Selling advice

[scoffcrudle]

Hello all,

I will be selling my Cube emtb very soon as I have a brand new full-sus one on the way. I've cleaned, polished, and scrubbed it up quite nicely and I'm now ready to post the pictures and blurb online. But I've never sold a bike before this way or in fact ever!

I'm just wondering if those who have had previous experience of selling can advise what are the best dos and don'ts for such a thing. What is the best/safest way when it comes to a potential buyer wanting a test ride? These bikes are expensive and if I was buying I would also want a ride too for obvious reasons. So what is the safest and easiest way to manage this?
Apart from Gumtree and eBay where else is good to advertise. The bike is a hardtail so I'm not sure if there is much point in posting here.

Thank you for reading and any advice or comments will be gratefully received.

 

[Rail5]

What bike is this?
Kind regards

 

[TheBikePilot]

eBay and Facebook Marketplace are excellent. Gumtree is a bit of a sh!tfest.

You're not obligated to offer a test ride. No-One has ever asked for one in my experience. Buying second hand you know what you want, and if they want a spin on a bike they fancy they need to go to a bike shop. Most people in my experience just pitch up and pay.

When I have sold Motorbikes in the past if they absolutely insist, ask for cash in hand. If you put this in the description it incites them to ask for a test ride. Honestly, if someone is genuine they won't insist on this. They are bidding to buy, not try. The last guy that bought one of my bikes was a legend. He said 'I know there may be a few niggles, but I expect that..!'

Honestly don't panic. The more descriptive you are in the listing the less people worry. Also, you'll get a bunch of questions from tyre kickers. Always in my experience the guy that buys it never asked a single question but do answer them..!

 

[steve_sordy]

I always go over the top on description, plus loads of pics. I never want anyone to come back at me saying that it was not "as described".

I sold my last bike (Whyte T130C RS) on eBay. Because the buyer lived 200 miles away we arranged to meet halfway at a convenient trail centre. I'd had three con artists and several time wasters so far and he was the first genuine buyer; distance to collection was a deal breaker. He paid and I set up the bike for him. We went off for a ride together. He proceeded to rag the arse off it in very sandy conditions. He pronounced himself very happy, great bike etc. Then two weeks later he complained that he needed new pads and said that I had conned him!
I keep a set of spare pads in my back pack, so if one pair of pads had failed on that ride I would have handed them over. I didn't need them any more, so I posted them to him. I didn't get a thank you or any acknowledgement. He probably still believes I conned him. I'm just glad I got in writing from him that he was happy with the bike and that it was "as described".

 

[scoffcrudle]

eBay and Facebook Marketplace are excellent. Gumtree is a bit of a sh!tfest.

You're not obligated to offer a test ride. No-One has ever asked for one in my experience. Buying second hand you know what you want, and if they want a spin on a bike they fancy they need to go to a bike shop. Most people in my experience just pitch up and pay.

When I have sold Motorbikes in the past if they absolutely insist, ask for cash in hand. If you put this in the description it incites them to ask for a test ride. Honestly, if someone is genuine they won't insist on this. They are bidding to buy, not try. The last guy that bought one of my bikes was a legend. He said 'I know there may be a few niggles, but I expect that..!'

Honestly don't panic. The more descriptive you are in the listing the less people worry. Also, you'll get a bunch of questions from tyre kickers. Always in my experience the guy that buys it never asked a single question but do answer them..!

Thank you, some very useful info there. I'm expecting an influx of tyre kickers with this but will see what happens. Hoping to sort the wheat from the chaff on the email!

 

[scoffcrudle]

I always go over the top on description, plus loads of pics. I never want anyone to come back at me saying that it was not "as described".

I sold my last bike (Whyte T130C RS) on eBay. Because the buyer lived 200 miles away we arranged to meet halfway at a convenient trail centre. I'd had three con artists and several time wasters so far and he was the first genuine buyer; distance to collection was a deal breaker. He paid and I set up the bike for him. We went off for a ride together. He proceeded to rag the arse off it in very sandy conditions. He pronounced himself very happy, great bike etc. Then two weeks later he complained that he needed new pads and said that I had conned him!
I keep a set of spare pads in my back pack, so if one pair of pads had failed on that ride I would have handed them over. I didn't need them any more, so I posted them to him. I didn't get a thank you or any acknowledgement. He probably still believes I conned him. I'm just glad I got in writing from him that he was happy with the bike and that it was "as described".

Thanks for the info, sounds like you went above and beyond the call there and he's still not happy!

I think i'll make it collection only as posting a bike sounds like a whole lot of hassle. Meeting the buyer halfway is also a good compromise and opens up a wider radius of sales.

 

[TheRealPoMo]

The bike is a hardtail so I'm not sure if there is much point in posting here.

LOL, you know this place well....
Let us know how you go. Post the ad link.

 

[steve_sordy]

Just as long as his mate isn't waiting around the corner to "mug him" and then walk back and claim he was robbed. Get the money in advance!

 

[steve_sordy]

Sadly the best way to protect yourself is to assume that the buyer is a complete thieving bastard con-artist and then protect yourself.

I had one guy contact me to say that he was a student at Aberystwyth Uni, which is literally at the opposite end of the UK to me. He couldn't come out until term ended so could he please pay a £300 deposit to hold the bike until then? Everything seemed OK until he asked me to prove who I was, because "after all he was about to send a stranger £300". He wanted my account number, sort code, IBAN code (I had to look that up!), name and address........ £300 (if I ever got it) was a small price for him to pay to get access to my finances.

Another guy had an 8 and a half month pregnant wife and would I post the bike to him? Hmm, there are so many ways that can go wrong!

One of my mates sold his Fox 36 top of the range fork. Mint condition, serviced regularly (he was obsessive about lower leg services). The buyer sent the fork back because it didn't work properly and made a claim through eBay. The thieving swine had swapped out all the internals for some rusty low spec crap. My mate ended up with a broken fork and no money. He had to pay to fix it just so that he could sell it.

Protect yourself it's a jungle out there! Unless you know the buyer of course! (Hi Rob, is your daughter still loving the bike?)

 

[maynard]

This all sounds crazy . You need to use your judgement and instincts. Also your brain . If he looks like a good guy and looks you in the eye and is polite . He probably is a nice guy . For fuck sakes people. I would never ever buy a bike without a test ride . If he rocks up in a car then that's ur insurance . Or if your worried ask for his keys . I bought my second hand levonfor 8500 $ the guy looked nervous cos he didn't want to offend me. And asked for my keys . I was nervous for same reason . Anyways it worked out and I got my bike and did bank transfer for the cash . Happy days