How can I sell my bike?

Some really good advice in there, couple of things:

- Paper £20s are no longer legal tender (but as with paper £50s can be changed at a bank or Post Office.

- Beware the test ride scam if bike being handed over in person, where 'purchaser' takes it for a spin and leaves say rucksack as collateral "with my laptop inside" ... which you discover an hour or so later when you realise he isn't coming back is actually a book, catalogue or magazine etc.

Good point on the test ride, personally I don't offer them when selling.

I once sold a car for around £2k, the future owner turned up in his Porsche GT3 (c. £90k back then) and gave me the keys to that whilst he test drove mine. And was gone over an hour so I thought I'd best see if the keys actually worked with the Porsche - which they did. Soo tempting to take it for a blat.

One of my recent bike sales I did allow a test ride, future owner left his 8yo daughter as collateral! It kind of reminded me of the infamous Sean Kelly bike/car/wife conversation. Admittedly only went once round the block but even so...

Careful too about the person who turns up with partner or mate and says, "I'll just take it for quick spin, so-and-so will stay here with you," know of one (mate's) sale and heard of others where the rider doesn't come back, so-and-so says "I wonder where they've got to, I'll just go and look round the corner..." never to be seen again.

Also a good tip if taking cash is to have them count it for you whilst you hold the bike. And if you're like me ask them to be quiet whilst you count, it's easy to get distracted. Definitely count twice and don't trust. I don't consider myself to be a particularly good judge of character or body language but I guess I'm experienced enough to spot a scammer, it's a question of listening to your gut sometimes. 

What I have found recently with eBay sales is a lot of people waiting a couple of days before paying, much like my earlier post I think this is cashflow-related. 

My next door neighbour had his Golf R32 stolen in exactly the scam you mention, it was later used in an armed robbery and burnt out. Fortunately insurace paid out

Simon_MacMichael wrote:

Some really good advice in there, couple of things:

- Paper £20s are no longer legal tender (but as with paper £50s can be changed at a bank or Post Office.

Almost correct, can be paid into a bank or changed at the Post Office. 
 

OnYerBike wrote:

If you have the original purchase docs, that should be ample to satisfy any potential buyer of the authenticity of the bike. 

If you haven't got the documentation, I always insist on (and do the same myself when selling) collecting from the seller's house (amazing how many sellers back out when you say you won't meet them down the bus station), seeing photo ID with address and paying by bank transfer. It's a bold thief who'd be prepared to provide all that evidence, if you offer that to the buyer it should satisfy them.

I generally buy and sell about one bike a year, I've found Gumtree the easiest way to sell and the most profitable as eBay do take a hefty chunk in fees, though I realise it's probably a lot easier when one's London based with such a large market.

If you sell and request payment by bank transfer, make sure that YOU check that the money is actually in your account on YOUR smartphone before handing over the goods.  Don't trust any 'screenshots' or apps purportedly showing payment to your account by the buyer who's on your doorstep as there's a chance you'll be shafted.  

For those transactions, cash is king (but check the bills).

We did used to have a For Sale section on the Forum, but we discontinued it because it turned out a lot of readers who used it to try and sell bikes etc were being targeted by scammers, eg phishing (asking for bank details etc) and for the volume of items being put up for sale vs the headache this caused for all concerned, we decided the best thing to do was discontinue that part of the site.

Sounds sensible in view of the hassle you'd get for no return. Would there be potential for an "I'm selling" thread/section where nobody puts up contact details, just a link to where it's available on eBay, Gumtree etc?

LFGSS (London Fixed Gear & Single Speed) is very good, but you'll be expected to set up a profile and contribute to other forums before selling stuff at friendly rates, not maxing out your profit. They're not only about fixies despite the title.
BikeRadar has a cycle sales forum, that used to be very lively.
Finally, CTC has a good forum focusing more on the touring and practical side of cycling (so probably not ideal for your Synapse).
Ebay will take over 12 1/2 percent, so be aware of that, and for shipping a bike you'll probably need to use ParcelForce Oversized, which will cost around £35 or more.