Re: [RBW] “Best practices” for selling bicycles online without getting hoodwinked?

[D D]

Liz,  Check out BikeFlights.   https://www.bikeflights.com/ You drop the bike off at a reputable bike shop and inform the buyer.  You can of course instruct the bike shop not to send the bike until they get approval from you, once you have the funds.  The buyer benefits by being able to call a shop and see if the bike is really there.   Then have the buyer arrange shipping via BikeFlights from the shop. This leaves it up to the buyer to invest as much as they are comfortable with in insurance or to deal with the consequences if they don’t.  The local bike shop is acting like the broker here. They get the business of packing and hopefully you come back for more.  I’d also consider a phone call with the buyer if you have any doubts about their validity.  Good luck with the sale,  Dustin in VA On Nov 27, 2024, at 9:12 PM, meti...@gmail.com <metil...@gmail.com> wrote: THANK YOU, ERIC! And Plain City is close enough to meet half way for a ride together!  On Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at 9:06:40 PM UTC-5 Eric Daume wrote: My experience selling is that I (as the seller) choose the carrier and get a shipping cost. The buyer pays that along with the bike price before I send anything out. And use Paypal goods and services, not friends and family--buyers can retract F&F money after it's sent. Pirate Ship is my current go-to for the best shipping rates. Eric Plain City, OH who would be interested in that Clem if only it were a 59cm On Wed, Nov 27, 2024 at 9:03 PM meti...@gmail.com <meti...@gmail.com> wrote: I responded to a FB query for a blue, 52cm Clem Smith Jr. L  on the “Rivendell Bicycles BUY/SELL/TRADE” page. I have that very bike, and  now that I have a Platypus, I’m willing to sell my Clem.  The potential buyer and I have had a flurry of FB messenger exchanges about price, etc, today, and we’ve reached an agreeable price. Now comes the tricky part (for me):  My bike shop will disassemble the bike and box it. I know what they’ll charge for that.  But I don’t know the best way to have it shipped or how to figure the price for shipping…and if the buyer’s gonna pay the shipping, how does that work? Does he choose the carrier or do I? I’m cautious about all of this…I don’t know how the buyer and I can trust one another…there have been some ever-so-slight oddities in our message exchanges that make me a tad uneasy. I don’t care at all about the oddities IF the buyer pays the bill before I send him the bike—is that the customary order to these transactions? I’m pretty comfortable selling what I think are higher-ticket items when the transaction occurs face to face, but I’m not at all sure of the process online when it also includes third parties like shipping companies. So, I’m asking for direction from  this group, please (and the man I’m dealing with doesn’t seem to be a member here).  Liz in Cincinnati  (And if this deal falls through let it be known that, I’m open to selling my pretty Clem)  -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a44ccd55-d58a-4fe1-a693-20269bc6900en%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/53357b47-f311-46bb-9391-1b0599d3b260n%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/D4481425-C510-40A6-AD7A-6C6CAC4134AF%40gmail.com.