I am curious as to if any of you have ever sold a bike on eBay and I am wondering what is the best way to go about this. I would do my best to get the buyer to complete the sale outside of eBay as to avoid paying the end of auction fees. I also want to make sure that I don't get burned by someone on eBay.

Any suggestions?

 

If I recall correctly, they hit you with a flat fee up front, so they'll get paid regardless of whether your bike sells or not. Think it was something like $85 last time I sold a bike on ebay. Completing the sale outside of ebay is likely to set you up to get burned by someone...

 

I sold my Sportster to a guy that saw it on ebay and we did the transaction in person but it was local. I put my Streetbob on ebay and it didn't sell and I think it cost about $30.

 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/motorfees.html

I just sold mine a couple months ago and Ebay charges some fees to just list the bike not matter if it sells or not. Ebay charges $100 if you sell the bike. Receiving payment is always tricky. For me, it's either cash or a certified bank check. If you get a certified bank check like I received, call the bank that the check is drawn from and have them confirm the check and amount. I called 3 branches of the bank and they all confirmed the check was good so I had no worries. Also, check the buyers feedback.

Good Luck.

 

I had good success using Ebay to sell a motorcycle. Like others have mentioned the Ebay fees are not too bad, but try not to take your payment using paypal because they take a percentage of that transaction. So all I did was take the downpayment on paypal and required cash or certified check for the remaining balance. One thing that I think helps is to list as much info about the bike which will cut down on a lot of emails asking questions.

 

One thing I would do is, consider what your absolute lowest rock bottom price you are willing to take for the bike, and then start your reserve at that price. One thing I noticed over the years is that people like myself arent going to bid top dollar, even if the bike appears to be worth it. I for one am very careful about commiting to something i cant sit on. I think overall in 90 % of E-bay motor sales, the item actually sells a good bit cheaper than it would on like Craigslist, where local people are coming to look at the vehicle. I have a yamaha FJR-1300 A on e-bay as we speak, and its listed about 600 bucks under the actual fair market value. Good luck.

 

Special Note

You don't own a bike / car ... until the title is signed over to you, having the bike as colateral is worth ZIP if something glitches and the title isn't in your hand. The bike being held as colateral can work, but if there's a problem, the seller's wife / lawyer / bank, whoever would call it stolen if the title lists someone else other than the sellers name on it. YOU NEED THE TITLE AND ACTUALLY SEE THE SELLER SIGN THEIR NAME ON THE BACK TO MATCH THE FRONT. Don't get caught in a jam waiting for a title that is not with the purchase.

How would you feel taking a seller to court to get the title, with a notorized bill of sale in hand, and having paid for it (possibly paid in full), and the judge says "when we find him we'll call ya! You cannot register a bike without a title.

If the title was not in the sellers name its FRAUD if the sellers say don't worry, it's signed and its yours.

If you trust some regarding a title, know what your up against.

 

I just sold a bike on ebay.
The fee was like $100 or so...

So far not a bad experience...just watch out for the guys who try to talk you down a ton then back out on you.

I think some of them do it just cuz they get off on it.

I wouldn't hesitate to sell again on ebay.

 

I think I will stick with craigslist and local buyers only...just wish there was more of a local market