Best Way to Sell A Bike?

[Ole]

Are you on ADVrider? The flea market there has 417000 sets of eyeballs looking at your ad.

[Ollie]

My FB group had strict posting guidelines that were easy to follow. "Do this, don't do that." Essentially a template on how to post the vehicle. That was the group.

FB flagged my account as fake.

Thankfully, I am not a [regular] FB user.

Maybe that was the problem? With Facebook at least one can see if the seller has a long history there or just joined with few posts.

[GoldOxide_imp]

My FB group had strict posting guidelines that were easy to follow. "Do this, don't do that." Essentially a template on how to post the vehicle. That was the group.

FB flagged my account as fake.

Thankfully, I am not a [regular] FB user.

Maybe that was the problem? With Facebook at least one can see if the seller has a long history there or just joined with few posts.

Maybe that was the problem? With Facebook at least one can see if the seller has a long history there or just joined with few posts.
Likely.

[treytexag_imp]

Are you on ADVrider? The flea market there has 417000 sets of eyeballs looking at your ad.

It's been awhile, but I still get the weekly emails from ADVrider. I had not considered that site - great idea. I'll jump over there now and have a look.

Thanks for the tip.

Trey

[Crazyirv_imp]

Craigslist. I sold every bike I've owned off of it.

[The Gecko_imp]

My opinion is that the ad you write is the biggest determining factor, not the site you use.

In the past three years, I have sold a BMW f800GS, a Honda ST1300, and my CB1100 on Craigslist-Seattle. There was no drama, and the sales happened quickly.

I was very complete in my description of the bikes, and wrote all of that info as if I was describing the characteristics of my children or favorite dog. Readers knew I wasn’t selling just a piece of metal. I priced the bike at the price I wanted to get. I didn’t write “firm”, but I knew I was. my pictures were taken with consideration for what I would want to see if I were looking at a bike online.

Each bike sold for the listing price with no haggling. Each buyer paid in cash. Each buyer took a test ride. I didn’t set low prices. For instance, my 2013 CB1100 standard sold for $7,500.

Good luck!

I agree with Olyrider, the number of poor OR incomplete ads I see is high.

[Gone in 60]

Here's where I trot out my advice for listing photos for your motorcycle ad.
Photos to avoid:

Wet on driveway: It's been sitting so long that I figured I should at least hose it off before I take a picture.
Strapped to a trailer: Yeah... no... it doesn't run.
Photo taken at night, in the dark: I will take any amount of money you show me for this heap.
Down the side of the house, with a tarp wadded up next to bike: Yeah, it's been garaged!
Just a tight front and rear shot, since there is a ton of stuff piled up next to it in the garage: This hasn't moved in years, and it will take a lot of time to dig it out of the garage.
Pile of tools next to the bike: Runs great!

[Ollie]

LOL "runs good just needs battery", starts but just needs carbs adjusted".

Reminds me of the time maybe 8 years ago my friend asked me to call the person selling a motorcycle he was interested in. He had spoken with him but just wanted my impression to be sure since it was a 3 1/2 hour drive each way. The seller only had an old phone, the camera in it wasn't working well and the only 2 images he had were taken from a distance in a dark garage. Anyway so I called.
The guy said his DR650 was "immaculate, never down, I bought it new in Texas, rode it a couple years then moved here to Cleveland where I have it stored." I specifically asked are there any scratches, nicks, anything missing, in short how would your bike be different from a brand new one other than mileage? It's just like new, I really take care of everything I have, just the way I am." My friend said he was told essentially the same thing. $3,200 was high at that time unless it was in immaculate condition but that's what my friend had been searching for. So I ride along with him to Cleveland in his Dodge truck that got 11 mpg to pick up a pristine Suzuki DR650.

The address takes to an apartment complex (projects). The guy comes out and walks us over to a large storage building, unlocks the door and backs out a mangled up, filthy dirt bike of some kind, so we can go in to see his bike. Only the bike he backed out WAS the bike! Besides being absolutely filthy it was also in horrible condition; all plastic (that wasn't missing) was scratched and faded, tank dented and scratched up, 2 broken and one missing turn signal, One hand guard missing, headlight and little wind cowling pointing to the left, chain rusted, rust on frame, practically all exposed bolts and screws were rusted, brake fluid looked like molasses, I could go on and on.
I said "what the heck, you completely lied about the condition of this motorcycle, it's been wrecked, why did you lie?" He stuttered around and said "it is in really good shape and I can tell you it's never been down". I thought my friend was going to kill him so I got his arm and said let's just leave and pulled him to his truck.

Lesson learned is to INSIST on very good pictures and lots of them, if they can't furnish good images don't waste your time.

[peterbaron]

There was an expen$ive and in a pristine condition Suzie 750GT for sale just several streets away from where I live, so I responded to this add.
I only sent one request: take some pics of your bike and show me the places you think are the worst. I pay the price you want.
Never got any answer back.

[GoldOxide_imp]

I always ask for the car keys and/or their girlfriend or wife while the candidate buyer test rides my bikes for sale. In each case the sale closed at my asking price.