If you’re ready to sell your motorcycle, Craigslist can be one of the quickest and easiest ways to complete the sale. It’s free, simple, and has millions of visitors daily, allowing your ad to reach a vast audience.
However, Craigslist is still far from perfect, as you need to deal with strangers, which means a high risk of running into scammers, and that’s where this guide comes in handy!
Today, I’ll walk you through some of the tried-and-true tips that will help you complete your motorcycle sale while ensuring your safety and getting a fair price for your bike. Let’s dive right in!
1. Inspect and Prepare the Motorcycle for Sale
Before setting up an ad for your motorcycle, always start with a quick checkup of its condition. While you might be tempted to sell your bike as quickly as possible, you still need it to stand out. Also, a few simple fixes can really impact your motorcycle’s price.
Of course, these checks should be nothing extensive, so you should focus on the parts that affect the bike’s core performance and aesthetics, such as the tires, paints, lights, wiring, brakes, oil, carburetors, battery, etc.
2. Gather All the Paperwork for Your Motorcycle
Having all the bike’s paperwork ready during the sale will massively speed up the whole process, so make sure that you prepare all the necessary documents before listing the bike.
These include the title (the pink slip) and the number plates (if they’re mandatory where you’re selling the bike).
You should also prepare a bill of sale, preferably already filled in, to finalize the process as soon as you receive your payment.
3. Research Your Motorcycle’s Market Value
Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes and research your motorcycle’s value on Craigslist and other websites.
This can give you a brief idea of your motorcycle’s market and what a fair price for it would be. It’ll also help you estimate its value based on its condition and history.
You can use this tip to control how quickly you want to get your bike sold (a slight discount can go a long way).
4. Write a Detailed Ad and Fill in as Much Details as Possible
Remember that honest buyers out there are also watching out for scammers. That’s why you need to establish trust in your ad by having as many details filled in as possible while listing the motorcycle.
These include everything from the bike’s make, model, and year to details about repairs, scratches, features, extras, overall condition, specs, customization, and more. It also helps to add a reason for the sale if you have one.
5. Take Clear Photos of Your Motorcycles from Every Angle
As the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”. That’s why you should always pair your detailed and clear description with several pictures to back up your claims.
Craigslist upped the limit of photos from 8 to 24 since 2021, so it’s always a good idea to upload as many as you can.
Clean your motorcycle, use a nice camera, and make sure that the images cover the motorcycle from every angle in addition to a few close-ups of the speedometer, handlebar, rims, wiring, etc.
6. Prepare a New Email and Phone Number for Negotiations
Another quick but optional tip is to get new contact information specifically for sales. This is ideal for keeping your contact information private and secure.
It also saves you the headache of inquiring buyers and prank callers after you’ve already sold your motorcycle. This way, you can easily advertise your contact information anywhere without worrying about having your real ones out there.
7. Validate Potential Buyers and Avoid Craigslist Scammers
Due to the free nature of the website, encountering scammers and frauds is almost inevitable on Craigslist.
Luckily, you can catch and avoid them easily, as they usually use the same tactics over and over.
The general rule here is to only deal with people who can physically show up and buy your motorcycle with either cash or a check that you directly receive from the bank.
Avoid using other payment methods like PayPal, mobile payments, etc, especially if you don’t know how to use them.
8. Pick a Suitable Place for Meeting Potential Buyers
Always ensure your safety while dealing with strangers. That’s why you should pick a public area with plenty of people around.
Don’t get into locations you don’t know, and it’s always better to have a friend go with you. Also, let your family members know that you’re going to complete a sale at that location.
9. Never Agree to a Hold-Up Period
It’s always good to be patient while selling on Craigslist. Yet, you should never agree to hold up the bike, even if you’ll be handed a cash deposit.
Simply state that in your ad and clearly specify that the motorcycle is going to whoever pays the price in full.
10. Offer a Test Ride
You might be skeptical about this one, but it’s common among Craigslist users to let others take the bike for a quick test before buying it.
That said, I encourage you to ask for guarantees to put your mind at ease. These include taking a photo of their driver’s license along with a cash deposit.
11. Create a Checklist of What You Should Do After the Sale
Prepare a checklist for what you need to do after selling the bike. This includes removing the ad from Craigslist to stop the callers and discontinuing the motorcycle insurance immediately after completing the sale.
12. Go with Your Guts
Lastly, never underestimate your gut feelings if something doesn’t feel right. For instance, avoid meeting potential buyers who seem unusual in the way they communicate, exceedingly pushy, or trying to complete the sale online. Simply put, if it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true.
Final Thoughts
This wraps it up for today’s guide that shows you how to sell your motorcycle on Craigslist.
By following these tips, you’ll increase the chance of a successful sale dramatically and avoid potential scams and troubles others might run into while selling their bikes!