Whether you’ve given up riding or are eyeing up a new model, you should get round to selling your old motorcycle. Its well known that most dealers will not offer a fair price to take your bike off your hands. eBay is a great platform for selling your motorcycle and will expose your bike to thousands of potential buyers. If you follow these basic steps you’ll sell your motorcycle in no time and hopefully for a decent amount of money.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTORBIKE WORTH

First of all , figure out what is the minimum amount of money you’d be happy to get for your motorbike. Of course, you need to know the blue book value of your motorbike in order to answer that question. You can use many online sources to figure out what your motorbike is worth.

WORK ON YOUR MOTORCYCLE

This is an obvious thing, but many people don’t do it. You want to scrub and clean your motorcycle till it looks brand new. Polish those chrome wheels. The better it looks, the more buyers it will attract. Make any affordable repairs to make the bike more desirable to potential buyers – fix that cracked taillight. You will thank yourself later for the time spent preparing your bike.

PREPARE MOTORCYCLE DESCRIPTION AND FACTS

Write a good description for your bike. The description will based around the most essential facts: Year, Brand, Model, Mileage, VIN, Engine size, Type and Color. The motorbike history should be included. Make sure you tell them if you are the first owner, how long you’ve had it for, any major accidents It has been in (this will most likely decrease the value of your motorbike, but you’ve got to be honest about these things), whether you have the title or not.

Always describe any major or minor scratches or dents. Letting buyers know what they are potentially buying will highlight that you are not out to make a quick buck, making them more confident in you as a seller. After all, wouldn’t you want to know about these things if you were to be buying a motorcycle?

TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR MOTORBIKE

A good picture is worth thousand words. A well considered (or maybe even striking) photo can really help boost the amount of bids you receive. A good photo will attract more bids and therefore increase the final sale price. One photograph will not be enough to convert a potential buyer – you need several great photographs to do your auction justice. Photos are an absolute must for any vehicle sold on eBay as it is the most trusted source that a potential buyer has besides your own written description.

CREATING AN EBAY LISTING

Since eBay buyers can’t look at your motorcycle, make sure your listing looks great and appealing to any potential buyers. You could have a great motorcycle on eBay auction and still not receive a good amount of bids. This may not be because the bike does not sell well but purely based on a poor listing.

Your description prepared earlier with the motorcycle pictures will be the basis for your eBay listing. eBay provides an easy form for adding a listing. However, if you’ve never done it before, this process could take lots of your time and could cost you lots of money if you don’t do it right.

FIGURE OUT eBAY LISTING OPTIONS

If your main objective is to sell your motorcycle quick, add the BuyItNow option with what you think would be a good price for your bike, which might be a little below the blue book value. You’ll already have this information at hand if you went through the earlier process of finding out your motorcycle’s blue book value.

If your main objective is to sell it for a high price and you don’t care that much about how quickly it sells, set it at a low starting price to start with (let’s say $1), but set a Reserve Price to the minimum dollar amount you’d agree to sell it for.

MOTORBIKE DELIVERY

You will need to consider motorcycle transport. Don’t limit your motorbike auction to “local pickup only”. Limiting to local pickup will greatly reduce your potential buyer universe, which would potentially reduce your final sell price.It is important to clearly highlight what you intend the shipping method to be – you do not want a confused buyer once the auction is over. It is at the sellers discretion to leave the job of shipping and delivery to the winning eBayer, but if this is the case this should be stated from the beginning.” They can then simply organise delivery with a suitable courier.

Recently there have been several reported cases of car deals done over Internet resulting in robbery, or even violence. Used car sellers have advertised to sell their cars online and then been paid with forged cash or bankers drafts, which they have discovered only after parting with the vehicle. Another popular scam is to offer more than the seller has advertised as the price, providing that a large percentage of any extra is forwarded to another person.

Would-be used car buyers, of apparently real bargain cars, have been asked to meet in quiet places and told that the seller will only take cash. At the agreed meeting a couple of criminals have relieved them of their cash but not left the car that was for sale.

Online used car buyers and sellers need to take great care to safeguard themselves and their money from this new breed of Internet fraudster and crook.

A good basic trustworthiness checklist would start with:

• Will they give a full name in advance and carry photo ID when you meet?
• Is the address given a registered business address on Google?
• What number, other than their mobile, do they have?
• Ask if they will give you details of their bankers?
• Meet at your bank if you accept a banker draft and pay it to have it checked?
• Notes in pounds should be the only ones you accept, to avoid forged currencies.
• Finally, if meeting the buyer or seller half-way, make sure they agree to meet in a safe well lit place where plenty of people are about and take someone with you.
• Scams often seem just too good to be believable!

There are plenty of reputable online car firms who will sell you a car or buy one from you without risk but you do need to do your homework and check them out first. When contacted by the buyer they should be willing to give you basic information about their business to allow you to establish that they are who they say they are.