Tips for selling a bike on ebay?

I've sold 4-5 bikes on ebay, and I'm more than happy to sort out the delivery of it. It's just a case of removing the wheels, seatpost, and if required the handlebars. 

I really don't know what the probelm is with this...

Put as much info in as possible; plenty of decent photos, a description of what type, even a link online to the correct model. Oh, and wash it - I've seen plenty on sale which look awful. 

Personally, I'm always put off bikes when the buyer wants cash on collection, especially in the current Covid situation; we shouldn't be driving across the country to collect a bike. That is what couriers are for.

Personally I would break it up and sell it separately (on a £1 weekend). I couldn't sell my Supersix Evo Hi Mod for £1500 on Ebay but broke it up and sold the parts (Ultegra 6870 Di2 / Hunt Aero wheels (alloy)) and frame for just under £2000 in total.  There is such a dearth of parts nationally that parts are going for high prices if in good condition.  Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I would not use PP for that amount of money. Strictly cash on collect only. 

IF you do it on Fleabay, state the above clearly. If someone pays PP, refund and clarify that you are only taking cash.

When they collect, have the bike in the hallway and conduct the sale at the front door - you don't want strangers scoping your back garden and seeing what's in your shed/garage.

Beware of scammers wanting to deal outside of eBay. Anything along the lines of "Just what I want, but I live overseas, can my mate collect it and give you a (fraudulent) cheque?"

Even with bank transfers, make sure the payment has fully cleared into your account, not just been credited as a nominal deposit, before sending goods or having them collected.

Having said that, I'm a bit wary of eBay at the moment, I've not been bitten myself, but my feeling is that at the first sniff of a buyer wanting their money back for any reason, up to and including that they just don't want to pay for it, eBay will credit them leaving you with a big hole where payment for the item used to be and a headache to get your stuff back. Plenty of horror stories from sellers on t'internet.

In my opinion the most crucial thing you can do when selling a bike is put the size of the frame in the title and description. So many good bikes/frames are missed opportunities because people don't bother listing this, or bury it somewhere in the description.

Make sure you list in cm and the generic size (so M or L or whatever).

I've sold three four five and bought two. 

What's always worked for me as a seller:

• Plenty of good photos. Make sure you state in the description that these are of the bike for sale and that they form part of the description.
• Keep a record of the serial number of the frame and any expensive parts
• Offer cash on collection. Never offer Paypal/collection (although I think eBay have improved that process recently) - reason being that you can't prove delivery/collection and open yourself up to Paypal chargebacks
• Use cycling language in the description - more likely to attract someone who knows what they're looking for, and more likely to attract a cyclist (and, as we know, all cyclists are awesome)
• Try to sell to someone who has asked you questions, rather than just bidding on the item, cuts down on NPBs/chancers/timewasters
• State your terms for collection - how soon you want it collected, COVID-secure stuff
• Offer local delivery at cost (e.g. 10p per mile) if you've got something you can transport the bike with. I've done that a lot as a buyer and seller of all sorts of stuff. Usually a 30-mile radius
• Prepare a bill of sale - sold as seen and as described, with a description of the item. I got the buyer to address, sign and date a copy of the listing for one bike I sold which went for over £1k
• Use your spidey-sense, if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. If doing delivery/meeting someone in a dingy car park, make sure there's someone with you
• Count the cash - and hand it to someone else
• If doing collection from home don't let them see your other bikes. Likewise, make sure they arrive alone and there isn't someone casing the joint. Probably won't happen with a Tricross but my next door neighbours got their bikes nicked after selling a 50-quid clunker.
• Likewise don't do the "I'm only selling this because I've got a Trek Madone Project One arriving" bragging
• Don't offer "Arrange your own courier" - that way lies hassle and leaves you open for claims of damage.

Ultimately, you'll get a feel for whether they're legit, and most people are. I've ended up having a cuppa and malt loaf with most people I've sold bikes to.

As Dapple says, definitely wait for a £1 listing weekend if you can. Will save you ££ on the likely sale price of a Tricross.

I'm not sure specifying collection-only will be that much of a negative, mainly due to how hard it is to get a bike currently.  I sold two bikes on eBay last year and was amazed at the level of interest.  One was in good condition and I sold it for just under what I paid for it a few years prior.  The other needed a lot of attention (which I was very clear about), but was snapped up on the same day that I put up the listing.

Always worth waiting to see if eBay do one of their '£1 maximum fee' weekends, and see if you can use their own payment service, rather than PayPal to save on fees.