Selling a bike

[Sunny Portrush]

Maybe one for the "For Sale" forum but I'm after some advice and would think it would get more response in here but Mods, feel free to move.

I am thinking of selling my best bike in order to finance another one lol.

Basically, it's an Argon 18 that has had some upgrades on it so would be looking to get about £1,500 for it. I'm looking to get yet another Cannondale. The Argon has a slightly different geometry and I know I just prefer riding my Cannondales.

What's the most anyone has sold a bike for (a private transaction) and how did you stop yourself from being ripped off or scammed?

All advice appreciated

 

[DCLane]

I've sold them for that price and above. Basically a clear description and appropriate use of sales sites/venues - I use eBay but also specialist Facebook groups.

The more detail you give about the bike - spec/upgrades, mileage/type of use/damage - the better. For that price it would help to have documentation and an original receipt if you have one.

Where you are there's a ready market in NI/RoI for top-end bikes. My son turns up on his Cervelo S3 with Dura-Ace and is low-rent in comparison.

 

[Sunny Portrush]

I've sold them for that price and above. Basically a clear description and appropriate use of sales sites/venues - I use eBay but also specialist Facebook groups.

The more detail you give about the bike - spec/upgrades, mileage/type of use/damage - the better. For that price it would help to have documentation and an original receipt if you have one.

Where you are there's a ready market in NI/RoI for top-end bikes. My son turns up on his Cervelo S3 with Dura-Ace and is low-rent in comparison.

I'm actually in Musselburgh and not NI, my username is just a reflection on my home town.

I still have the original receipt and the receipts for any work done on it. I was more thinking about how you "sealed the deal" or protected yourself from being mugged etc

 

[DCLane]

I'm actually in Musselburgh and not NI, my username is just a reflection on my home town.

I still have the original receipt and the receipts for any work done on it. I was more thinking about how you "sealed the deal" or protected yourself from being mugged etc

Ah! Forget my comment about expensive bikes then.

Selling via a FB group or eBay you've usually got some idea of who's coming to collect. If it's via eBay they now have a code when someone pays via Paypal then collects in person. Getting the buyer's details helps.

Personally I'd prefer payment in cash rather than Paypal or a bank transfer - but at £1500+ you might need to be willing to accept these. I bought my son's Cervelo S3 via bank transfer but had already viewed it beforehand.

 

[Sunny Portrush]

Cheers,

Still have to make my mind up - the Argon is wrapped up for the winter and I may feel different when I roll it out in the spring - basically, I want another bike lol

 

[Gunk]

I’ve just bought a bike off eBay for around a £1000. The seller posted it and it arrived on time and was as described.

 

[Justinslow]

eBay this summer £1300, put on a listing with £1 max seller fees, started the auction at £1300 as that’s what I wanted for it minimum. Had a very detailed ad with lots of detailed good quality pictures. Collection only. Had a few enquires but one lad in particular asking the right questions and seemed very keen except he couldn’t come for a month. At first I wasn’t interested but he won me over as he came across very well and very eloquently and offered the full £1300. I thought I’d give him a chance, I said the only way this could work was if he made an offer for the asking price via eBay then I could accept it to end the auction early and I’d wait until he came, which he duely did at exactly the time he said he would and on the exact day. It was a risk on my part purely as I had to wait a month and it could have fallen through, but it all worked out in the end, the lad was very nice very polite and very genuine, he tried the bike, paid in cash and took it away. I completed the sale on eBay and paid the small fee.

 

[Deleted User]

I bought a bike for £1500 off eBay in September, paid cash on collection.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Cash on collection from my home only and they have to count the money out in front of you.
If they want a ride on the bike, they have to leave their car keys and money on the table.
No posting or dealing with dubious overseas buyers or bank transfers/paypal/swaps etc.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Personally I'd prefer payment in cash rather than Paypal or a bank transfer - but at £1500+ you might need to be willing to accept these.

Almost everybody I've ever bought items from has indicated they preferred cash. I always message the seller and ask them first before paying. Very rarely has anyone ever requested paypal. OK, I only buy low value stuff, but so long as the banknotes themselves are kosher there's no funny business possible with cash, and no extra fees.
The only benefit to non-cash payment is it discourages timewasters who might hit the buy button then not show up to collect. It does happen because I have bought from a seller who previously had a no-show, then relisted and I bought it second time round. Timewasters could still just not pay electronically though, there's always a possibility a sale will fall through no matter how it is organised.

 

[Blue Hills]

Cash on collection from my home only and they have to count the money out in front of you.
If they want a ride on the bike, they have to leave their car keys and money on the table.
No posting or dealing with dubious overseas buyers or bank transfers/paypal/swaps etc.

strikes me as good advice.
Have sometimes pondered about the test ride.
Best not to tell them in advance that you expect to hold onto their car keys (just maybe casually ask how they are getting to you) - they may hand you some dud keys?

 

[Kingfisher101]

strikes me as good advice.
Have sometimes pondered about the test ride.
Best not to tell them in advance that you expect to hold onto their car keys (just maybe casually ask how they are getting to you) - they may hand you some dud keys?

Thats why you ask them to put the money down as well.

 

[Sunny Portrush]

eBay this summer £1300, put on a listing with £1 max seller fees, started the auction at £1300 as that’s what I wanted for it minimum. Had a very detailed ad with lots of detailed good quality pictures. Collection only. Had a few enquires but one lad in particular asking the right questions and seemed very keen except he couldn’t come for a month. At first I wasn’t interested but he won me over as he came across very well and very eloquently and offered the full £1300. I thought I’d give him a chance, I said the only way this could work was if he made an offer for the asking price via eBay then I could accept it to end the auction early and I’d wait until he came, which he duely did at exactly the time he said he would and on the exact day. It was a risk on my part purely as I had to wait a month and it could have fallen through, but it all worked out in the end, the lad was very nice very polite and very genuine, he tried the bike, paid in cash and took it away. I completed the sale on eBay and paid the small fee.

Thanks for all the replies, some useful info there but this one caught me eye. It's been many a year since I sold anything on eBay so maybe it has changed - how do you get £1 max sellers fee's, I thought they took a small percentage of the sold price

 

[Justinslow]

Thanks for all the replies, some useful info there but this one caught me eye. It's been many a year since I sold anything on eBay so maybe it has changed - how do you get £1 max sellers fee's, I thought they took a small percentage of the sold price

They just come through on my messages from eBay in the “messages” section every couple of weeks or so, you click on it to accept the offer and it’s valid for a few days if I remember correctly. Not sure if it’s only for well used accounts so to speak - a bit of a perk?
I actually did the ad then ended it early and deleted it to make use of a £1 max seller fee offer that I got a day or so later, think it’s a 10% fee (up to a maximum £250) otherwise, that is - if you play it straight, many people will try to get the seller to pay cash then try and cancel the listing thus saving the fee but eBay is getting pretty wise to this sort of thing nowadays. For my bike I sold 10% would have been £130 - ouch.
I tried to give my phone number via eBay message a few times even spacing out the numbers and adding symbols etc but the system picks it up straight away and you get warned if you do it again you’ll get charged the final valuation fee (10%) fair enough I suppose as you are reaching a lot of people via their platform and that isn’t for free!

 

[Maherees]

I sold my 2017 £1400 road bike on PinkBike (specialist cycle site) for 1k before Christmas. The buyer pays using PayPal goods and money was in my account before they loaded in the car.