5 safe selling practices to consider when selling your motorcycle online.

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First things first. Cycletrades.com cannot tell you or recommend whether to sell a bike to an individual or company. We however will recommend using use common sense when selling online. Because common sense is judgmental we have listed 5 items to consider when selling your motorcycle or quad.

1.  Sell to a buyer in your area-For every seller there is nearly always a buyer and I would bet that unless you live in a very remote area there is a potential buyer with in several hours of driving distance. So the trick is getting the word out. Do the advertising. Spread the word. Use a free online classified service like CycleTrades.com. If they allow you a free photo post it. Then use your local news papers and refer to the ad so they can view the photo. Now I am not saying this just to get you to use CycleTrades.com, there are other options but, think about it. Ours is free and photos do sell. You can post and list every detail with an online ad, buy the least expensive news paper ad and reference the photo and description.

2. Selling outside the USA, or Canada-We have people who have been in the motorcycle for a very long time and unless the bike you are selling a 38 Indian Sport or a rare creation, why would someone from the UK purchase a bike from North America and spend an additional $2000 to transport it across the ocean. They have the same or similar models. In many areas such as Europe the selection of manufactures is even greater than here.

3. Who is this person buying your bike?-Do a little research. If the person is a true potential buyer get there phone number and call them. Are they in the phone directory and do the numbers match. Try to call them at both their home and employer. Now this is not a guarantee but if you can verify they work at this location and substantiate the business, it is a start. Do accept a PO box as a legitimate mailing address. Consider not selling if they will not provide you with this info.
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4. Consider a wire transfer vrs a cashiers check.-They call it the Nigerian check scam. The person contacts you willing to purchase the bike by cashiers check and they tell you the have made arrangements to have their shipping company pickup the bike and exchange the check. The check looks legitimate, even banks  have a hard time authenticating. So be aware a cashiers check can be counterfeit.

5. Over Payment-This is a big enticer for the seller. Sure I would like to sell my 5 year old Sportser for $5000 more than it is worth. But think about it, why would someone pay you more money than the asking price?

In closing. Insist on a face to face meeting. Do not get involved in complicated deals and if all possible sell in your vicinity.