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Currently selling a couple of fairly decent spec ebikes.
Someone contacted me about one of them last week, asked the right questions he was going to come and buy it on Saturday morning so I gave him my address. He never turned up and went into radio silence.
At first I just thought he was just a prick for doing it, but now I am worried that it is a more nefarious reason, he knows I have some decent bikes and has my address.
People are flakey, it could be entirely innocent, he could be ill, lost his phone or his missus may have caught wind of what he was up to and scotched the deal. Happens all the time.
That said, I would be extra careful for the next few weeks, make sure they're secured as well as can be,check they're insured. Maybe bring them or the batteries and chargers for them inside, make sure you have notes of the BB serial numbers etc.
That'd help me sleep a bit more easily.
Contact him and tell him you've given up on him and they've just been collected by the second bidder.
^ that.
Problem with that is I still want to sell them so don't want to take the advert down, and am thinking the run up to Christmas might be a good time to sell, after Christmas people might rein in their spending a bit, so when the weather starts improving in spring is probably the next good selling opportunity.
I'd say it's a distinct possibility, but there's not much you can do now.
If they're in an out building/shed/garage I'd bring them indoors out of sight of any windows, and ide some air tags or equivalent on them.
Probably nothing so try not to worry - sounds like a classic flake.
In any case I wouldn't have anyone around to my house from a Facebook advert, try and meet in a car park or something
Think I saw a documentary about this around this time last year.
If you have steps to your house cover them in ice or tar with a gert big nails sticking up. make sure you store glass tree baubles on the floor next to a downstairs window and store an iron so it can fall from a great height onto the would be perpetrator’s bonce.
job jobbed
Think I saw a documentary about this around this time last year.
If you have steps to your house cover them in ice or tar with a gert big nails sticking up. make sure you store glass tree baubles on the floor next to a downstairs window and store an iron so it can fall from a great height onto the would be perpetrator’s bonce.
job jobbed
Brilliant
Pobably nothing so try not to worry – sounds like a classic flake.
In any case I wouldn’t have anyone around to my house from a Facebook advert, try and meet in a car park or something
Most likely that, he's just found another better deal elsewhere.
Trouble with wanting to meet somewhere public is that as a buyer that rings alarm bells, makes the seller look really dodgy, I wouldn't buy from a seller who insisted on that. I've sold that way if the buyer has suggested it, but it sounds dodgy if the seller wants to do it.
Pretty much everything I've ever sold has some story of someone desperate to buy right up until they didn't show up. Its got to the point where you can tell who the no shows are right from the start. Likewise the genuine buyers
Be cautious as above, but someone legit will come along soon enough
You can tell the flake they've sold if you're worried and leave the ad up. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
I never give out my address having had my shed ransacked when someone arranged to look at a bike a long while back now.
The police stopped him a few days later... my bike was never recovered, but they said he was fully equipped to go stealing bikes...
Re-take the photos in a different location e.g. a mates back garden not yours, take down the current advert and relist with a new advert? A scrote probably won't connect the dots.
Can you offer to meet potential buyers at your work address?
Could be just a flake as said above. Mostly though I go for a mutually convenient spot for both parties. Service station, some carpark somewhere etc. Or if a whole bike then somewhere they can test ride it. Local trail centre is ideal for that, especially if there is a compact skills area with jumps, drops, all the good stuff etc then lot of riding can happen in a small area. Much better than a pootle around a carpark.
I generally arrange to meet at a petrol station, there'a usually a cash point there, plenty of people around at all times and good CCTV.
Sorry mate. Got held up. Be there in half hour. You ok to swop for drone and a PS4?
I would have thought if you were being targeted they would have come much sooner once they had your address, rather than waiting the best part of a week
I sold a bike at a motorway services a while back. Ok so it was for peanuts. But the buyer had been a cyclist, so we talked about the bike and its history a lot so I am sure I appeared genuine.
I don't really see how coming to my house could reassure a buyer - they're sure as hell not coming for a nose round the garage (and if they did, most people would assume there was something dodgy going on anyway, given the amount of stuff lying around)
It's a dilemma to be sure. The couple of times I've sold bikes on Facebook marketplace, as it's fairly local I've delivered it.
Then gone a week later and nicked it back.*
*Not really.
I’ve sold loads of stuff on marketplace and I only give the post code. I never give the house number until they’re outside.
Good option - my postcode on gps shows my house 100 meters away on the opposite side of the road.
The guy i bought a 24" bike off from facevook, left it in the drive I had to wait while he answered the door. He then showed me his bike collection. All to a random from the internet. For every non trusting STWer there's a trusting guy who doesn't lock his bikes up.
Watch out for Monty!
Good option – my postcode on gps shows my house 100 meters away on the opposite side of the road.
What's your postcode? Asking for a friend