I'd pass to be honest.

Agree, 95% of the time it'll be fine. But are you happy with a 1/20 chance of losing your money?

No its close to a £1000 so I need some security. If there is no monetary safe way then it all comes down to a drive up north for me.

I'd pass. If there's a chance a deal is sour it will be.

If it was £150 yes. A decent frame/price? Are you a gambling type chap?

I'm not.

Plenty of other bikefish in the sea. 😉

A random stranger on pinkbike or gumtree then cash on collection or maybe PayPal. For a stw forum regular with decent history then I'd be happy with a transfer. There's lots of frames out there. If you are keen on this particular one as it's too good to be true then I'd be somewhat wary.

The price is standard nothing to cause any worry. It's on PB and the seller has no history. If it was on here then I'd be happier .

Make a day out of it and collect in person. I've done a solo 5 hour round trip on a Friday night for a bike I really wanted (£900).

Yes that is the way it looks like it's going now to be honest.

In the grand scheme of things a day in the car and petrol money will be worth it for peace of mind. Maybe use it as a bargaining tool for some money off as I'm sure the seller will appreciate the ease of a face to face cash sale.

Yeh, you could actually turn it into a day trip /weekend away if they live somewhere interesting. Stops and nasty surprises like a broken head tube that [s]They forgot to mention [/s] got damaged in transit.

Don't go alone

Thanks for the advice guys ?

Come to the north and bring a bike, the trails should be nice and dry again by the weekend.

Offer bank transfer on receipt of goods, see how suddenly keen he is on Paypal then.

I took pay pal for my frame and just put that back into my linked bank account.

What's the big deal?

I've seen a frame I like. The owner is 3 hours away so posting is required but he has no wish for paypal and wants bank transfer. I'm not happy with that as I obviously have no come back on any issues. Any ideas how I can do this with both parties happy? Cheers.

Is this a private sale? If so*, there is no 'come back' - it's caveat emptor. So the problem you have is not being able to inspect the frame before agreeing to buy. One / both of you need to put the miles in to be able to meet up so that you can inspect it and do the deal (or exercise blind faith in the other person).

* If not, then it's a business sale, so you have recourse to consumer law, with or without PayPal.

One of my reservations about accepting Paypal in such a situation would be the prospect of Paypal applying consumer-law-type guarantees to private sales, opening the door to numpty buyers messing you about: ('the brakes you sold me don't fit my bike' q.v.)

I'd imagine the no Paypal thing comes because of the cost (£40) offer to pay that and see how it goes? other than that, go and fetch it I think is the best way.

Check it thoroughly for 'stickers'

You want the frame, he wants a sale, 90mins each. Piece of mind.

You want the frame, he wants a sale, 90mins each. Piece of mind.

Good idea. Ok you lose some money on the cost of getting there, but you get too see the frame, make sure its what you want and its in good condition.
No way I'd drop £1k on something I'd never seen from a person I'd never met before.

Yes I agree. I will suggest it . Or just buy the carbon GT frame from Merlin and be done with it.

Is that the Carbon Sensor? Damn good deal with reverb stealth too. What's the second-hand frame you're looking at to compare?

It's an Intense tracer 275. I do love Intense bikes. I'm just wondering if the GT would be difficult to sell when I get bored of it.

Intense? With their history of quality control? Second hand?
I think I'd go for the GT...

I thought those days were well behind them ?

I've had my fingers burnt in such a purchase, only £45 but it still annoys me. No way would I send £1,000 without any recourse.

Jump in the car and pay cash. Much safer.

Or get him to send it C.O.D.

I've actually gone and bought the GT on Merlin so no money left now for an Intense.

i agree if its off someone on here then its worth the punt but if not then walk away and look for something else or prepare to travel to it.
a mate of mine is thinking of driving down from manchester to winchester to get a bike
2 others have travelled down to south wales for their bikes and another drove from north wales to kent to pick one up

if you really want it then thats the only way to do it IMO

Just drive it, bearing in mind 3 hours from darn sarf can just about mean Watford Gap on some days 😆

Saying that a brand new frame with the warranty is probably a good option also

I reckon you made the right choice Chris. Put up a photo or two when you've built it up

Will do mate. I've ordered the headset from ebay so when that arrives I'm all set to go.

Pics for wilko1999 as it's finally built. Wheels are a bit doubtful but the rest is staying for now.

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That looks good fun/fast to ride.

Is that a shim on the seat post? Just curious about new stuff I haven't seen.

No there is no shim. It's a reverb stealth almost as low as it will go. Glad I didn't go for a large frame now. And Merlin were excellent as usual. It didn't come with a rear maxle and they sent one no questions asked.