Fifty Plus (50+) - Advice on selling a bike online

Hi,
I need advice because I've never done this before. If I sell my bike online, not thru e-bay, what is the best way to handle the money transfer? One way or another it seems like the other party has the chance of being taken. I would not like this to happen. The best scenario is to meet face to face, but if this is not possible what is the best way to handle it?

use your local Craigslist, or trader magazine.......

I know about Craigslist, that's if it sells locally which would be the easiest way. But my question is if I sell to someone I can't meet, someone out of state. Surely someone here has gone thru the experience already.

I'm in Louisville, KY and just sold my old Vitus off of Craigslist to a guy in Madison, WS. Go figure.

He made an offer including shipping by email, we corresponded a few times, I sent lots of pictures, gave him my LBS as a reference, taked by phone once and he just Paypal'ed me the total agreed amount. I packed the bike last night and it will go out FedEx Ground Monday morning.

Film at 11

Paypal.com

Hi,
I need advice because I've never done this before. If I sell my bike online, not thru e-bay, what is the best way to handle the money transfer? One way or another it seems like the other party has the chance of being taken. I would not like this to happen. The best scenario is to meet face to face, but if this is not possible what is the best way to handle it?

For what it costs, ebay is a great selling forum. I bought a used Colnago on ebay, rode it two years, and sold it for within 150 dollars of what I bought it for. I had cleaned it up, upgraded some items and one of the inquiries I had was from the guy I bought it from. He forgot my name and thought it was a different bike.

I don't care for craig's list, much of what I have seen there is probably stolen. I had real problems contacting anybody and many of the items I looked at were already sold.

Paypal is a great payment system with safeguards. I have even bought high end bikes with it. Again, depending upon the item, ebay has the largest buying/selling audience.

+1 for paypal. It really simplifies the money part for both parties.

Paypal is best, but for the seller there is not much to worry about in any case. Just tell the buyer that you won't ship until you receive payment or the check clears the bank. It's much more worrysome for the buyer. I bought a fairly expensive bike last year via internet, but did my homework before sending the check. By the time we sealed the deal, I knew enough about the seller that I had no problem letting him wait til the check cleared before shipping the bike. I suppose if I learned the seller was flaky, I wouldn't have gone thru with the purchase. In my case everything worked out great.

I have sold bikes using both Ebay and bike specific websites (recumbent). I have been paid using Paypal, cash or money orders (no checks). I state that the bike is for local pickup by the buyer or that I will deliver the bike half way within reason where I live for a fee. I have not had to have a sold bike packed and shipped to a buyer.

Thanks. So getting all the money from the buyer first is the way to go. The seller, as long as he describes the bike pretty well, should not have any repercussions from the buyer. I guess the buyer just has to ask a lot of questions. Now I know how to proceed when I sell my bike and if I ever buy one online. Thanks again!

Thanks. So getting all the money from the buyer first is the way to go. The seller, as long as he describes the bike pretty well, should not have any repercussions from the buyer. I guess the buyer just has to ask a lot of questions. Now I know how to proceed when I sell my bike and if I ever buy one online. Thanks again!

So that's the dynamic for ebay, and why it's a reasonable (most of the time) method. The buyer's risk is paying up front for unseen product. If the seller misrepresented the product the buyer disputes it and/or leaves negative feedback. Sellers live and die by their feedback. If they screw people over and collect negative feedback, no one will ever trust them nor bid up their sale items. I look very carefully at seller feedback. If there is insufficient data or evidence of bad behavior, I will not buy from them no matter how badly I want the product.

The down side for you would be as a seller not having established feedback. I'm less likely to buy from someone with no established feedback.