Credit crunch motorcycling and how you can make money!
Ok so Ive been thinking a lot about how the credit crunch will be affecting the bike market, and whilst I think that the number of riders on the road will stay similar this year to last year, because whilst some of you will sell your bike as its a pure luxury, so some will start to use it more often as its cheaper than the car to commute in.
So I thought Id just give you a few pointers about how I reckon you can ride a bike all season for next to nothing. You need to make some effort to make this work for you, but Ive done it loads of times over the years and its always worked for me. In fact, you should even make a few quid if you do this right!
So the trick is here that you are going to have to change your bike 2-3 times over the year so as to keep in the black on the bike costs. Im going to show you how to make money from buying and selling bikes, in order to fund your other riding costs.
Here's what you need to do then to ride a motorcycle for next to nothing for a whole bike season;
1. You need to start off with a bike that is popular first of all, but also readily available. Say a Honda CBR600 or Suzuki GSXR 600. You dont want anything too big on cc or anything too new because that will put some buyers off when you come to sell. Also your bike insurance will be a lot cheaper on a 600 than a 1000. There is a reason 600's are popular!
2. Jump onto Ebay or Bike Trader and do some searches, you will find hundreds of the sort of bikes Im talking about for sale. You are looking for an excellent example, with low mileage and history, something that others will also want too. You dont want to spend more than 3k, as remember, the trick to selling in future is about how much you paid for the bike.
3. Dont be precious on colour, just dont buy a nasty colour that nobody will buy such as yellow for example.
4. When on Bike Trader sort your results by price. There will be one or two bikes that jump out at you at being a lower price than others of their age and spec. These are your targets!
5. You want to get in touch with these sellers and tell them your position, which is this - You're a cash buyer thats seen another bike that you really like but the seller is away for a few days and you really dont want to wait if you dont have to. You've seen their bike advertised and whilst its more expensive, your hoping that there might be some movement on price as you are in such a great position to buy. If their bike is at around £3000 for example and others are £3300 then you are looking to buy for another £300 off, so a saving of £600 on the other bikes that were in your results.
6. There will be sellers that will agree the above, there always are. I once did a feature for a bike magazine and I started off with £1000 and traded my way over 8 months to £4000. Its not difficult, its just a case of asking the right questions.
7. If you use Ebay then, once you've identified your 2-3 target bikes by sorting on price then DO NOT start bidding until there is a maximum of 2 minutes left, ideally less. There are people on Ebay who dont start bidding until under 30 seconds are left. If you bid earlier then all that will happen is the price will go up and you dont want that!
8. Ok so lets assume you've agreed a price on either Bike Trader or Ebay. Dont worry about travelling long distance to pick it up. You've already established by asking all the questions that you need to that the bike is an honest and well kept example. On that note, DO NOT buy a bike that needs tyres as this will erode any chance you have of making a profit. The same goes with servicing too. You are only going to buy bikes that can be ridden at zero cost to you. Make sure you HPI the bike beforehand as this will tell you if its got any finance owing or has been written off etc. I was once too tight to spend thirty quid and ended up losing £2000. Dont make the same mistake!
9. I should have mentioned this before - before you bid on any bike use The Bike Insurer to compare your bike insurance prices just to make sure the insurance is not too expensive. The average rider is about 33 and rides a bike worth £2700, his insurance costs around £200. If you are a convicted drink driver or have made previous claims on bike insurance in the last few years then you need to check your insurance as it might be too prohibitive for you.
10. Ok so you've picked the bike up and if you have followed my rules then you should be able to ride it for 3-4 months at zero cost eg no tyres, servicing or chain and sprockets. Its just the cost of the bike and the bike insurance you've paid for. Now comes the fun part.
11. Selling your bike. Do this on Ebay as its going to get more interest than anywhere else. Follow these golden rules and you will be fine. Take at least 8 pics of the bike in the sunshine, with the bike looking its best after you've washed and polished it. Ebay allow upto 12 pics free of charge. Prepare your description and focus on all of the positives of the bike - fantastic condition, low mileage, always washed and polished, never ridden in the rain, sensible mature rider, all of the things you want to see when you buy a bike. Writing the ad is the most important thing here. Your bike needs to stand out more than the others. Remember, you are looking for a profit here, and thats why your ad needs to be better than everyone elses.
12. Set a low starting price - You've heard the saying 'the lower the price, the bigger the market' and its true, set a starting price of £500 and you will see bidders start earlier and get a lot more interest than if you start the bidding a lot higher.
13. Make sure you place a reserve price on the bike. Ideally if you bought it right then you can sell it for £2-300 profit without it being more expensive than any other example. So add a reserve on of £300 more than you paid.
14. Advertise it on a 3 day sale - this is for 3 reasons. Firstly, if there is 7 days left, nobody will start bidding until closer to the time, secondly, people tend to look for bikes as they want one NOW and dont want to wait, and thirdly its much more fun because YOU are going to manipulate the sale price of the bike.
15. You need one or two friends to give you their log in details to Ebay. What you are going to do is start the bidding off and increase the bidding to show there is interest in the bike. People always want what they cant have and if there is a bike attracting interest then it will be more popular than a bike with no bids. It wont work if your friends do the bidding as you cant rely on them to be there when the crunch time comes in the last 5 mins of the sale. This is naughty but its common practice and Ebay do nothing to stop this. You are merely taking advantage of a loophole!
16. Start your sale at around 8pm and ideally end it on a Monday start it at 8pm Friday. 8pm is the busiest time of day for web traffic and the buyers will have had over the weekend to see your bike listing and will be bidding on it over the weekend ideally. There is no point starting your sale during the day as there are less viewers because many employers stop access to Ebay for their staff and therefore they will miss the crucial end time.
17. Only accept someone offering to buy it now if it fits in with your price/profit margin!
18. Once your winning bid has paid, and only once its cleared in your account do you let the bike go or even let someone test ride it. Ideally, dont even give them your address until the funds have cleared. I try and stay clear of Paypal and ask buyers to pay me by bank transfer directly. Firstly you get your money quicker and secondly dont have to pay commission to Paypal.
19. The handover will be quick and easy as you have the money already. The bike will be as you described it so no need to worry.
20. You are now ready to repeat the whole process!
Article by Dan
