A good friend of mine recently sold some of his most precious items after deciding to move out of the country. Among the things he was selling, was a large collection of motorcycles and motorcycle memorabilia. He asked me if I knew where he could get the most cash for his collection of Harley Davidson’s, street bikes and vintage iron. Luckily, I had just gone through selling my own motorcycle a few months prior and had some solid answers for him! Here are the best ways to sell a motorcycle:
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- Local classified ads (Craigslist)
- Auction sites (eBay)
- Motorcycle specific classified pages (CycleTrader)
- Network of buyers via the web (Cash Cars Buyer)
As with most things in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to utilizing the different ways of selling a motorcycle. Some can offer the opportunity to get more cash but come with great hassle and some are very easy but may come at the expense of losing money! While there’s no obvious right or wrong answer – the effectiveness of each method depends on the condition and type of bike you’re selling.
We will dive into all the practical ways of selling a motorcycle, as well as discuss different types of motorcycles. Rest assured, if you’ve got a motorcycle and need to sell it – this article will help you find the best way to get fast cash for your bike.
Craigslist
Craigslist is an online classified website that has virtual locations all throughout the United States. It’s completely free, and allows anybody to easily post photos of something to sell along with all the relevant contact information. This is by far the largest classified service in the United States and one of the most common ways to purchase and sell motorcycles and cars. Due to its huge popularity, there are several pitfalls to selling a motorcycle on craigslist.
First off, you have to make sure that you are adequately pricing your bike and that you are not talked down by savvy negotiators. Much like automobiles, you can utilize a service like Kelley Blue Book to determine the value of your motorcycle. Once you have a good market value in mind, you may also want to check other listing types that are similar to your motorcycle on craigslist.
Once you have posted your motorcycle for sale, be aware that there will be callous individuals who try to scam you! They will promise to pay you 10 times the value of your motorcycle for shipment to other countries, or even offer to send you a check for later pick up. These are always a scam. You will also get text messages and emails at all hours of the night offering you a very small amount for your motorcycle. These people are just trying to pray on the vulnerable and desperate to get good quality items for cheap. Do not give into low ballers!
The biggest advantage of craigslist is that you can list your motorcycle to people who are actually looking to buy motorcycles! For many types of bikes, you can definitely get more cash for your bike but you’ll have to deal with the hassle of scammers and low ballers.
Ebay
eBay has several advantages, among which are that it puts your Motorcycle out on the market for the entire Internet to see and that is offers you solid seller protection. With the power of the world wide web, you may be able to sell your unique, rare, or vintage motorcycle for a lot more money on eBay then your word to a local buyer. Sometimes, a wider audience truly means everything.
Unfortunately, eBay does cost money to list. They will take a portion of your final sale and deduct it out of the money that you received for the purchase. Since eBay is a global website, you may have to deal with shipping your bike within the United States or even overseas! This can make sense if you have a unique bike and somebody is going to pay good money for it, but it may also not make sense if you could get just as much money selling it locally. This is entirely up to you and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
Lastly, eBay does not pay cash! You will use a third-party payment service like PayPal to receive payment and often this payment can come weeks or even months after the merchandise has left your possession. However, there are several safeguards in place to protect people who buy and sell on eBay so the transaction, while delayed, is safe
Cycle Trader
CycleTrader.com is run by the same folks that Auto Trader. This is a motorcycle focused marketplace that allows users to post ads within their local communities. Although similar in general focus to craigslist, people who sell on cycle trader generally have better conditioned motorcycles or are offering rare/high-end bikes.
There is a fee to post on cycle trader and you will have to consider that your audience may be quite limited due to local constraints. However, if you have a valuable or commonly purchased motorcycle then you may be able to get a good amount of money listing it on Cycle Trader. Overall a fine option, but be prepared to deal with the same kind of people you may deal with on Craigslist.
Motorcycle Buyer Networks
Networks exist online and allow people to connect with a group of buyers who are looking to purchase motorcycles for cash. Applications like Rumble are built to connect people to these groups of buyers who are looking to purchase and resell motorcycles. There are local, reputable companies who can provide a fast turnaround and allow you to get rid of your motorcycle quickly for the most amount of cash possible.
Types Of Motorcycles
There’s an incredible variety of motorcycles available on the market today! Motorcycles truly run the gamut from basic transportation all the way up to beefed up machines that can run across the desert or mountains at high speeds.
Here are basic categories:
- Street Bikes / Sport Bikes
- Dirt Bikes / Cross
- Cruisers / Choppers
- Enduro
- Touring / Touring Sport
- ATV
Let’s cover each of these categories briefly and the best methods to sell your unique type of motorcycle.
Street Bikes / Sport Bikes
Street or sport bikes are high-performance machines that are made solely for the purpose of owning the road. These types of motorcycles run the gamut from bargain performance all the way up to exotic, screaming European machines. Brands like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Aprilia and Ducati are common place in this sector of motorcycles. You will often see these types of motorcycles modified to run in road races throughout the United States.
These bikes can often be very expensive and very customized for their intended purpose. Depending on their age and level of customization as well as their brand, these may be a good candidate to sell on a platform like cycle trader or Ebay. Conversely, some of these bikes can be quite old and out of date as well so they may be a good candidate for other means of selling like a network of buyers. It just depends on condition, age and brand.
Dirt Bikes
The dirtbike is an off-roaders best friend! These motorcycles are made to get dirty and often come with aggressive suspension tuning, knobby tires and powerful engines to get through the nastiest off-road stuff. These are the type of motorcycles usually run in motocross events throughout the United States. They are capable of jumping long and large distances and running at high speeds over terribly rough terrain. Dirt bikes also have a sub genre known as crossover bikes. These bikes excel at on road performance as well as offer on road performance and have become a popular alternative to the pure dirt bike.
Among all the types of motorcycles dirt bikes can often be the cheapest due to the fact that they are often designed to not run on public roads. This is often the first entry point for people who are looking to purchase a motorcycle! Local ads like craigslist or a great place to try and sell motorcycles like this due to their low cost.
Choppers/ Cruisers
Perhaps the most famous of all motorcycles are cruisers or choppers. The most famous of these types of motorcycles is made by the American manufacturer Harley Davidson. These bikes are ostentatious, extremely loud and extremely fast. They are typically powered by V twin engines, which give them their characteristic rumble . They often have unique handlebar designs, paint jobs, wheel designs and every single bike is unique to the owner. They run the gamut from fairly basic all the way up to incredibly custom and unique. Other manufacturers in the space include Indian, Yamaha and Honda.
It is advisable to sell your Harley Davidson through a site like craigslist or eBay because buyers will often be looking very specifically for a very particular kind of model and you happen to have it you can make good money! This type of motorcycle is often very custom so you have to have a very wide audience to have the best luck at selling your vehicle.
Enduro
Enduro bikes are a very unique class a motorcycle that are designed to run across all types of terrain, including the street and the road. They have a unique upright riding position and often or accessorized with saddlebags, accessory fuel tanks or other unique go anywhere type goods. they are known for their ability to cover large distances comfortably and quickly. Manufactures such as BMW basically invented the space.
The same basic mentality for choppers and cruisers goes along with Enduro bikes because they are often customized and can be very expensive. Try and expand your audience for the best possible outcome.
Touring
Touring bikes are like the long distance Road cruisers of the American past. They are very large, very heavy and built to ride very long distance is very comfortably. One of the most famous brands within the space is Honda, which offers the famous ‘Gold Wing’ line of motorcycles. These bikes even have GPS systems and incredibly powerful stereos that can be heard over the rushing wind on the bike. They also often accommodate more than one rider easily. Truly a very unique type of motorcycle.
The touring motorcycle is another type of bike that is often highly customized and highly sought after by very specific types of buyers. The wider audience you have for your listing, the better chance you have to get the absolute most money for your ride! Listing locally or on a website like EBay may yield a greater reward.
ATV
The ATV is very similar to the dirtbike in that it is designed to go off-road extremely well. These types of bikes are always comprised of all four wheels on the ground versus two. Manufacturers have also began to modify the ATVs to include roll cages and passenger compartments as well! If you want to have a lot of fun off road, this is a good way to start it!
Much like the dirt bike, ATVs are among the cheapest types of motorcycles and are often not modified enough to warrant a wide audience type of site like eBay. They are often a hobby or toy vs. actual transportation. A local site like Craigslist or a network of self buyers would be a good place to get rid of an ATV quickly and for a fair price.
What About Cash Cars Buyer?
Cash Cars Buyer is a network of motorcycle buyers that is ready to offer you cash for your motorcycle today. These buyers are located all over the United States! Cash Cars Buyer will purchase your motorcycle whether it is running or not and offer you cash on the spot. The process is very easy and allows you to quickly get cash for your motorcycle and even have it removed free of charge. This is one of the easiest and most hassle freeways to get rid of your motorcycle!