My understanding is that most bike theft involves addicts trying to score $10 or so. Do their fences use Ebay? Not sure - probably some of them do.
To be honest - I am very wary of buying a used bike from someone who is not a friend or acquaintance of long standing.
I've had too many bikes stolen (at least three) to feel like supporting the stolen bike industry saves me any money in the long run.
I have not bought any used parts - and I wouldn't buy parts where the LBS didn't show me the original packaging. If those parts are stolen, there's not much I can do about it I guess, but at least they weren't ripped off some poor sod's primary transportation.
Originally Posted by CHenry
Are you looking for NOS parts or just clean used? NOS is likely to come with packaging from a dealer with a brick-and-mortar shop. You can always email if you need to know. Even from a private seller, the odds are low you will get stolen merchandise, especially if it comes with any kind of documentation.
I don't think there is any way to guarantee you won't buy a stolen article, but organizing an ebay auction seems a poor way to unload bits and pieces for a petty thief. It's time consuming. A street thief would need to be patient and disciplined for that.
I would guess that most sellers are parting out a bike and recouping some money for buying new gear. Some may be speculators that buy nice bikes whole in newspapers and through Craigslist and part them out for fun and maybe to make a little money. It would seem hardly worth the trouble, though.