Sell Your Barn, Garage Or Shed Find Bike
If you’re looking to sell your old motorbike or moped, there are a few obvious options open to you.
‘Barn Find Bikes’ is a term we use to define any neglected moped or motorcycle. Being considerably smaller than cars, bikes often get tucked away in a garage or shed and can survive particularly well. They do appear in old barns, too, obviously.
Bikes are often bought on a whim and people hoard them rather than sell them, once their short-lived motorcycling phase has passed. We’ve bought bikes in the past that are over 40-years old and had less than 15 miles on the clock! Okay, they’re the exception, but it happens. We can only assume that the original owners were planning to give it another go one day!
It may be that you want to sell your old motorbike, or one what you’ve inherited, and don’t know where to start. However, a barn find bike may be harder to sell than a modern roadworthy bike, as the market for it is a bit more niche. Here are a few options….
Sell Your Bike To Barn Find Bikes
Yes, we do buy old motorbikes and mopeds. We’re not going to lie; we’re not huge buyers (we usually have 20-30 bikes in stock here), but it doesn’t harm to contact us via our online form with a few details. We’re based in Suffolk, but can travel further afield for exceptional lots, such as larger collections of mopeds and bikes.
If you do use our contact form, please include as much info as possible, as well as an idea of price. It saves a lot of to-and-froing. Our main area of interest is pre-1990’s mopeds and smaller bikes, but we’ll consider anything if the price is right.
Sell Your Bike To A Local Dealer
Most towns have at least one ‘old bike dealer’. You know the sort – they leave posters on lampposts and roundabouts, with a mobile number on. You used to find them in Yellow Pages, but nowadays it’s probably best to do a quick Google search.
We deal with one such dealer in Suffolk, so could put you in contact with him if your bike is not something we’re interested in.
Facebook Marketplace
In theory, Facebook Marketplace is a great place to sell stuff locally and, as not every car will be big enough to fit a bike in, you might well be looking to sell locally to someone with a van.
We say ‘in theory’ because, and this is just our opinion, it can be a bit of a Wild West scenario out there. The marketplace seems to be virtually unregulated and you’re dealing with plenty of wannabe Arthur Daleys, whom you’ll probably have to give your home address to at some point, unless you meet in a darkened lay-by in the middle of nowhere….
If you’re a confident seller and don’t mind dealing with people face-to-face, who will then try to knock you down on price after you’ve already done a deal and given your personal details over, Facebook Marketplace is great. After all, it’s ‘free’.
Ebay
Unless you live under a rock, you know eBay and its pro’s and con’s. Not everyone, though, is used to dealing with items that aren’t posted, and this is where things can get a bit more interesting.
The good thing about eBay is that it does offer some protection for buyers and sellers. Although it’s not always simple to make a claim when things do go wrong, the mechanism is there. Speak to any bike or car seller on eBay and they will tell you about the ‘idiots’ they deal with. Usually, this is in the form of people who bid and don’t pay, but does also include the people who ‘win’ an item and then try to haggle on your driveway.
You can never totally eliminate the chances of this happening, but our advice would be to make your listing as detailed and clear as possible, so there can be no arguments. Upload as many photos as you’re allowed, be honest and don’t try to polish a turd, as the old saying goes. If the bike runs, take a video of it running and use that in the listing. If it dies after two minutes, say so. This is quite normal for bikes that have been standing and any decent restorer/collector won’t be put off.
The other downside to eBay, of course, are the fees. Check how much they’ll be before setting a price, if you’re going down the ‘Buy It Now’ route.
Other Options
Word of mouth, newsagent windows, car boot sales, mate down the pub….there are plenty of options out there. Hey, you could even decide to restore it yourself, sell it later and then find another project. That’s a slippery slope that many of us started on….
Good luck!
