2nd hand/Not stolen? Possible??

[novanino]

I'm looking to replace my bike which got mangled in an accident.
I'd prefer to get something secondhand, but I absolutely don't want to buy someone's baby which was stolen from them...so...

Aside from asking to see receipts of new purchases, what can I do to ensure it's a reputable source I'm buying from, if I'm looking in ads like gumtree or ebay? Someone might be selling a bike which they bought honestly secondhand...

If it's secondhand from a bike shop, how can I check them out for not trading in stolen bikes? (there's a shop which I've often seen recommended which other folks have told me blatantly sold a stolen bike at least once) ...any thoughts?

 

[TheDoctor]

Trust your instincts. If it's a private vendor, they should be able to give you chapter and verse on where the bike came from, where they've been on it, what's been replaced and why, and so on. If they can't tell you anything about the bike, and it doesn't fit them, then alarm bells would ring for me.

 

[novanino]

Trust your instincts. If it's a private vendor, they should be able to give you chapter and verse on where the bike came from, where they've been on it, what's been replaced and why, and so on. If they can't tell you anything about the bike, and it doesn't fit them, then alarm bells would ring for me.

Thanks, that's a good place to start.

I'm not sure whether to look at secondhand stuff in bike shops, or to steer clear altogether. There doesn't seem to be any way of knowing whether they consistently do the honest thing / check out the source of what they're buying properly.

 

[Mike!]

I'm selling a bike at the moment, i think the biggest problem i have in getting rid of it is that everyone is suspicious! I do however have the receipt and manual, plus if needed i could take them to the shop to verify it and me

TheDoctor is right though, i would think most dodgy deals would have something that didn't smell / look or feel right about it