How do you sell a bike? (and how much for this particular one)

[Rambler1982]

I'm selling my pearl white Ducati Monster 696. It's got 350 miles and is in absolutely pristine condition. It's esentially brand new, right off the showroom floor.  How much should I ask for it?

1) How do you go about selling a motorcycle? I'll probably end up putting it on Craig's List.
2) Should I list it on e-bay, too?
3) Do I insist on cash, and/or certified funds only?
4) How do I ensure against fraudulent certified funds? What if the guy's cashier's check is a fake?
5) Should I ask for a copy of his driver's license?
6) I shouldn't let him test ride it without having the money in hand first, right?

Any other suggestions or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[DucinKtown]

where do you live and why you selling the bike?

Russ

[El Matador]

I'm selling my pearl white Ducati Monster 696. It's got 350 miles and is in absolutely pristine condition. It's esentially brand new, right off the showroom floor.  How much should I ask for it?

1) How do you go about selling a motorcycle? I'll probably end up putting it on Craig's List.
2) Should I list it on e-bay, too?
3) Do I insist on cash, and/or certified funds only?
4) How do I ensure against fraudulent certified funds? What if the guy's cashier's check is a fake?
5) Should I ask for a copy of his driver's license?
6) I shouldn't let him test ride it without having the money in hand first, right?

Any other suggestions or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Sell it to someone in the DMF. You ensure that whoever gets it will be a great guy  

1) How do you go about selling a motorcycle? I'll probably end up putting it on Craig's List.

Yes

2) Should I list it on e-bay, too?

Yes, and list it here as well.

3) Do I insist on cash, and/or certified funds only?

You can, but it depends on whether you think the person is trustworthy or not. I just sold my 996 and all I got for it was a personal check and a handshake. I also sold to someone in the DMF, and ended up making a pretty good friend.

4) How do I ensure against fraudulent certified funds? What if the guy's cashier's check is a fake?

You can make the guy go with you to the bank while you deposit the cashier's check.

5) Should I ask for a copy of his driver's license?

Sure why not?

6) I shouldn't let him test ride it without having the money in hand first, right?

It all depends on whether or not you trust the guy, but usually the policy is no cash = no ride.

[ScottRNelson]

For some reason I seem to buy more bikes than I sell. 

What I've done for several purchases is to handle the transfer of money and the paperwork at my bank.  I withdraw the cash in the presence of the seller and either give them the cash in an envelope or give them a cashier's check from the bank, which is obviously good.  For bikes selling for $2000 or less I'll usually just use cash.  If it's over $5000 I prefer a cashier's check.

It depends on the potential buyer as well as the bike as to whether or not they get a test ride.  For any bike able to carry a passenger, I would offer to take them for a ride with them on the back so that they can tell that it runs well and doesn't have any handling issues.  Since I usually go look at bikes I might want to buy by riding there on one of my motorcycles, if there is a seller that absolutely refuses to let me test ride the bike, I would ask them to let me follow them and do a few things that will tell me about how the bike runs, like full throttle to redline in second gear and some strong braking.

I've only had one seller EVER refuse to let me test ride a bike, and that was my 888, which I bought anyway.  If I ever sell it someday, I won't be offering test rides on that either, to anybody.

As for checking the driver's license, that's a good idea if you're letting them ride the bike.  The easiest way for me to get a copy is to photograph it with my digital camera, plus a shot of the potential buyer and the vehicle that they came in/on.

Craig's list has always worked for me for both buying and selling.  Just be prepared to deal with a lot of flakes - like 50%.

Don't expect to get top dollar for your bike.  All of the taxes and other fees are meaningless to the buyer, plus the bike depreciates instantly the minute you ride off from the dealer.  Check KBB and NADA for suggested prices.

Good luck.

[El Matador]

I've only had one seller EVER refuse to let me test ride a bike, and that was my 888, which I bought anyway.  If I ever sell it someday, I won't be offering test rides on that either, to anybody.

If you ever even think about selling her, you're gonna contact me first 

I've been looking for one for so long...

[sroberts152]

I always take and accept cash and cashier's checks.  With cashier's checks, I only take them during banking hours so I can call the  bank listed on the check.

There is also this:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4777784_verify-funds-personal-check.html

[ScottRNelson]

If you ever even think about selling her, you're gonna contact me first

I've been looking for one for so long...

If the offer were large enough I would sell it.  I would probably be willing to trade straight across for a Hypermotard S with a Termignoni 2 into 1 pipe and a few other goodies. 

If you're truly looking for an 851 or 888, subscribe to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ducati-851-888

Most bikes that go up for sale are referenced there.  Several members keep a close watch on eBay and Craigslist and post every one for sale.  I check the ads and usually save photos of each one for reference.

As far as I can tell, there are less than a dozen 888's listed for sale each year and only one or two of those are the 1994 SPO Ltd.  We're all still waiting for the prices to go through the roof.

Here, drool over this:

[El Matador]

If the offer were large enough I would sell it.  I would probably be willing to trade straight across for a Hypermotard S with a Termignoni 2 into 1 pipe and a few other goodies. 

If you're truly looking for an 851 or 888, subscribe to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ducati-851-888

Most bikes that go up for sale are referenced there.  Several members keep a close watch on eBay and Craigslist and post every one for sale.  I check the ads and usually save photos of each one for reference.

As far as I can tell, there are less than a dozen 888's listed for sale each year and only one or two of those are the 1994 SPO Ltd.  We're all still waiting for the prices to go through the roof.

Here, drool over this:

I hate you  but thanks for the eye-candy anyways 

And thanks so much for the tip. I'll def check it out

[Goat_Herder]

Here, drool over this:

LOVE IT!  I have a Tamiya 888 model sitting in front of me, next to a 916, at my desk.  I stare at the pair everyday! 

[ScottRNelson]

Dear Rambler1982,

Please forgive me for hijacking your thread on how to sell a bike.

[corndog67]

I sell one or two bikes a year on Craigslist.  Lately a couple of more for some guys I used to work with.   I made 10% of the selling price on those.   When I list them, I listed them from the Mexican border, all the way up to Oregon, you have to change the titles slightly for each ad, and I reword the ad print a little bit, but sometimes someone still snivels and flags the ads.  Then I wait a couple of days, reword the title and the ad, and derby it.   Craigslist doesn't like you to put an ad in more than 1 area, but that is largely ignored. 

The last one I sold was a Honda Blackbird CBR1100XX.  I received a record (for me), 44 bogus emails about the bike.   I got some guy from England to send me a cashiers check from the Allied Ireland Bank, which apparently there is one, for about twice what I was asking, and I was supposed to ship the bike to England with his agent, who was going to contact me.  They actually did a pretty nice job on the cashiers check, my bank took one look and said it was bogus.   I kept getting emails about when the bike was going to ship, so I would link them to 2girlscup.com for more info (if you are squeamish or gross out easily, don't go there, don't say I didn't warn you), and after a while they never wrote back.   44 bogus emails.   I sold it to some kid from Cal Poly who had never ridden a bike before.  He asked me to give him a ride on it, hey no problem, I got to nearly redline in second before he started yelling to slow down.   His friend rode it home for him.  It's not up to me to decide to sell it to him or not, if they can go buy a brand new GSXR1000 from a dealer, they can buy whatever I'm selling.

Cash is king.   If you can get a cashiers check, that means you have a bank, and you can get cash, too.  When I make a bike or car deal, paperwork is in hand, or I don't do it.   I'm not going for the pay off the bank and they will mail it to me.  We will go to the bank to find out the answer. 

You are going to take a pretty heavy hit in the depreciation department when you sell that bike. 

Test rides.   I let a couple of guys test ride that Blackbird, but they rode up on Sportbikes and I watched them to make sure they weren't about to biff coming down the street.   I've been lucky about that so far, no mishaps, but it has happened to a couple friends, test riders dump the bike coming around the corner (no major crashes, just beginning riders tipping over), then not buying the bike.  To me, if you crash it, you own it, that should be hammered out before the test ride. 

Good luck.  I didn't notice, but are you a woman?   If you are, have some big guy friends hanging around when someone comes to look at the bike. 

I've never used Ebay, so I don't know how that works.   

[Rambler1982]

where do you live and why you selling the bike?

Russ

I live in Chicago, and I'm selling it because we just found out that my girlfriend is pregnant and she's making me. I figure one loss and one gain so it's a wash 

[herm]

I'm selling my pearl white Ducati Monster 696. It's got 350 miles and is in absolutely pristine condition. It's esentially brand new, right off the showroom floor.  How much should I ask for it?

1) How do you go about selling a motorcycle? I'll probably end up putting it on Craig's List. and the local paper if there is one
2) Should I list it on e-bay, too? only if you want them to take a chunk out of you
3) Do I insist on cash, and/or certified funds only? cash cash cash........let the buyer run to the bank
4) How do I ensure against fraudulent certified funds? What if the guy's cashier's check is a fake? see above
5) Should I ask for a copy of his driver's license? see below
6) I shouldn't let him test ride it without having the money in hand first, right? no test drive without cash in hand, and a signed bill of sale (is that really a test drive??)

Any other suggestions or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

as far as how much you ask for it......depends how bad you want to move it. regardless, you are going to take a hit, as others have said.