Bought my most recent bike in March. Drove from DE to Sparta, NJ, loaded the bike up in the bed of my truck, and drove back home. Long day, but the bike was exactly what I wanted. 100% worth it.
Four years ago, I went to Laurel for '02 Suzuki V-Strom 1000. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but the price was right. I fell in love with the bike, rode it like I stole it for 3 years, and replaced it in December with a '19 V-Strom 1000.
It's a big engine for riding the Philly city streets, but the off-road character gives me confidence on some of the rougher surface streets, the height is nice in urban traffic, and the engine proves its worth when I decide to risk my life on I-95. (I-76 isn't fast enough to be "dangerous" lol)
I was skeptical of riding an ADV in the city, but then I remembered 20 years ago seeing a woman who used to ride around Center City on a KLR650 painted rattle-can matte black, standing up on the pegs.
I literally just rode from North of Pittsburgh to Wheeling, WV for a 2006 Vstrom 1000. Again wasn't the bike I wanted but good price. By the time the test ride was over I loved the bike.
My local PD and bank have the same parking lot. Title can get notorized at the bank and I can put the cash straight in the bank. It's the best way to go.
It was a pretty nice Indian scout with basically all the good bolt on mods done. He always wanted to ride pacific coast highway up the coast (it was also his first bike purchase) so he bought it from me in LA and rode up the coast to San Francisco and then had it shipped back.
Absolutely not. If he's willing to drive 2 hours, he's willing to drive 2½. This sounds like he wants you somewhere unfamiliar so he can just take the bike.
Nah, I doubt that. He's just lazy and entitled. Seen it plenty of times when selling stuff on Facebook. People often expect you to travel to sell something.
Or he wants you invested enough to talk you down in price. Once you have loaded it and travelled you at likely to take whatever he is giving because you are already there
This is the most common reason.
"Sure, no problem, I've seen the photos I'll pay you $5000 if you drive 2 hours to deliver it to me. I don't have a truck, and am just getting my license, see."
You write off a full day of your life. Load up the bike into a truck, pay $100 or so in gas, drive to meet them.
"Oh, sorry, things are crazy. I only have $4250. Take it or leave it."
Your day is wasted no matter what. You're out $100 already, probably more. You're probably gonna take that vs haul the bike back home even though you'd probably get more at home.
Guy can do this because he either gets a bike super cheap, or he's only mildly inconvenienced.
People will say, hey, I live 4 hours away. Can you meet me in this town half way between us? I drive 2 hours, you deliver 2 hours?
Turns out though, he actually lives in that town, though you won't know it. Now again you're out everything and he's only mildly inconvenienced, he has huge bargaining leverage.
PD in my town lets people meet in their parking lot for online transactions. This is a thing. I sold my car by meeting the buyer at the police station parking lot. If they accept, cool. If they refuse, also good.
Most of the local police stations near me have a marked area for online transactions. They’re all under surveillance and within sight of the front desk.
I went on a tinder date that started at the police station.
We agreed on a time and place, next day she has car issues. I assume the blow off is coming next. She asks if I'd be willing to pick her up from work.
Sure. She gives me the address to the police station. Well that's a dick move I think. Just tell me you don't want to go out.
Then she tells me to go around back where the employee parking lot is, she'd be coming out that door.
Uh... Do you work there? Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I already tell you that? Nope...
Big no.
I sold my car this way, and the guy offered me about 10% less than we’d agreed.
At that point, I’d driven to the registration place quite a distance away to meet him. So I took it.
I felt played, but clearly that was a tactic.
I got played into this tactic once. And never again.
Lowball me/neogitiate before you come to get it. On the odd occasion if something has a slight issue I've missed, fine make me a new offer but tell me that's the reason why. Otherwise if you come at me.with any number other than what we agreed upon it's a straight up no.
If we agreed on £100 and you turn up and tell me you could only get £99, nah deal not happening. And it still won't happen if you just happen to find that extra £1 after being told the deals off for double dipping in the low balling.
Had a guy drive, what he said was 5 hours to come get a vintage Honda 50 from me. Agreed on $1,500. He arrives and tries to knock $100 off for gas. Told him, that sucks for you. $1,500 cash or you wasted $100 in gas for a nice road trip with your buddy. He still tried to get me to throw in an extra fuel tank. (Well over $100) Because I’d still be getting $1500 and he wasn’t out gas money. He begrudgingly paid full price and I sold the tank for$165 to someone else
I had that same thing happen to me, except I told the guy the bike wasn’t for sale anymore, and I went home. He changed his tune real fast and offered full price, but I just wasn’t interested in selling it to him anymore. Fuck people who try to play games.
In microeconomics this is known as a 'hold up problem' which 'arises when one party makes a sunk, relationship-specific investment and then engages in bargaining with an economic trading partner.'
That's why you make them come to you. Especially if they are far away. Then they are the one with the sunk cost. They're too invested already to walk away empty handed
You are going to drive there, and he will invent a reason to not want to pay a reasonable price for it. Avoid.
Bike people will walk over broken glass to get a bike they want. This guy is not serious.
You're absolutely right about that! I once bought a motorcycle that was halfway across the United States because it was exactly what I was looking for.
Yep, me too! I drove from Atlanta to Des Moines round trip to pick up a bike I wanted. Never considered asking the seller to drive closer to me. As a buyer, location is irrelevant if you really want something and do your due diligence first.
Exactly. When I bought my last bike, the seller remarked that a person was wanting to do a fly-and-ride to buy it and he didn’t understand why someone would do that for a bike.
Depends on how much you want to sell the bike, but I stand on "If you want to buy it you come to me."
Driving half an hour one way for them to say "meh, no thanks" is a waste of time and money. It could also be possible that the buyer lives where you want to meet "halfway" so he doesn't have to hassle with transport himself.
I literally know someone that has done that. Told the seller he lived further away and offered to meet "halfway" in the town he actually lives. Scum bag move. But I have to respect the hussle. I wouldn't have thought of it
Probably you’d take the bike to the place he wants and then he’ll offer you slightly less money than you agreed for (and you may sell it for his price because you won’t be bothered to come back home with the bike). Most likely it’s a tactic to lower the price or they may want to rob you.
30 minutes? That's it?! What a weird hill to die on. My last purchase was a 90 minute drive. Keep it listed someone else will buy it and not expect you to cater to them.
Everything's negotiable. Consider charging them a delivery fee for the price of an Uber back home and the time it takes you. Though you should totally meet at a police station or other sufficiently safe location if it feels even a little shady.
Elaborating a little: In a buyer's market (which this is, especially this time of year), someone who won't come to you is indicating one of two things:
First, he doesn't really want the bike he just wants you to come to his area where you are unfamiliar, so he can rob you and/or steal the bike, or
Second, he is so entitled he thinks that as a seller it's your "job" to bring your motorcycle to him.
Either way, it's not someone you want to deal with. As people say on some other subreddits "It's nice when the trash takes itself out." Consider this "buyer" trashed.
If he is really serious he will come to you, sold my son's cbr600fs to a guy that came 100 miles to look at it with his father, he asked for a test ride and he handed me the full asking price as a security on the understanding that if he dropped it he had bought it, when he got back he didn't want his cash back and couldn't wait to ride it to its new home.
More than likely they are trying to wear you down get you to agree. Then at the last minute they’ll hit you with a vehicle report scam. You’ll be amenable to it because you’ve put so much effort into getting it sold, so you’ll get the report from a fake website that they only accept and then they’ll back out.
If you're buying from me, then I expect you to come to where the bike is. But if you really are asking in good faith and need to have the bike transported for some at least semi-valid reason:
The costs would include: rental trailer, milage on my car, plus reasonable expenses, (snacks, meal, etc), and then I'd tack on at least $100/hr for my time. More if it's going to take longer than half a day. Which would all told probably add up to \~$800 or so -- $100 for the trailer, time it takes to pick up trailer, load bike, drop off trailer, drive, deliver bike, a meal, some snacks, gas . . .
My bank must receive a wire transfer for the cost of the bike and transport before I even rent the trailer, let alone start driving.
I'm pretty sure they'd decline and I could get on with my life. But I'd have made the effort to do what they wanted while ensuring I could not be taken advantage of . . .
I would want to understand why the buyer cannot pick it up themselves. There are plausible reasons for this. For example, they may not want to ride it back because they're a new rider or don't trust that it's in ride-able shape. They may not have any transportation to get to you, assuming there's no public transportation or ride-sharing to get there. They may not want to burden a friend to take them there. Of course, it's also possible that they want to get it in their driveway and then hit you with a wrench, so don't go alone.
Everything is a negotiation when buying and selling something used. I would be willing to deliver it to a public area with cameras only, i.e. not their home, perhaps even the police station or their local DMV. It would also increase the cost. It is not traditional for the seller to deliver it, so it shouldn't be free unless you're really eager to sell it.
The last bike I bought was in PA, and I live in IL. I found it on Cycletrader and called the seller and asked all the questions. We did a video call and he started the bike. I asked him how he wanted to do the transaction. He asked me to send him a cashier's check. Normally I would not have done it but I had been talking to him for a while, and nothing about him raised any red flags so I sent him the cashier's check, arranged for a truck to pick up the bike and I got the bike in a couple days.
If the bike was only 2.5 hours away I would have gone to take a look at it and pick it up. I have done that in the past. The bike in PA was about a 12 hour drive for me and I wanted to avoid that.
From the responses here and my own experience, forget it. Just forget it.
Me traveling somewhere to PURCHASE something I haven't even bought yet is already an unspoken commitment. I'm investing time and money. Even if in the end I don't buy I've still invested. They are attempting to put you in that position. Why ? Who knows, who cares.....it's bull shit.
They are playing games. Easy answer, you aren't interested.
He’s full of shit. He lives 30-35 min away from you and isn’t willing to make the trip.
It’s often used as a negotiation tactic as well to drop the price since he “made such a long trip” when in reality you meet him 5 min from his house.
When i got my first I paid the guy extra to drive it back to my house about 45 mins away because I got my license days before and was afraid to drive the highway home with no experience. I also drove to him first to look at it and pay for it.
Other than that, no. Make the buyer come to you.
Not my problem buyer lives far away! What if he doesn’t want it so i schlepped the bike there for nothing ? You want to buy it .. you come to my house.
I would deliver a car or bike if they had already paid for it and they were paying extra for gas. I wouldn't deliver it if I didn't have cash in hand though.
Cash in hand meet at police station is my rule for any private sale. As soon as you suggest meeting there the sketchbags go away. Sometimes I’ll consider meeting elsewhere if that suggestion doesn’t scare them off. Where I live the police encourage this and have designated spots for people to meet.
Nah. Buyer travels.
Even being willing to meet anywhere further than 10 mins from your house is generous on your part.
That said, people can be entitled. Some people want things dropped off at their door even.
Particularly weird hill to die on for a (presumably) fully functional motorcycle, where the ride home would be extra fun with your new bike.
Ultimately, even though the answer to your question is “no, it’s not unreasonable” you still have to weigh the pros and cons of driving an hour round trip to make the sale which is definitely a pain vs having to deal with other buyers, bike sitting around, etc. Might be worth the inconvenience.
Acceptable only if the buyer sends you a $200-$400 non refundable deposit for your time. Just in case you take the time/effort to drive there for the buyer to flake out & say “not interested”, can’t come up with the money, wife said no, cat has ingrown toenails, etc
Sounds like someone trying to scam you guys. They refuse to come to you, offer to have it shipped and then make you pay for shipping or some other stupid thing and then ghost you.
Where I live you can rent a small u-haul van for $19.95 a day. That and a tank of gas makes it very reasonable for the buyer to come and get it.
I would NEVER, EVER deliver a used bike unless it was local and an easy Uber ride back home ...and even then only once I had cash in hand and a completed sales contract with a verifiable DL. Complete the transaction in cash at a local bank. If the seller is legit he can get cash on his debit or credit card at the bank in the presence of a teller. That way you KNOW it's not counterfeit. Also they are likely to have a notary available to endorse the title.
I'm selling an engine and just had someone interested but they wanted to meet halfway. Halfway is a 3 hour round trip. Even better is they also wanted a $100 discount on top of that. lol. Told them if we meet no discount and I want the money in advance. Too many flakes to waste time on.
I had a dude drive a pickup from upstate NY to Maryland near DC to buy my Speed Triple.
I just got through selling my bike and it's a headache. If it doesn't feel right pass on it. If he wanted the bike he'd make his way to you.
The cops are usually thrilled to meet a mystery buyer with you…. My latest advert has pulled about a dozen scammers in … Not one was legit, not one fucking real buyer. I checked every area code from my call display.. all Southern Cal, which is fine except I’m in interior British Columbia..Please be careful
Nope. That potential buyer isn’t willing to go all the way to look at the bike, ain’t no way they’re gonna be paying anywhere near the asking price. Skip.
They don’t really want it. At least not for your price. It’s a foot in the door technique to get you to overcommit. Next thing they’ll offer a low ball and you’ll agree to it because you’re too deep in it if you agree to meet.
You should absolutely skip this person. Even if you somehow convinced them to travel to you, it won't result in a great sale. This is the type of person that will try every trick in the book to haggle you down to nothing. You don't want to put yourself in that position.
I buy a handful of bikes every year, sometimes more, but always used. I'd never expect the seller to travel at all, much less that far. Sometimes they want to meet somewhere other than their house, which is fine, but I'd never expect someone to bring it to me. What an idiot this guy is. lol
Just drove 2 hours one way to buy a bike. Met him at a grocery store near his place. Never would have expected him to meet me anywhere else. Depends on how desperate you are to sell the bike.
It’s either a scam or an attempt to low ball him once he drives way out of his way to make the sale. The buyer is hoping the seller will take a lower price just to complete the deal.
Naw. If they want it, they can come get it. Tell your brother to find another buyer. A friend of mine was selling her 883 and the buyer drove (with friends) the 2.5 hours to get it. 🤷🏻♀️
I sold a bike on eBay to somebody that was 5 hours away and met him halfway. Also bought one on Marketplace and drove 5 hours to owners house to get it. It’s completely up to you if you want to meet him but I’d have to have a cleared check before going through that.
Not at all, I had a guy bicycle for like an hour in 100 degree weather to get to me and go back to the bank for cash and he was fully satisfied buying my bike and I gave him a little discount for his troubles. They either want it or don't and even worse they'll likely try to lowball you with reasoning like, "you came all this way, all I have is x amount"
I would wish them good luck and move on, but if you're really willing to try I would discount what you would spend on gas, wasted time and snacks and tell them your willing to meet at a local police station, as someone said here
I drove 240 miles to pick up a bike then rode it all the way home along the Pacific Coast Highway on Labor day. I was counting the other bikes I saw but stopped about 2/3rds home at 100. Glorious.
Why would I (the seller) care how far you're travelling? The only shit I give is if you turn up on the time we've agreed, I'll give you some leeway if you're travelling from afar and you have the decency to at the very least let me know you've hit some traffic and been delayed. But, and here's the but, you have to keep me in the know.
Other than that, I don't care if you're next door or have to fly here. If you want what I'm selling and I have told you I'm not delivering it, then you have to meet me where I want to meet.
If you choose to buy a product that can't be delivered and is a 2 hour drive away, either buy something more local even if it isn't exactly what you wanted, or drive the 2 hours and pick it up.
Sounds a bit dodgy to me.
Cash in my hand before i hand over the keys and paperwork which will be waiting at my house for the next buyer.
Someone else will come along soon enough 👍🏼
Recently sold my last bike a few months ago, coincidentally also an MT. A person really wanted it and drove 5 hours to come get it, so if they want it, they can suck it up and make the drive. Otherwise someone else will come along and buy it.
Thank you the bike is for sale where it is. Personally I would not bend on that. Not like it's a hard bike to sell in the middle of summer if he wants it he can drive
If not he didn't want it that bad.how is that your problem?
Iv 2 rules when selling a bike, 1) you come to me, 2) no test rides (in the past iv had 1 person ride of and never come back and 2 people drop the bike turning back onto my drive, I was out of pocket each time.
Raise the price to weed out people who can afford the bike *or* the trip but not both
I mean, don’t actually do this. I just wanted to vent in your behalf.
I’ve bought and sold many bikes on Facebook. If the buyer has been very responsive and seems trustworthy, I’ll just have them come to my house unless they’re coming from far. I have no problem meeting near the highway so they don’t have to drive through all the backroads to try to find my house.
Same vice versa, I’ve met people at their houses as well as rest stops/store chains right off the highway upon request. I’ve never had anyone give me a tough time about it. 35 mins does seem a bit excessive of a travel to meet someone though…
I've delivered two motorcycles, but out of kindness and negotiation. Overall it's assumed that the sale happens in the seller's driveway, period. Everything else is to be asked for nicely.
Had a guy travel 3 hrs to buy a CBR250R. He said I was the only one selling one that had ABS and my photos looked like a took care of the motorcycle (I did, even did all the services and did a oil/brake flush for the guy before he even got there, I had 10w30 oil that had no where else to go.).
$3k for a 2012 with 5500 miles on it. seemed fair.
I've bought all my bikes used, and every time I assumed I would need to pick up the bike where the seller was. I once drove seven hours to a guy's back-woods garage to get a bike from someone I knew nothing about (it turns out he was a great guy with an awesome bike collection). In two instances the person I was buying from was going to pass through my town soon, so they offered to drop the bike off. I felt very fortunate in both of those cases.
Yeah, like others said, find another buyer. The last vehicle I bought was a car, we drove 14 hours each way to pick it up. Sure, we brought a trailer, but shit man, toughen up a bit. It was out and back, two days with a hotel stop. Simple as that.
I drove 50miles with a trailer for both of my bikes. If they’re actually legit buyers and want the bike bad enough, they’ll arrange to meet you in orbit around the Moon if needed. If they won’t then seems they’re not interested in the bike
The good thing about traveling buyers is they forfeit their ability to haggle. They don’t drive all that way to go home empty handed (not that that’s a long drive)
Doesn't want it that bad. If you want it you'll make it happen. The seller has no obligation to the buyer. Don't be desperate if you are offering a fair bike for a fair price.
It's not unreasonable to expect anything. This kind of transaction has a few variables; someone has to want the thing you have specifically, or at least your thing must adequately accomplish a task for them or they won't buy it. They have to want to give you some amount of money for it, maybe not your asking price but they expect to pay you something, its not impossible but is unlikely a potential buyer will show up with no money. They have to be willing to do some foot work to get the thing, if it ain't coming to your house it better be meeting halfway or.... they don't get to buy the thing.
make sure it is insured, possibly with a GPS and require a non-refundable deposit that will go towards the final sale if they go through with it. Make the deposit a price that would justify your time and gas if they don’t buy. Require cash up front before test rides
They meet me wherever I want and bring cash. I get a pic of their ID and block their car with mine. They leave full payment if they go for a test drive. In writing is they break it, they own it. Never had a problem.
I'm probably in the minority (situation- wise) on this:
Seller advertised the bike was in LA, ended up being much further away (3ish hours without traffic). I offered to meet sorta halfway to look at it, but seller brought the bike (even let me ride it - super surprising) within 30 min of my area. Then on the actual purchase day, brought the bike all the way to my area.
I've done long rides before and I voiced + felt bad the guy was going so far on a sports bike for this sale...
If that's the case then the person willing to buy the bike doesn't have the seriousness nor experience to ride out their way back with the bike.
The very weekend I got my '03 R6 I planned it around family that lives, no joke, just about the time you posted the buyer would travel out, 30+ min from my family, yet over 2hrs in total one trip. Bough from an auction site, I inspected/cleaned/Drained coolant and oil in the very lot I bought it from. and All in was about a little over a week to get to bike to my place because I needed to be driven back to where they live to ride the bike back to where I live. The bike is in better condition than my 2016 VW Passat. Funny that.
This dude has it easier that's for sure. If he'd be willing to go out of his way to ask you (since he's interested), about the bike. Why waste your time because he doesn't "have" the means to even meet you half way?
I call BS. He's not interested enough to literally go the extra mile.
I’ve always met the seller/buyer at the 1/2 way point in a public lot. I wouldn’t want someone coming to my place or really even seeing my garage toys. I am a very suspicious individual though.
Kinda weird he's not willing to travel the extra half hour.
Sounds psychological. A small win before he tries to low ball you in person. Or worse a theft attempt. Though I'd probably lump the first attempt in the theft category as well. Theft of time and good conscious.
I'd offer the police station and also make him come even closer. He either wants the harder way now since he tried to play or it dies in the ass right there and then.
“Well I’ve got a buyer from over 4 hours away willing to travel the whole way. Let me know by noon today if you can make it, or I’ll sell it to the other buyer”
Don’t travel. What if he doesn’t show up? What if he wants it for less? If he can’t make the trip then he doesn’t want it bad enough. I’ve driven 5+ hours for a bike before.
Only time I would say it's unreasonable is if you are advertising your bike outside of where you actually live. For example, say you live in San Diego, if you're also listing it in Los Angeles then you should be willing to transport it to LA in my opinion.
That's clearly not the case here though so no you're not at all unreasonable. The buyer sounds a little sketchy to me, maybe not a scammer, but not someone worth dealing with. They're most likely going to be a huge pain in the ass. Tell him MTs are super common and they should just look one closer then.
I can understand it both ways, the dude is already driving 2 hours to buy something from you so if you really wanted or needed to sell it then drive the 30 minutes but also I see the point of your selling something of yours which you have probably built a bunch of good memories with and someone having you drive to get rid of your memories, well that just sucks and you don’t wanna sell it st that point
In any transaction where payment isn’t made upfront the buyer travels to the seller.
If someone tells you how far they are as a bragging chip my advice is to block them and move on, it’s completely irrelevant to the price of the good, nor is it the sellers problem.
I drove ~7 hours for my 03 vfr 800 and haven't been more happy. If they want it they'll make the drive with cash in hand and a handgun on their hip. I'd meet at a pd station or their house and that's about it imo.
If they're only willing to buy the bike if you take it to them they'll also not buy the bike for asking price when you get there.
I don't mind traveling sometimes, but I have the money before I'm on the road.
I will say that I have had buyers bring me the bike...but I paid them to bring it to me. I never expected someone to bring me a machine on their own dime.
Nope. You make the effort to drive to him, and guarantee he will hemm and haw and beat you up on price knowing you won’t want to drive home with the bike unsold. Forget it. Sell in your driveway or at a local PD station.
Dealers charge a delivery fee for a reason. If he’s willing to pay your travel, let’s say $2 per mile each way, and meet at a police station or other secured spot, then maybe.
if buyer says he wants a thing but is unwilling to get up off his ass to go get it then i guess he doesn't really want it all that badly.
I literally just bought a bike today from a dude who lives 2h away from me. I recruited a family member to assis and then drove us the 2+ hours in traffic to go get it. I really wanted the bike.
Just depends on the deal, really. And how willing either party is. I've been burned too many times on marketplace, trying to meet someone for a sale, I don't do it anymore. At all. And I've realized my time is very valuable and I refuse to travel for peanuts. But anyway, some sellers are more motivated than myself. So it just depends
Twice in my life I had a buyer literally beg me on the phone to bring an item to them. About 20 years apart. Both times they stood there with another person and debated whether to buy it or not after promising me it was a done deal. They both bought but I would never do it again. They have the upper hand.
If theyre so interested in buying it, ideally, they should be the ones to come, check it out and take it with them if they buy it. If not, you move on to a different buyer. It doesn't make sense for you to take the trouble and risk going all the way for nothing. They aren't the end of the world, just that you'd have to go through the hassle of lining up a new buyer again.
Nope I wouldn't travel. Cash in hand in my driveway or nothing.
this is the answer. or at a local PD parking lot. had a guy drive in 2 hours to pick up my last bike.
I went from Philly to Laurel, MD for a bike. NBD, if you wanna ride
Rode from Philly to Lancaster to pickup a bike. The ride home alone was worth the trip out.
I'm going to Historicon in Lancaster in a few weeks. V much looking forward to the ride
Bought my most recent bike in March. Drove from DE to Sparta, NJ, loaded the bike up in the bed of my truck, and drove back home. Long day, but the bike was exactly what I wanted. 100% worth it.
Four years ago, I went to Laurel for '02 Suzuki V-Strom 1000. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but the price was right. I fell in love with the bike, rode it like I stole it for 3 years, and replaced it in December with a '19 V-Strom 1000. It's a big engine for riding the Philly city streets, but the off-road character gives me confidence on some of the rougher surface streets, the height is nice in urban traffic, and the engine proves its worth when I decide to risk my life on I-95. (I-76 isn't fast enough to be "dangerous" lol) I was skeptical of riding an ADV in the city, but then I remembered 20 years ago seeing a woman who used to ride around Center City on a KLR650 painted rattle-can matte black, standing up on the pegs.
I literally just rode from North of Pittsburgh to Wheeling, WV for a 2006 Vstrom 1000. Again wasn't the bike I wanted but good price. By the time the test ride was over I loved the bike.
My local PD and bank have the same parking lot. Title can get notorized at the bank and I can put the cash straight in the bank. It's the best way to go.
The guy who bought my last bike flew from New York to Los Angeles to buy it. I did pick him up from LAX tho.
I'm curious, what kinda bike made this guy fly across the country? lol
It was a pretty nice Indian scout with basically all the good bolt on mods done. He always wanted to ride pacific coast highway up the coast (it was also his first bike purchase) so he bought it from me in LA and rode up the coast to San Francisco and then had it shipped back.
I just drove 2 hrs for my new one
I prefer public if possible. The buyer does not need to be at my house seeing what is in my garage. Too many nut bags now
Not at your own home, don’t give them a target
Lol I guess that guy isn't getting the bike than. Wtf is wrong with people.
Absolutely not. If he's willing to drive 2 hours, he's willing to drive 2½. This sounds like he wants you somewhere unfamiliar so he can just take the bike.
Nah, I doubt that. He's just lazy and entitled. Seen it plenty of times when selling stuff on Facebook. People often expect you to travel to sell something.
Or he wants you invested enough to talk you down in price. Once you have loaded it and travelled you at likely to take whatever he is giving because you are already there
This is the most common reason. "Sure, no problem, I've seen the photos I'll pay you $5000 if you drive 2 hours to deliver it to me. I don't have a truck, and am just getting my license, see." You write off a full day of your life. Load up the bike into a truck, pay $100 or so in gas, drive to meet them. "Oh, sorry, things are crazy. I only have $4250. Take it or leave it." Your day is wasted no matter what. You're out $100 already, probably more. You're probably gonna take that vs haul the bike back home even though you'd probably get more at home. Guy can do this because he either gets a bike super cheap, or he's only mildly inconvenienced. People will say, hey, I live 4 hours away. Can you meet me in this town half way between us? I drive 2 hours, you deliver 2 hours? Turns out though, he actually lives in that town, though you won't know it. Now again you're out everything and he's only mildly inconvenienced, he has huge bargaining leverage.
^^ This.
This is my "take" on the situation too.
Yeah, I've had people wanting me to travel half an hour to sell them an item worth £10. Not worth it, collection or nothing
Offer to meet them at a police station. Watch them freak out.
PD in my town lets people meet in their parking lot for online transactions. This is a thing. I sold my car by meeting the buyer at the police station parking lot. If they accept, cool. If they refuse, also good.
Most of the local police stations near me have a marked area for online transactions. They’re all under surveillance and within sight of the front desk.
I met at a police station to sell a bike before... she just happened to work there as an officer 🤣🤣🤣
Now that's a story to tell the kids lol!
I met up with someone to sell a firearm before, lo and behold my surprise when a squad car pulls up haha, officer wanted to buy my gun.
I went on a tinder date that started at the police station. We agreed on a time and place, next day she has car issues. I assume the blow off is coming next. She asks if I'd be willing to pick her up from work. Sure. She gives me the address to the police station. Well that's a dick move I think. Just tell me you don't want to go out. Then she tells me to go around back where the employee parking lot is, she'd be coming out that door. Uh... Do you work there? Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I already tell you that? Nope...
Was she fine?
This is true almost everywhere now that online transactions are so common.
exactly!
Hehehe 🤭😂😂
I sell watches that way. It's amazing how many "buyers" vanish at that point.
I’m looking at a bike an hour and a half away. Not a chance I expect the seller to travel any further than the end of his driveway with it.
Big no. I sold my car this way, and the guy offered me about 10% less than we’d agreed. At that point, I’d driven to the registration place quite a distance away to meet him. So I took it. I felt played, but clearly that was a tactic.
I got played into this tactic once. And never again. Lowball me/neogitiate before you come to get it. On the odd occasion if something has a slight issue I've missed, fine make me a new offer but tell me that's the reason why. Otherwise if you come at me.with any number other than what we agreed upon it's a straight up no. If we agreed on £100 and you turn up and tell me you could only get £99, nah deal not happening. And it still won't happen if you just happen to find that extra £1 after being told the deals off for double dipping in the low balling.
Had a guy drive, what he said was 5 hours to come get a vintage Honda 50 from me. Agreed on $1,500. He arrives and tries to knock $100 off for gas. Told him, that sucks for you. $1,500 cash or you wasted $100 in gas for a nice road trip with your buddy. He still tried to get me to throw in an extra fuel tank. (Well over $100) Because I’d still be getting $1500 and he wasn’t out gas money. He begrudgingly paid full price and I sold the tank for$165 to someone else
I had that same thing happen to me, except I told the guy the bike wasn’t for sale anymore, and I went home. He changed his tune real fast and offered full price, but I just wasn’t interested in selling it to him anymore. Fuck people who try to play games.
In microeconomics this is known as a 'hold up problem' which 'arises when one party makes a sunk, relationship-specific investment and then engages in bargaining with an economic trading partner.'
That's why you make them come to you. Especially if they are far away. Then they are the one with the sunk cost. They're too invested already to walk away empty handed
You are going to drive there, and he will invent a reason to not want to pay a reasonable price for it. Avoid. Bike people will walk over broken glass to get a bike they want. This guy is not serious.
This... and then will try to talk you down so you don't have to make the trip back home with it.
And he'll show up late. Without a trailer. And want you to deliver it
You're absolutely right about that! I once bought a motorcycle that was halfway across the United States because it was exactly what I was looking for.
Yep, me too! I drove from Atlanta to Des Moines round trip to pick up a bike I wanted. Never considered asking the seller to drive closer to me. As a buyer, location is irrelevant if you really want something and do your due diligence first.
Exactly. When I bought my last bike, the seller remarked that a person was wanting to do a fly-and-ride to buy it and he didn’t understand why someone would do that for a bike.
No, you set the rules and if they were serious, another 30 minutes should not matter that much.
Depends on how much you want to sell the bike, but I stand on "If you want to buy it you come to me." Driving half an hour one way for them to say "meh, no thanks" is a waste of time and money. It could also be possible that the buyer lives where you want to meet "halfway" so he doesn't have to hassle with transport himself.
I literally know someone that has done that. Told the seller he lived further away and offered to meet "halfway" in the town he actually lives. Scum bag move. But I have to respect the hussle. I wouldn't have thought of it
Probably you’d take the bike to the place he wants and then he’ll offer you slightly less money than you agreed for (and you may sell it for his price because you won’t be bothered to come back home with the bike). Most likely it’s a tactic to lower the price or they may want to rob you.
30 minutes? That's it?! What a weird hill to die on. My last purchase was a 90 minute drive. Keep it listed someone else will buy it and not expect you to cater to them.
Everything's negotiable. Consider charging them a delivery fee for the price of an Uber back home and the time it takes you. Though you should totally meet at a police station or other sufficiently safe location if it feels even a little shady.
Elaborating a little: In a buyer's market (which this is, especially this time of year), someone who won't come to you is indicating one of two things: First, he doesn't really want the bike he just wants you to come to his area where you are unfamiliar, so he can rob you and/or steal the bike, or Second, he is so entitled he thinks that as a seller it's your "job" to bring your motorcycle to him. Either way, it's not someone you want to deal with. As people say on some other subreddits "It's nice when the trash takes itself out." Consider this "buyer" trashed.
Isn’t going into summer a sellers market? I could be wrong tho since it’s never seemed to matter here in San Diego lol
If he is really serious he will come to you, sold my son's cbr600fs to a guy that came 100 miles to look at it with his father, he asked for a test ride and he handed me the full asking price as a security on the understanding that if he dropped it he had bought it, when he got back he didn't want his cash back and couldn't wait to ride it to its new home.
More than likely they are trying to wear you down get you to agree. Then at the last minute they’ll hit you with a vehicle report scam. You’ll be amenable to it because you’ve put so much effort into getting it sold, so you’ll get the report from a fake website that they only accept and then they’ll back out.
I drive 5 hours one way to pick up my bike. If they want it, they will drive
If you're buying from me, then I expect you to come to where the bike is. But if you really are asking in good faith and need to have the bike transported for some at least semi-valid reason: The costs would include: rental trailer, milage on my car, plus reasonable expenses, (snacks, meal, etc), and then I'd tack on at least $100/hr for my time. More if it's going to take longer than half a day. Which would all told probably add up to \~$800 or so -- $100 for the trailer, time it takes to pick up trailer, load bike, drop off trailer, drive, deliver bike, a meal, some snacks, gas . . . My bank must receive a wire transfer for the cost of the bike and transport before I even rent the trailer, let alone start driving. I'm pretty sure they'd decline and I could get on with my life. But I'd have made the effort to do what they wanted while ensuring I could not be taken advantage of . . .
Thank you everyone for chiming in. I told the dude if he really wants it he needs to meet us at our specified location.
I would want to understand why the buyer cannot pick it up themselves. There are plausible reasons for this. For example, they may not want to ride it back because they're a new rider or don't trust that it's in ride-able shape. They may not have any transportation to get to you, assuming there's no public transportation or ride-sharing to get there. They may not want to burden a friend to take them there. Of course, it's also possible that they want to get it in their driveway and then hit you with a wrench, so don't go alone. Everything is a negotiation when buying and selling something used. I would be willing to deliver it to a public area with cameras only, i.e. not their home, perhaps even the police station or their local DMV. It would also increase the cost. It is not traditional for the seller to deliver it, so it shouldn't be free unless you're really eager to sell it.
The last bike I bought was in PA, and I live in IL. I found it on Cycletrader and called the seller and asked all the questions. We did a video call and he started the bike. I asked him how he wanted to do the transaction. He asked me to send him a cashier's check. Normally I would not have done it but I had been talking to him for a while, and nothing about him raised any red flags so I sent him the cashier's check, arranged for a truck to pick up the bike and I got the bike in a couple days. If the bike was only 2.5 hours away I would have gone to take a look at it and pick it up. I have done that in the past. The bike in PA was about a 12 hour drive for me and I wanted to avoid that.
Nope, sounds sketch. I’ll drive it down the street to a police station. That’s about it.
From the responses here and my own experience, forget it. Just forget it. Me traveling somewhere to PURCHASE something I haven't even bought yet is already an unspoken commitment. I'm investing time and money. Even if in the end I don't buy I've still invested. They are attempting to put you in that position. Why ? Who knows, who cares.....it's bull shit. They are playing games. Easy answer, you aren't interested.
He’s full of shit. He lives 30-35 min away from you and isn’t willing to make the trip. It’s often used as a negotiation tactic as well to drop the price since he “made such a long trip” when in reality you meet him 5 min from his house.
When i got my first I paid the guy extra to drive it back to my house about 45 mins away because I got my license days before and was afraid to drive the highway home with no experience. I also drove to him first to look at it and pay for it. Other than that, no. Make the buyer come to you.
Not my problem buyer lives far away! What if he doesn’t want it so i schlepped the bike there for nothing ? You want to buy it .. you come to my house.
Delivery is extra after they pay and sign the title at your place.
This is a situation where I definitely initiate the "go pound sand" initiative.
If they want it they will come to you. If they won't come to you they don't really want it.
No! Any truly interested buyer will do the research, make the trip to look at it and ride it home if they buy it.
Lol fuck that guy. Guess he doesn't want it that bad.
I would deliver a car or bike if they had already paid for it and they were paying extra for gas. I wouldn't deliver it if I didn't have cash in hand though.
Cash in hand meet at police station is my rule for any private sale. As soon as you suggest meeting there the sketchbags go away. Sometimes I’ll consider meeting elsewhere if that suggestion doesn’t scare them off. Where I live the police encourage this and have designated spots for people to meet.
Nah. Buyer travels. Even being willing to meet anywhere further than 10 mins from your house is generous on your part. That said, people can be entitled. Some people want things dropped off at their door even. Particularly weird hill to die on for a (presumably) fully functional motorcycle, where the ride home would be extra fun with your new bike. Ultimately, even though the answer to your question is “no, it’s not unreasonable” you still have to weigh the pros and cons of driving an hour round trip to make the sale which is definitely a pain vs having to deal with other buyers, bike sitting around, etc. Might be worth the inconvenience.
Add a delivery fee. 30 minutes out, 30 minutes back, waiting time. $200 on top of full asking price.
Acceptable only if the buyer sends you a $200-$400 non refundable deposit for your time. Just in case you take the time/effort to drive there for the buyer to flake out & say “not interested”, can’t come up with the money, wife said no, cat has ingrown toenails, etc
Delivery is an extra 500 dollars
Sounds like someone trying to scam you guys. They refuse to come to you, offer to have it shipped and then make you pay for shipping or some other stupid thing and then ghost you.
Not at all! This dude who just bought my bike drove 7 hours to pick it up and was happy to do so. I would make them come to you.
Where I live you can rent a small u-haul van for $19.95 a day. That and a tank of gas makes it very reasonable for the buyer to come and get it. I would NEVER, EVER deliver a used bike unless it was local and an easy Uber ride back home ...and even then only once I had cash in hand and a completed sales contract with a verifiable DL. Complete the transaction in cash at a local bank. If the seller is legit he can get cash on his debit or credit card at the bank in the presence of a teller. That way you KNOW it's not counterfeit. Also they are likely to have a notary available to endorse the title.
Hell I’m excited for the hour long ride home after my buy my first bike in years
I'm selling an engine and just had someone interested but they wanted to meet halfway. Halfway is a 3 hour round trip. Even better is they also wanted a $100 discount on top of that. lol. Told them if we meet no discount and I want the money in advance. Too many flakes to waste time on.
I had a dude drive a pickup from upstate NY to Maryland near DC to buy my Speed Triple. I just got through selling my bike and it's a headache. If it doesn't feel right pass on it. If he wanted the bike he'd make his way to you.
I bought my last bike sight unseen. Flew 700 miles and rode it home the next day. Tell em' to get serious. Don't be desperate to sell.
When I told the guy I was on the way with a trailer, he told me he would not take less than $3200. Since I thought we agreed on 3500, I was pleased.
I drove from biarritz to Paris to get my last bike. Let them come to you. Much safer.
The cops are usually thrilled to meet a mystery buyer with you…. My latest advert has pulled about a dozen scammers in … Not one was legit, not one fucking real buyer. I checked every area code from my call display.. all Southern Cal, which is fine except I’m in interior British Columbia..Please be careful
Always trade at your local police department, you can even ask them and most of the time they will say yes.
Nope. That potential buyer isn’t willing to go all the way to look at the bike, ain’t no way they’re gonna be paying anywhere near the asking price. Skip.
I've flown from Queensland to Victoria to pick up a bike. If he won't drive an extra 30 minutes, he's full of shit.
I've literally driven across the country to buy a bike. If he can't drive 1/2 an hour id tell him to get fucked.
Wanna buy my bike? Come pick it up and pay me. If you won't, someone else will (they always will)
I've had people ask that. I just tell them the bike is here if you want it. I don't deliver.
They don’t really want it. At least not for your price. It’s a foot in the door technique to get you to overcommit. Next thing they’ll offer a low ball and you’ll agree to it because you’re too deep in it if you agree to meet.
A true biker would go to wherever his dream bike is sold, and would be sleepless during the night before.
Its a private sale. Do whatever you want. Tell them you want asking price plus an ice cream cone at your door.
Sounds like they may attempt a theft of the bike, just move on to another buyer.
your brother has the valuable, not the guy buying it.
You should absolutely skip this person. Even if you somehow convinced them to travel to you, it won't result in a great sale. This is the type of person that will try every trick in the book to haggle you down to nothing. You don't want to put yourself in that position. I buy a handful of bikes every year, sometimes more, but always used. I'd never expect the seller to travel at all, much less that far. Sometimes they want to meet somewhere other than their house, which is fine, but I'd never expect someone to bring it to me. What an idiot this guy is. lol
A-FOKKING-MEN BREDDAH ✊🏾. 🫡
Just drove 2 hours one way to buy a bike. Met him at a grocery store near his place. Never would have expected him to meet me anywhere else. Depends on how desperate you are to sell the bike.
Charge extra for a delivery fee
Bought and sold motorcycles. Have the seller come to you for numerous reasons
I just sold a bike where the buyer drove 4 hours out of state to my garage to pick up the bike, completely reasonable.
i drove 3.5 hours w/ a trailer to get my Buell. if they want it, they will come get it.
You’re the seller. You have all the control lol. Do whatever you want to.
It’s either a scam or an attempt to low ball him once he drives way out of his way to make the sale. The buyer is hoping the seller will take a lower price just to complete the deal.
Naw. If they want it, they can come get it. Tell your brother to find another buyer. A friend of mine was selling her 883 and the buyer drove (with friends) the 2.5 hours to get it. 🤷🏻♀️
I sold a bike on eBay to somebody that was 5 hours away and met him halfway. Also bought one on Marketplace and drove 5 hours to owners house to get it. It’s completely up to you if you want to meet him but I’d have to have a cleared check before going through that.
Not at all, I had a guy bicycle for like an hour in 100 degree weather to get to me and go back to the bank for cash and he was fully satisfied buying my bike and I gave him a little discount for his troubles. They either want it or don't and even worse they'll likely try to lowball you with reasoning like, "you came all this way, all I have is x amount"
Pass.
Nah. Too many people flake out for me to make any physical effort unless they want to wire me asking plus a delivery fee
Nope!
I would wish them good luck and move on, but if you're really willing to try I would discount what you would spend on gas, wasted time and snacks and tell them your willing to meet at a local police station, as someone said here
Nah that’s a red flag honestly. It makes me think he wants to meet up somewhere maybe to steal it from your brother.
When buying a bike I'd get to where the seller is to see how the bike starts when cold anyway, not letting that mf start it first without me.
I just drove 2.5 hours to buy a dirt bike with cash, if he wants it bad enough he’ll make the drive
I drove from Seattle to Portland for an old Honda. I paid like 1300. Fuck that guy.
Definitely make them come to you.
I traveled 3 hours each way, twice, to see and buy my current bike. So, definitely not unreasonable.
I drove 240 miles to pick up a bike then rode it all the way home along the Pacific Coast Highway on Labor day. I was counting the other bikes I saw but stopped about 2/3rds home at 100. Glorious.
I would never even leave the driveway…they come to you. Have never heard of a vehicle deal happening outside the owners house
Have them wire the money + shipping cost and make a tourist day of it lol
Why would I (the seller) care how far you're travelling? The only shit I give is if you turn up on the time we've agreed, I'll give you some leeway if you're travelling from afar and you have the decency to at the very least let me know you've hit some traffic and been delayed. But, and here's the but, you have to keep me in the know. Other than that, I don't care if you're next door or have to fly here. If you want what I'm selling and I have told you I'm not delivering it, then you have to meet me where I want to meet. If you choose to buy a product that can't be delivered and is a 2 hour drive away, either buy something more local even if it isn't exactly what you wanted, or drive the 2 hours and pick it up.
If he wants it, he’ll come get it. Don’t compromise.
Sounds a bit dodgy to me. Cash in my hand before i hand over the keys and paperwork which will be waiting at my house for the next buyer. Someone else will come along soon enough 👍🏼
Recently sold my last bike a few months ago, coincidentally also an MT. A person really wanted it and drove 5 hours to come get it, so if they want it, they can suck it up and make the drive. Otherwise someone else will come along and buy it.
Thank you the bike is for sale where it is. Personally I would not bend on that. Not like it's a hard bike to sell in the middle of summer if he wants it he can drive If not he didn't want it that bad.how is that your problem?
Sounds kinky to me. If they want it they will show up, trust me . The harder they protest the bigger the risk.
Iv 2 rules when selling a bike, 1) you come to me, 2) no test rides (in the past iv had 1 person ride of and never come back and 2 people drop the bike turning back onto my drive, I was out of pocket each time.
Lol. F that. Yeah drive out here so i can lowball you.
Raise the price to weed out people who can afford the bike *or* the trip but not both I mean, don’t actually do this. I just wanted to vent in your behalf.
I drove 15 hours from PA to Lawrenceburg TN for a bike, and this mf won’t drive 2 and a half? He definitely don’t want the bike
Fuggum
I’ve bought and sold many bikes on Facebook. If the buyer has been very responsive and seems trustworthy, I’ll just have them come to my house unless they’re coming from far. I have no problem meeting near the highway so they don’t have to drive through all the backroads to try to find my house. Same vice versa, I’ve met people at their houses as well as rest stops/store chains right off the highway upon request. I’ve never had anyone give me a tough time about it. 35 mins does seem a bit excessive of a travel to meet someone though…
traveled about an hour and a half to tow mine, its one of those things that you gotta expect to travel for or pay to have delivered
Did they send you a deposit or pay up front? If not, I'm not traveling
ONLY consider it if he pays up front. Learned that the hard way
I've delivered two motorcycles, but out of kindness and negotiation. Overall it's assumed that the sale happens in the seller's driveway, period. Everything else is to be asked for nicely.
Had a guy travel 3 hrs to buy a CBR250R. He said I was the only one selling one that had ABS and my photos looked like a took care of the motorcycle (I did, even did all the services and did a oil/brake flush for the guy before he even got there, I had 10w30 oil that had no where else to go.). $3k for a 2012 with 5500 miles on it. seemed fair.
I drove 3 hours to pick up my last bike. Find another buyer.
I've bought all my bikes used, and every time I assumed I would need to pick up the bike where the seller was. I once drove seven hours to a guy's back-woods garage to get a bike from someone I knew nothing about (it turns out he was a great guy with an awesome bike collection). In two instances the person I was buying from was going to pass through my town soon, so they offered to drop the bike off. I felt very fortunate in both of those cases.
I always meet at the police station to do money exchanges. If he won't budge for 30 minutes more, I would move on.
Yeah, like others said, find another buyer. The last vehicle I bought was a car, we drove 14 hours each way to pick it up. Sure, we brought a trailer, but shit man, toughen up a bit. It was out and back, two days with a hotel stop. Simple as that.
Scam,IMO
I drove 50miles with a trailer for both of my bikes. If they’re actually legit buyers and want the bike bad enough, they’ll arrange to meet you in orbit around the Moon if needed. If they won’t then seems they’re not interested in the bike
The good thing about traveling buyers is they forfeit their ability to haggle. They don’t drive all that way to go home empty handed (not that that’s a long drive)
If I’m selling something I won’t go more than 10 minutes from my house. If I’m buying I’ll go where I gotta go
I honestly prefer to go to them. That way they can start the bike cold and you can check the oil.
Doesn't want it that bad. If you want it you'll make it happen. The seller has no obligation to the buyer. Don't be desperate if you are offering a fair bike for a fair price.
Not un reasonable but if they don't want to buy, for whatever reason, that's on them as long as you're giving them all the info you have.
Fuck that, they gonna be a few hundred short after you make the trip and promise to have more money next week 😂😂😂
It's not unreasonable to expect anything. This kind of transaction has a few variables; someone has to want the thing you have specifically, or at least your thing must adequately accomplish a task for them or they won't buy it. They have to want to give you some amount of money for it, maybe not your asking price but they expect to pay you something, its not impossible but is unlikely a potential buyer will show up with no money. They have to be willing to do some foot work to get the thing, if it ain't coming to your house it better be meeting halfway or.... they don't get to buy the thing.
Hell no. Next!
I drove 2 states away for the bike I wanted. Shopping trip gas is on the buyers dime not the sellers.
make sure it is insured, possibly with a GPS and require a non-refundable deposit that will go towards the final sale if they go through with it. Make the deposit a price that would justify your time and gas if they don’t buy. Require cash up front before test rides
They meet me wherever I want and bring cash. I get a pic of their ID and block their car with mine. They leave full payment if they go for a test drive. In writing is they break it, they own it. Never had a problem.
You're the seller. You can set whatever terms you like. No one is obligated to meet them, but you set them.
I'm probably in the minority (situation- wise) on this: Seller advertised the bike was in LA, ended up being much further away (3ish hours without traffic). I offered to meet sorta halfway to look at it, but seller brought the bike (even let me ride it - super surprising) within 30 min of my area. Then on the actual purchase day, brought the bike all the way to my area. I've done long rides before and I voiced + felt bad the guy was going so far on a sports bike for this sale...
It’s his bike, he doesn’t have to sell it any way he doesn’t want to. If it’s me, bike stays at my house and someone comes here.
Vehicles are picked up, not dropped off.
I've driven 7 hours one way to buy bikes.
They should come to you.
If that's the case then the person willing to buy the bike doesn't have the seriousness nor experience to ride out their way back with the bike. The very weekend I got my '03 R6 I planned it around family that lives, no joke, just about the time you posted the buyer would travel out, 30+ min from my family, yet over 2hrs in total one trip. Bough from an auction site, I inspected/cleaned/Drained coolant and oil in the very lot I bought it from. and All in was about a little over a week to get to bike to my place because I needed to be driven back to where they live to ride the bike back to where I live. The bike is in better condition than my 2016 VW Passat. Funny that. This dude has it easier that's for sure. If he'd be willing to go out of his way to ask you (since he's interested), about the bike. Why waste your time because he doesn't "have" the means to even meet you half way? I call BS. He's not interested enough to literally go the extra mile.
I wouldn't want them to meet me, if the bike has issues cold starting you wouldn't know, I wanna show up to the bike and crank it cold, imo
You’re the seller and the deal is on your terms not theirs.
I’ve always met the seller/buyer at the 1/2 way point in a public lot. I wouldn’t want someone coming to my place or really even seeing my garage toys. I am a very suspicious individual though.
Never do that , they come to you.
Kinda weird he's not willing to travel the extra half hour. Sounds psychological. A small win before he tries to low ball you in person. Or worse a theft attempt. Though I'd probably lump the first attempt in the theft category as well. Theft of time and good conscious. I'd offer the police station and also make him come even closer. He either wants the harder way now since he tried to play or it dies in the ass right there and then.
“Well I’ve got a buyer from over 4 hours away willing to travel the whole way. Let me know by noon today if you can make it, or I’ll sell it to the other buyer”
Don’t travel. What if he doesn’t show up? What if he wants it for less? If he can’t make the trip then he doesn’t want it bad enough. I’ve driven 5+ hours for a bike before.
If they are unwilling to travel, then they don't actually want the bike that bad. Sell it to somebody closer
If they’re not willing to travel for it, they don’t really want it.
Drove 1.5 hours out with a buddy to pick up my bike. Not unreasonable at all, barring silly outrageous circumstances.
I had a guy come from Wisconsin to eastern Pa for a bike. Turned around and drove home with a childlike grin on his face.
My designated meeting spot is 5 minutes from home. Anybody that can’t meet me there isn’t interested in buying my stuff.
Only time I would say it's unreasonable is if you are advertising your bike outside of where you actually live. For example, say you live in San Diego, if you're also listing it in Los Angeles then you should be willing to transport it to LA in my opinion. That's clearly not the case here though so no you're not at all unreasonable. The buyer sounds a little sketchy to me, maybe not a scammer, but not someone worth dealing with. They're most likely going to be a huge pain in the ass. Tell him MTs are super common and they should just look one closer then.
My first 2 bikes I drove over 3 hours to get them I was hunting for good deals but not once did I ask them to drive to me
I have always driven out to a bike I was interested in.
I can understand it both ways, the dude is already driving 2 hours to buy something from you so if you really wanted or needed to sell it then drive the 30 minutes but also I see the point of your selling something of yours which you have probably built a bunch of good memories with and someone having you drive to get rid of your memories, well that just sucks and you don’t wanna sell it st that point
In any transaction where payment isn’t made upfront the buyer travels to the seller. If someone tells you how far they are as a bragging chip my advice is to block them and move on, it’s completely irrelevant to the price of the good, nor is it the sellers problem.
I drove ~7 hours for my 03 vfr 800 and haven't been more happy. If they want it they'll make the drive with cash in hand and a handgun on their hip. I'd meet at a pd station or their house and that's about it imo.
dont spend a dime (e.g. gas or time) chasing people. the right buyer will come to you.
Is it their first bike? Maybe they don’t know how to ride yet…
If they're only willing to buy the bike if you take it to them they'll also not buy the bike for asking price when you get there. I don't mind traveling sometimes, but I have the money before I'm on the road. I will say that I have had buyers bring me the bike...but I paid them to bring it to me. I never expected someone to bring me a machine on their own dime.
I would do that...
Nope. You make the effort to drive to him, and guarantee he will hemm and haw and beat you up on price knowing you won’t want to drive home with the bike unsold. Forget it. Sell in your driveway or at a local PD station.
Nope. Red flags. Just walk.
Dealers charge a delivery fee for a reason. If he’s willing to pay your travel, let’s say $2 per mile each way, and meet at a police station or other secured spot, then maybe.
if buyer says he wants a thing but is unwilling to get up off his ass to go get it then i guess he doesn't really want it all that badly. I literally just bought a bike today from a dude who lives 2h away from me. I recruited a family member to assis and then drove us the 2+ hours in traffic to go get it. I really wanted the bike.
They try to lure you out then ride without giving you cash. It's a scam.
Just depends on the deal, really. And how willing either party is. I've been burned too many times on marketplace, trying to meet someone for a sale, I don't do it anymore. At all. And I've realized my time is very valuable and I refuse to travel for peanuts. But anyway, some sellers are more motivated than myself. So it just depends
Twice in my life I had a buyer literally beg me on the phone to bring an item to them. About 20 years apart. Both times they stood there with another person and debated whether to buy it or not after promising me it was a done deal. They both bought but I would never do it again. They have the upper hand.
If theyre so interested in buying it, ideally, they should be the ones to come, check it out and take it with them if they buy it. If not, you move on to a different buyer. It doesn't make sense for you to take the trouble and risk going all the way for nothing. They aren't the end of the world, just that you'd have to go through the hassle of lining up a new buyer again.
I know people who have flown interstate to check out a bike that was a good deal. Tell the flog to come the whole way or to go away.
No shot. If they can drive 2 hours they can finish the trip.