Trade-in vs private sale

I wouldn't get in the bad books of low balers either... If your confident in the condition and price of your bike, I've messeaged many low ballers saying I have people coming to see the bike on such and such day, with such and offer politely (and I actually do), they often come back to me saying they'll give what I've asked, even got more from one guy once

I just don't take offers till they see the bike...I tell them they may not even want to pay me when they actually see it. Most low ballers wont even show up. THey'll offer you a stupid number and when you accept they'll show up and offer even less. Just stick to your guns with "I'm willing to work on the price but not until you see it." That gets rid of half of your problems.

Ill try this advice. Tnx

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800over said:

I just don't take offers till they see the bike...I tell them they may not even want to pay me when they actually see it. Most low ballers wont even show up. THey'll offer you a stupid number and when you accept they'll show up and offer even less. Just stick to your guns with "I'm willing to work on the price but not until you see it." That gets rid of half of your problems.

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I very much agree with this. If they are serious about buying the bike, they will be serious about actually taking the time to first take a look at the bike and then actually make an offer should it be lower then the advertised price...

If you are willing to deal with the hassle of selling your bike to a private party, its going to be the best way to go because you can get the most money out of it.

Keep in mind that you'll need to spend a lot of time and energy with dealing with the private sale which is why many just opt to go with the dealer.

If you have a good relationship with the dealer, you'll be able to get a-little more money for your trade but it isn't a huge difference.

Ultimately, you loose either-way on changing your bike so you have to decide how much of a loss are you willing to accept and how much time you're willing to spend on the entire process.

Remember your dealer, like you values their time and wants to make profit off the bike, otherwise they will not be able to pay their bills so be reasonable.

Do your homework, find out how much your bike is worth and hopefully, you'll be able to find the best solution that works for you.

Personally I'd take the hit on the money to save the hassle and trade in every time. I've bought all my bikes from dealerships, some new, some used, but I generally keep my bikes for 8+yrs and put a lot of kms on them so the dealerships don't want to take them on trade. I got lucky when it was time to get rid of my Virago 1100 as my Wife wanted it and later she sold it to my Dad. He finally traded it in at 19yrs old with 99,000km on it for $1,300 worth of accessories on his new bike! I had to sell my Bandit 600 recently and it was a hassle. I'm guessing in another 8-10yrs when it's time to sell my ST1300 I'll have the same problem. Although I expect I'll get very little for it then as it'll be 20ish years old and have well over 100k on it.

Re No-shows.

One has to realize the dealer with the traffic they get still doesn't sell every bike in a day or two so don't think you'll get top dollar in a day or two.

People are ignorant and do no-shows. If you have the time and storage space let the buyer know when you'll be home and they adjust their schedule, not the other way around. "I'm doing yard work tomorrow between 7:00 and 8:30 so drop by then. Tomorrow, not today or the day after." If they are genuinely interested they'll make it work.

I have only traded in 1 bike before when I bought my current ride new 3 years ago. They gave me much more then I thought and was worth it to me to avoid all the hassle of selling a bike privately as I would not let anyone test ride and the back and forth to the dealership for safety was an hour each way so I opted for the trade in. When I saw how much they had the bike listed for after I traded it in they only sold it for $2k more. The headaches saved trying to find a buyer before buying the new bike was worth the $2k to me.

Traditionally though you are making more with a private sale. Though if you are trading in for a new bike the dealer might be willing to offer you more for the old one to get you onto the new.

don't forget tax savings...you only pay tax on the difference