Anyone sold a bike privately?

Hi folks, thinking of selling my bike in a private sale, anybody out there got some experience of this? Specifically the money side of things, i'm a bit paranoid about being ripped off...

[the_lone_wolf]

Sold two of mine privately, three if you count the Daytona - Cash on collection for anything under £5k, otherwise banker's draft or same day money transfer...

[Spiderman]

If they bring cash its a wise idea to but yourself a bank note checking pen. You wouldn't want to be left with a pile of worthless paper. Any decent buy will understand that too.

Also, employ the "leave the full amount as a deposit if you want to test ride it" and the "if you crash it, you bought it" policy.

When i bought m first bike privately i had no insurance as i;d only just passed my test. Was honest with the seller about this but also said i'm not buying a bike without knowing it goes, so he took me pillion for a few blocks and we were both happy.

I sold my last two bikes privately, having been a trade-in type before that, and dealt in cash both times. Always had a notion that a banker's draft is the proper way to do business for big money but I have no clue what one would even look like.

If you do take a cheque or draft just make sure that you can draw on the funds before you hand the bike over. This is different to having cleared by the way which is how those pesky Nigerians make their money.

But you won't be arranging to ship to Estonia via a 3rd party shipping agent in Liberia will you?

yup. loads

tell them cash only, and you want the full amout in your hand before they test ride, its handy to get the numberplate of the car they turn up in, i always make sure i have a mate or 2 with me just in case

proof of insurance is a good idea, although i never bother

i recon i have sold 15 bikes private (most off road) and i can normaly tell if you can trust them or not.

Ive sold bikes before, Mostly enduros though.
I'm always wary of people asking where it is before they ask about the bike.
Dirt bikes are highly sought after by thieves so I usually meet them somewhere public away from my house and take a friend too just in case.

took a bankers draft for the BMW
I totally thougth I'd been had but not to worry there is always a number for the bank for you to call and check that the amount did take place. They'll even tell you the branch that the draft was made from.

[Dave20046]

There are lots of scams involving bankers drafts - people seem to believe you can't cancel them....you can.


I've always Bought & paid with cash.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

There are lots of scams involving bankers drafts - people seem to believe you can't cancel them....you can.


I've always Bought & paid with cash.

I bought my SV with a bankers draft. It's a bit like a cheque only the money comes out of your account when its issued, not when its cashed.

I bought my last car with cash - walking around with £8000 in my pocket was sort of fun of course I had to arrange in advance with the bank to withdraw that much cash.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by ophic

I bought my SV with a bankers draft. It's a bit like a cheque only the money comes out of your account when its issued, not when its cashed.

I bought my last car with cash - walking around with £8000 in my pocket was sort of fun of course I had to arrange in advance with the bank to withdraw that much cash.

See I bank with HSBC and despite letting them know in advance the message never gets through and something always goes wrong. Either I'm missing an obscure document or letter or my signature's changed since I opened the account 12 years ago or my checkbooks been reported stolen. I refused to leave without any money trying to buiy the pointy...after 2 hours the bank manager surfaced and eventually approved the withdrawl. Complete faff around