal wont be verified so it wont work in every instance but definitely through ebay as the buyers will be aware of paypal.

It also helps if buying to pay a deposit through paypal, as if something turns out to be really rotten with the bike, paypal will automatically hold your deposit until the buyer and seller agree an outcome, i had an instance where i bought an Evo and didn't spot the cracked swing arm, whilst cleaning and greasing the bike i found it was not only crack but repaired multiple times and the buyer should definitely pointed it out, Paypal held the funds so the seller had no choice but to do a deal.

Luckily though the renowned and wonderful Beta customer service gave me an exchange for a brand new swing arm.

[lineaway]

I would say to meet for a test ride at a practice area or event is the safest. I sell from home often, but always keep all my other `toys` out of sight. Common sense would be not to invite a stranger into your man cave. At the same time would you buy a bike from a party that seemed shady as not wanting to reveal their true location and identity? Lately I even take a picture of their vehicle and plate.

[totalshell]

i always sell from my police station car park.. buyers can take or leave it i dont care.. full cctv coverage loads of cop cars etc ..

[dadof2]

i have always sold from my workplace or somewhere they could have a test ride. Always take car registration and photo of prospective purchaser.

I do know a bloke who got caught out selling his road bike - purchasers vehicle was stolen and he never came back from test ride

[pschrauber]

Best was to avoid any problems in my experience:

- buy the bike with registration papers, stay away of any bikes that don't have registration papers if there are other bikes available that have these documents.

- set up a contract with full address of the seller and buyer, bike model, year and frame und engine number. When the bike does not have registration papers the contract should have the copys of the personal identity cards or pass port of the seller and the buyer attached. Copy's can be made in forehand and the copy's can be compared with the original documents during the trade.

If the seller or the buyer does not agree, don't buy or sell.

If this does sound too 'complicate' for you, keep in mind as a buyer that it will be much easier for you to sell the bike again after a couple of years, a bike with a documented history is more in worth and easier to sell. Also - in case of getting stolen - it is easier to give evidence about the ownership to the police.

Best way to protect your bike for getting stolen is beside to lock it inside the garage or house to get it road registrated and insured. The costs are due to the low engine capacity and power very low. A registrated bike is not so interesting for burglars as any issue with the ownership can be tracked by the frame number.

- Never buy a bike where the frame number is not visible or might be modified.

[dandabs]

Verify where they work by simply asking them where they work and then call them there. Google the place, etc. No one honest is going to be offended or care that you're just protecting yourself.