Hello All,
Had my shed targeted last night after advertising my bike on Facebook market place. I was suspicious of the 'buyer' at the time. none of the conversation made any sense, and I actually gave him the wrong door number by a door anyway... but it seems they came over from that garden into mine.
My brand new chisel got lifted and also my road bike...funnily enough the hardtail I had listed was in the kitchen as I had ben waiting for someone to come round and look at it.
Be careful on Facebook market place.
Sorry to hear this! Are you insured?
I'm in various bike-related Facebook groups and have noticed there's been a rise in thefts via Marketplace recently, some similar to what you have described. Another common one seems to be people meeting up in a public place to avoid the sellers home and then the "buyer" asking for a test ride then riding off without paying, even offering phones (likely stolen or broken) or house keys as a "trust me bro" safety incentive.
When I was selling my hardtail in January I had one guy who was desperate to buy it but I had a bad feeling about him. He wanted it shipped to London via a courier he would pay for, but his profile said he was in the USA. Then when I checked the address he gave me for shipping it was some shady looking warehouse in London somewhere. I'm aware of the various courier scams so politely declined but he kept messaging me until it was sold. I noticed he was trying it with other people in the for sale groups too. In the end I sold the bike to someone who came up on the train from Glasgow to collect it and met in him the train station, where there's loads of CCTV and usually a BTP officers going about.
To be honest I feel like a total fool - I actually work in the open source int field and his profile is a howler of problems....set up in February 2026 etc. I even told him when I'd be out...
To be honest I feel like a total fool - I actually work in the open source int field and his profile is a howler of problems....set up in February 2026 etc. I even told him when I'd be out...
Ouch.
Police will likely be useless other than giving you a crime reference number, but worth pursuing it with them anyway. If there's been a spate of thefts in the area then it might give them some more info to go on.
I’ve had loads of marketplace folk pull out of sales when I say they won’t be picking a bike up from my house (either work or a supermarket car park 10 mins walk away) appreciate it probably makes me look risky, but whatevs.
never been an issue on other platforms, oddly.
Sometimes you can get your address from the name though. It certainly works for me as I filed patents and they've got my address on. OH also has business registered here under her name. Not sure the average Facebook crimo will go to those lengths though.
I’ve had loads of marketplace folk pull out of sales when I say they won’t be picking a bike up from my house (either work or a supermarket car park 10 mins walk away) appreciate it probably makes me look risky, but whatevs
That's the problem isn't it? I can understand why you woul do that but if a seller said that to me it would sound dodgy as, no way would I be buying from them. Work maybe, but certainly not a car park
I'm fortunate I have a plod shop nearby, so always do business in the car parking spaces out front.
Only been asked by plod once, but she was sound when I explained.
I'm always upfront with buyers that I don't do business at my house for security reasons. Had a few pull out, but most are happy to meet as it gives them security as well.
Yeah, not meeting at sellers place for a purchase would raise alarm bells for me, done it once for a frame off here but otherwise stick to eBay anyway. Can people get location from embedded data in photos on Facebook?
I cruelly judge anybody who messages me about a Facebook sale. I always snoop through their page to see how old the account is and how many friends they have, then I check if I can find them on Instagram or anywhere else. I don’t really sell the kind of full bikes that people would want to pinch; it’s usually just parts, frames, or retro builds. I've never had any issues with people picking things up from my place. I did have a few Sur-Ron Yobs asking about some brakes I was selling but I usually just message people back saying "sorry, think they've sold". I also, tend to give the address on the day they say they're coming.
There was one lad that seemed a bit dodgy so I met him at the petrol station, but he turned up with his dad and just seemed a bit overly enthusiastic in the end.
It’s been the norm selling motorbikes for years. Meet somewhere mutually agreeable, then if all checks out, maybe take them back to your place to complete the transaction, or do it there and then. No way is anyone I don’t know coming to my house to buy stuff.
I’m thinking of selling off a few bikes and came up with the ingenious idea that any buyer could meet me at the local mini sainsburys and then I’d walk and they’d follow me to the house. Loads of houses around so they’d have their work cut out casings hem all.. Giving my address to a stranger when I’ve got a garage full of bikes does give me the eeeby jeebies.
You might be lucky with insurance? Both my bikes were insured as separate items but when the valuer did their assessment I'd under-valued them significantly. The woman on the phone just said "that's ok they were stolen from home so we'll pay out what the valuer advised". This didn't mean much to me as what was stolen was not common and I'd put so much time and effort (and money) into them. (Zaskar LE with full XTR and a Lynskey Summit 650b Ti full susser. Farking gutted).
Sorry you got done, fingers crossed insurance isn't a tight-ar5e.
It’s been the norm selling motorbikes for years. Meet somewhere mutually agreeable, then if all checks out, maybe take them back to your place to complete the transaction, or do it there and then. No way is anyone I don’t know coming to my house to buy stuff.
Same - I've met at Manchester Velodrome a couple of times and once at a mainline train station. I used my LBS once as well.
No chance is anyone coming to my house or having my address.
Sell it Buy It Now on ebay. They pay for it. The money is held by ebay. THEN you can give the buyer your collection address.
Sell it Buy It Now on ebay. They pay for it. The money is held by ebay. THEN you can give the buyer your collection address.
They pay for it. The money is held by ebay. THEN you can give the buyer your address. THEN it gets stolen. THEN the buyer can reclaim their money because when they make arrangements to collect you don't have it available and ebay releases the money back to them.
I also, tend to give the address on the day they say they're coming.
I do this too ... but it wouldn't take a genius to send you a message and say, "sorry changed my mind/can't make it" and then bide their time.
I've been ridiculously trusting on marketplace - swapping expensive items via post, leaving and picking up things from mail boxes for example - and so far haven't been burnt. I do check profiles but that's not always foolproof.
It’s been the norm selling motorbikes for years.
Craziest sale I did was of a motorbike. Guy turned up at my house with his mate and a trailer in the pissing rain. I showed him it was running, offered him a helmet to try it out while his mate waited. He declined (I think he was nervous to ride it in the rain) and gave me the cash. As it happened the rain got really bad on their 4-hour journey home and they had to leave the trailer and bike at a friend's place 3/4s of the way home and carried on in their 4x4. Their town got cut off by flooding for a week so he didn't even get back to pick up the bike.
It sickens me, I want to sell my road bike to buy something more expensive but just the risk of it being someone dodgy coming and all the possible ways of being duped is why a year on I’ve still not done anything about it!!
Has anyone had success with the companies that buy the bike off you, I’ve seen adverts a while ago online but not for a while. Yes you will get less than market value but you also have alot less risk. Then have some money to go buy the dream bike
Yes be cautious but I do think there is an element of paranoia in this thread. There are plenty of other ways someone might figure out you like bikes and do your shed in. I’ve collected stuff off people before who have invited me in to see all their cool stuff and I never robbed them 😂
You just have to be cautious and use common sense.
Never sell near your house and never offer a test ride without cash in hand or in your bank. If someone seems dodgy they probably are so politely move on. Then if selling by post be careful about courier and PayPal scams (you can Google these to save me explaining).
I've bought and sold loads of used bikes/expensive goods and apart from one buyer getting a big wad of cash out for me in front of the jaykeys at Morrisons I've never had any issues (I quickly shuffled him around the corner to where the security guard was having a cig break).
For every horror story you hear about there will be countless problem free transactions.
The We Buy Any Bike type places are just a different kind of robbery.
It sickens me, I want to sell my road bike to buy something more expensive but just the risk of it being someone dodgy coming and all the possible ways of being duped is why a year on I’ve still not done anything about it!!
I've always used ebay and been very clear with the requirements such as specifying that it is collection or delivery only, if they start with the "my cousin owns a courier business and will collect..." then they're blocked.
Also that the meeting point will be a public place of mutual agreement and that any attempts to arrange payment outside of ebay will be reported.
Annoyingly, ebay will usually side with the buyer in any dispute so you just need to take basic precautions, ensure that you scan the QR code to confirm collection and you've got plenty of photos. In your favour though is that the buyer has had to pay up front, even if ebay hold the funds until collection is confirmed.
I've never had any major issues. A few red flags and warning bells but nothing bad that's actually happened.
But then the people buying and selling decent road bikes are generally a cut above the people buying and selling basic BSOs - dodgy adverts are relatively easy to pick up when the bike is described as having "hydrolick breaks" or "shimano gears". And any questions from buyers like that is a quick route to them being blocked too.
I want to sell my road bike to buy something more expensive but just the risk of it being someone dodgy coming and all the possible ways of being duped is why a year on I’ve still not done anything about it!!
I have four older bikes to move on. Mostly nice kids bikes and an obsolete hardtail vintage 2006 or so. I've just decided to move them on through a charity. Value to sell Vs risk of randoms and potential for hassle is out of balance for for eBay/Facebook sales.
Higher value stuff I would probably now follow the sensible guidance in this thread and maybe favour eBay and meeting somewhere neutral. Most of my kit is well used and obsolete long before I sell it, which helps I suppose.
It's tricky because as a buyer you kind of want the comfort you're not buying from a crook who has a van full of gear in the car park that day. That said when I've sold and bought dinghies it's mostly been been from a sailing club compound.
there is an element of paranoia in this thread
I live uncomfortably close to Bradford, no chances taken at all.
Has anyone had success with the companies that buy the bike off you
Yes, with the caveat that I didn't get as much as I'd really have liked. I'd tried selling via Pinkbike, Ebay (don't do FB) but no luck so in the end they said they'd take it. I was a little dubious as they wanted to arrange their courier etc, but the business was legit, and I got my money. I cannot remember the name of the place now but 2 days after it left me it was listed on their website, ironically at the same list price as I'd tried to sell it for originally. So they weren't making that big a margin.
I live uncomfortably close to Bradford, no chances taken at all.
Exceptions do apply... 😂
