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How to sell a bike

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How to sell a bike

Old 09-15-16, 02:13 PM
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How to sell a bike

I'm actually going to go down in number of bikes owned soon by "combining" the functionality of my two road bikes into one bike that will do it all. At 70yo, I'm getting a lot more conservative about the type of road riding that I do and no longer need a dedicated pure road bike. And on the other hand, I'm riding more local unpaved roads and trails these days (not "gravel grinder" riding though!) and want a compliant bike that can take wider tires and lower gearing for the hills.

Anyway, I've had good luck selling a few cars on Craigslist, but have not sold any bikes that way. In fact, I've disposed of old bikes in the past by donating them to charity or selling them to someone I know. My older aluminum-framed Sequoia is sort of like this in that I'm only looking to get a few hundred bucks out of it. But the Cannondale Synapse Carbon is still in excellent condition with a number of upgrades and I'd hoped to get at least $1K+ out of it.

So does anyone have any experience with Craigslist for something like this? Any particular caveats? It's one thing to go with a prospective buyer on a test drive in a car, and besides stealing a car is a pretty serious crime. Riding off on a bike and disappearing seems a whole lot easier. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

Comments, anyone?
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Old 09-15-16, 03:04 PM
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DougG,
Here are two safer alternatives to Craigslist. Bike Forums has The Market Place to buy and sell anything bicycle related. Also, Adventure Cycling Association has a classified section. On their website select "resources", then "forums", then "classifieds" (near the bottom of the page). You'll be selling your bikes to people who truly appreciate a great bike. Save Craigslist for the Wal-Mart bikes.
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Old 09-16-16, 05:40 AM
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If you're on Facebook try Online Swap Meet.
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Old 09-16-16, 07:17 AM
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I've sold 4 bikes on CL. The things that were most important to me...

1. Specify cash only
2. Sell to locals only.
3. Meet them at your home or a "safe place" for the test ride. Get the other person's car keys, credit card, etc as collateral while s/he is doing the test ride.

If you decide to sell to anyone who isn't local, make sure you get the cash before shipping the bike.

I'm sure there are other safeguards but I can't think of anything right now.
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Old 09-16-16, 12:08 PM
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I bought both of my current bikes through craigslist. No problems. Usually before meeting anyone I give them a link to my Facebook page so they can check me out and recognize me when we meet. They can only see the publicly accessible posts but it's enough to reassure them I'm not a lunatic. I hope.

When in doubt, meet at a local law enforcement parking lot. Some police and sheriff's departments encourage this for everyone's protection. Or find another public place with good video surveillance (not all video cameras you see are functional, or have good enough resolution to be useful).

The only tricky bit to meeting in a public space is both parties should have some way to text or call each other. Seems obvious, but not all craigslist sellers I've contacted via email had texting capabilities. I'm reluctant to make an appointment to meet with someone if they can't be contacted to be sure we're both on schedule and at the same location.

The first bike, I met the seller in a public parking lot. We'd corresponded a couple of times first. The bike seemed fine so I only rode around the parking lot a bit. A friend drove me and waited in her car while I checked out the bike. Paid cash, rode home. Turns out the bike belonged to a member of a local cycling group that I've ridden with a few times.

The second bike, I met the seller at his home. He restores and flips bikes and posts many ads every week or month. But because it's his home he's a bit cautious and it took a few emails to arrange a meeting before he gave me an address. I can understand that. He let me ride the bike around the block, while the same friend I'd ridden with last year waited. He didn't ask for ID or anything, but, again, I'd referred him to my publicly accessible Facebook page so he'd know who I was. I was probably gone 10-15 minutes -- it was my first rigid fork steel frame bike in 30 years and I needed to be sure I could handle it, due to a painful neck injury. I'd already test ridden a couple of road bikes and can't handle drop bars anymore, so I was checking out the flat bars on this bike. Paid cash, rode home. Swapped the low flat handlebar for a slight riser bar. Rides well now.
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Old 09-17-16, 09:50 PM
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eBay! Have your LBS box it up for you.
I've just not had much luck selling anything on Craig's List, which disappoints me because I loved their original premise.
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Old 09-18-16, 11:40 AM
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Craig's List is a great way to sell bikes. I have sold many, many bikes on Craig's List without a single problem.
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