how to sell bicycle?

Hi experts,

I wanted to sell my bicycle ‘Wilier Izoard XP’, I have never sold online before!

My questions are:

- Is Ebay the best site to sell bicycles?
- If a person comes to see the bicycle and wants to try it, what can I do to make sure he won’t just scape with it haha.
- I do not have the receipt from when I bought it, but the shop where I bought it, is nearby… Will the potential buyer want to see the receipt?, shall I go ask the shop for a new receipt/proof?

Thanks! Any tip is welcome!

Ps: I bought it for £900 two years ago, I would need the money in the next month or so… is it ok to sell it for £500 or is it too low/high?

Comments

  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,959 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hold on to their driving licence and maybe something else of value. If they haven't got any photo ID best not allow it (any card could have been stolen).

    You should have some paperwork even if no receipt. I bought a bike off a neighbour so I knew its provenance, but they gave me the folder with a manual and a couple of tools that came with the bike. Did you pay by credit card/cheque? Show them details of the transaction?


    Other people will comment on price, I'm not familiar with the bike or the current market.
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,491 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Bike sold as seen, cash up front.

    A £900 bike 2 years old is not worth £500, sorry. That's entry level spec and will not hold value, you might get lucky at £500 but I'd stick it on ebay about £300 and hope for the best - there are lots of bikes around for sale and reductions in 2018 bikes as 2019 bikes are out now and a new one for £500 is potentially of the same spec as your 2 year old one.

    Gum Tree or ebay probably best

    Don't accept any deals to pay by Paypal, there are well known scams involving people buying it for a friend without seeing it and sending a courier

    Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness: 

    People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.

  • Perhaps block any bidders under a certain amount of feedback.

    And yes cash up front only, if they want a test drive say yes thats fine but you hold the cash during. If I was a buyer I wouldnt have any problem with that.

    Decent bikes hold their value fairly well, and if rare and good condition you might get £500 if you are lucky. But I would probably aim for £400.
  • Norman_Castle
    Norman_Castle Posts: 11,871 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Try asking the shop if they want to buy it back. Its a safe sale and gives you a starting point for pricing.
  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,616 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    try gumtree


    i would prob try it first around £450 leaving it open to offers, if within a few days/week i hadnt got a sniff I would start lowering the price.


    as others have said hold on to something of value of theirs ( or the cash), car keys maybe
  • jonesMUFCforever
    jonesMUFCforever Posts: 28,898 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Try the various for sale sites on Facebook - again cash only which you would hold whilst they test rode it.
  • loskie
    loskie Posts: 1,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    I sold a bike oce for £200 some years ago. I lived in a rural cottage that was on a busy footpath, I placed it outside with a for sale sign on it and a family on thier holidays bought it for Dad.
    You could try that.

    I have bought one off Gumtree
    But a £900 bike new is now an obsolete model which would be sold as a run out model for £600 by the shops with the guarantees that brings too.
    I too agree £500 is too high.
    Ask yourself what would entice you to look at it should you be a purchaser?
    and

    good luck
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 26 July 2018 at 1:22PM
    A bike to me is at least half price the minute it is sold so with two years use the value drops accordingly. I would nt pay more than £250. The original selling price of £900 may well have been top dollar for an aluminium framed bike and available online for much less. Bikes are never "obsolete " in my view. I look to see what groupset is fitted. That will determine if its a top spec bike. Sram, Campag, Shimano etc all have a pecking order with their groupsets. You can check out this pecking order level online.e.g. Shimano top level fitments is Dura Ace with the lowly Clara and Sora fitted to the cheap bikes
    Gumtree and Preloved are both free but when I ve tried them to sell, to save Ebay fees, I have never managed to sell much at all. Local Facebook Marketplace is better than both of these free auctions .. If someone rolls up with a car on a collection only purchase then its safe to let them have quick run around. I have bought and sold many bikes on Ebay and never had the slightest problem with bike buyers. Its the local bike nicking kids i m more worried about and my expensive bike stays indoors not in the garage
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,491 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Agree with Houbara, some bikes will hold value more than others but tend to be better spec big name ones (e.g. a full carbon with DI2) not the ones that are mass produced to a budget e.g. Planet X or Halfords own brands

    £900 bike is only just above entry level and spec may not be great (I'm guessing it is probably Tiagra 4600 given the age, not even the newer 10 speed 4700), it won't hold 50% value after 2 years - £300 as I said above you might get but with 2019 bikes out, 2018 spec bikes let alone 2017 or 2016 are reduced and a new one with guarantee it won't have been ridden harshly, crashed etc is more appealing

    Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness: 

    People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.

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