how to sell and buy shit on the internet, a tutorial

Good post! I am not too much into buy and sell myself as I always finds it to be a frustrating experience. On one side, there are hords of delusional sellers asking for ridiculous prices...and on the other side there are low-ballers that are simply insulting the sellers who did put some thoughts and reasoning into the price they are asking.

I prefer buying new, keeping the bike for 5-7 years and pricing it to move even though it is in perfect working condition... and hopefully provide a good deal to a friend or a kid without a lot of money.

For our next tutorial, I would like to suggest we work on how to type and form sentences properly.  There are some valid points in your post, but it is almost unreadable as you have presented it.

Here's a question on buying bikes...
How many people here have been able to try a bike out on a trail instead of just bouncing it around in a public place, jumping of kerbs etc ? How about deposits/securities or whatnot ? How did you arrange it?
Or do you just do a full once over on the mechanical state of the bike with some testing to make sure the sizing is good and then hope for the best?

Posted by: stinky_dan

Here's a question on buying bikes...
How many people here have been able to try a bike out on a trail instead of just bouncing it around in a public place, jumping of kerbs etc ? How about deposits/securities or whatnot ? How did you arrange it?
Or do you just do a full once over on the mechanical state of the bike with some testing to make sure the sizing is good and then hope for the best?

When I sell used bikes, trail testing is out of the question due to logistics (I don't want to wait around for hours), security and the risk of something breaking. Standard practice is a mechanical inspection by the buyer and a pedal up and down the road, while I hold their license/credit card. When I've bought a used bike it's been the same deal. I would never expect to demo it on trail unless I was buying from a friend.

My advice:

Take some presentable photos. Preferably outside, showcase the bike. No grainy, dimly lit photos of the bike inside a garage; leaning next to a bunch of paint cans.

I think GMBN's video on the subject of buying a used bike covers what to check on the mechanical side. If something doesn't jive as a buyer I'd say move on, unless you have the time/ability to repair what's wrong.

Definitely worth performing your own similar testing to a bike you're trying to sell before listing it; I'd make absolutely sure there's nothing loose/sloppy that would give a prospective buyer something to barter over....