Selling bikes

[24lemons]

I have 3 bikes I’d like to sell, a Boardman MHT 8.9 and a pair of Carrera hybrids.

Where would be the best place to advertise them, I’m not on Facebook and I don’t want to get shafted with high commission either.

Any recommendations gratefully received.

[Garemberg]

Vinted have just started a Bike section i've had no luck with ebay selling a genesis so that's where I'm going next.

Facebook marketplace just tells the scrotes where nice bikes live in my option

[Discendo Discimus]

I always sell on eBay.
Advice would be to price it sensibly, take lots of good photos including all the knocks and scratches.

Number 1 top tip - NEVER USE THE AI GENERATED DESCRIPTIONS!!!
I can't stand them, they tell you nothing useful about the bike and it's an instant sign to any buyer that you don't know what you're talking about.

I've sold 3 or 4 bikes and plenty of cars and motorbikes using eBay.

[ucb]

Pinbike?

[SwissJonese]

Ebay is fine. Although recently I have sold an expensive ebike via gumtree as ebay wouldn't allow ebike sales to private accounts.

[Johnnybee]

SwissJonese said:

Ebay is fine. Although recently I have sold an expensive ebike via gumtree as ebay wouldn't allow ebike sales to private accounts.

That's strange, I sold an ebike on ebay last month.

[Discendo Discimus]

The other annoying thing about eBay is that you can't share addresses or phone numbers through their messaging system.
It's to encourage you to arrange it all and pay through their app directly, but it makes it difficult to contact the seller / buyer if they're struggling to find the address or want to pay in cash.

[Benson11]

Ebay is fine beyond the limitations above, there's no fees for the seller anymore as well as these are paid by the buyer now

[Stick Legs]

Discendo Discimus said:

The other annoying thing about eBay is that you can't share addresses or phone numbers through their messaging system.
It's to encourage you to arrange it all and pay through their app directly, but it makes it difficult to contact the seller / buyer if they're struggling to find the address or want to pay in cash.

If you wrote the number on a water bottle and put that in a cage, take a close up pic, it goes straight through as AI can't spot it.

If subsequently someone chose to close their listing after a telephone conversation with an interested party that's entirely up to them.

I used to play by the rules, however the site relies so much on AI to do the work, disputes are almost never found in favour of the seller, and the large fees have made me less compliant. Or I'm just getting grumpy in my old age.

[24lemons]

ucb said:

Pinbike?

I might give it a look thanks

[Pickled Piper]

SwissJonese said:

Ebay is fine. Although recently I have sold an expensive ebike via gumtree as ebay wouldn't allow ebike sales to private accounts.

That's interesting. I'm planning to d the same. Did you insist on a deposit before the prospective buyer had a test ride?

I am concerned that someone will just ride off with my ebike.

[SwissJonese]

Johnnybee said:

SwissJonese said:

Ebay is fine. Although recently I have sold an expensive ebike via gumtree as ebay wouldn't allow ebike sales to private accounts.

That's strange, I sold an ebike on ebay last month.

Did you list it as an ebike because when you do under the category it won't let you continue?

"As of October 31, 2024, eBay in the UK no longer allows private individuals to sell e-bikes or e-bike batteries on their platform due to fire safety concerns, specifically related to lithium-ion batteries"

Ebike classed as prohibited item

[SwissJonese]

Pickled Piper said:

That's interesting. I'm planning to d the same. Did you insist on a deposit before the prospective buyer had a test ride?

I am concerned that someone will just ride off with my ebike.

I was going to ask for some ID that I can take a photo of and delete when they paid. But luckily my buyer was a local guy 50+ and turned up in a nice van on his own. So it was super easy transaction.

[J4CKO]

I recently sold my newer Trek Domane SL5 on eBay, took a week or two and I dropped the price a bit at a time until the guy that had been messaging me went for it, he turned up on time and was a very pleasant transaction.

I took my old bike off my Turbo trainer and used it, decided I preferred it so sold the new one, was a size up and if I am honest a bit too big, bit of a tank, he was a bit taller than me and said he was 18/19 stone so was perfect for him.

The older one is just so much more pointy.