How to sell a bicycle fast: tips to sell your bicycle faster
Over the course of your cycling career, there is a strong chance you will ride many different bikes. These might be different styles, or you might be upgrading for performance. There often comes a time when you need to sell your bike.
We often get asked some amazing questions here at buycycle, but one that comes up quite regularly is “How to sell a bicycle fast?” In this article, we are going to be discussing what you can do to sell a bike as quickly as possible.
Finding the right platform
The first step is to find the right platform to sell a bike. You have many options, such as local shops, online marketplaces, and specialist bike-selling websites such as buycycle. Here’s what you need to know about each.
Using the right platform will go a very long way in helping you sell a bike quickly. If you are looking for the best service, audience, and reliability, buycycle is an amazing option and pays into your bank quickly. You can also read our article on where to sell your bike.
Top tips on how to sell a bicycle fast!
When it comes to selling a bike online quickly, there are ways to make it much easier. Not only will they help you sell your bike quickly for cash, but they will also help attract more interest. Here are our top tips for selling a bike fast.
1. Prepare the bike
For the best money and a quick sale it is so important to prepare the bike for sale. This first step is vital to not just to get the best money possible and also make the buying experience much better for whoever you end up selling the bike to.
Very few buyers take their bikes for a checkup and a service before the sale. Although you might have already moved on to a different bike and not want to spend money on your old bike, it does offer the next owner something special.
A serviced and fully working bike is not only more valuable and will sell for a higher price, but it also helps gain the possible buyer's trust in choosing your bike over others. For the price of a small service, you could sell your bike not only faster but for more money.
Sophia Willmes
Sophia Willmes
2. Great pictures
Our second recommendation is great pictures. Don’t just take one of it dirty up against a wall with the wrong side of the bike showing. It’s about taking lots of photos and showing the buyer exactly what they are getting. So, first, clean the bike and then take these photos.
- The side of the bike against a clear background with drive side showing.
- The opposite side of the bike with the non drive side showing.
- A close-up of the gearing components and rear cassette.
- A picture of the handlebars and shifters.
- The wheels are always good to take a picture of, and maybe a close-up of the tires.
- Any damage or marks to the frame or components.
It’s great to add loads of detail to the pictures and show the condition of the bike. Sellers are more likely to invest if they have lots of great pictures of a clean, well-maintained bike.
3. Excellent advert description
Another great way to help sell a bike quickly is to give an excellent description. This description will need not only the right information but also be well structured. I recommend starting with the bike's specifications.
Then, you should say a little bit about the bike. “The Lynskey GR270 is a titanium gravel bike. It has a relaxed geometry, tire clearance up to 48c, and comes with a reflective mirror finish. It’s great for gravel, roads, and the odd trail.”
After that, I recommend adding your personal experience. Details such as where you got the bike from, how long you have had it, and why you are selling it go a very long way to connecting with buyers.
4. Price it right
The next key is to get the pricing correct. If you want to sell your bike quickly, it doesn’t have to be the cheapest bike available. It just has to be the correct price. You can’t be too cheap, as this sends a lot of red flags to buyers. Also, being too expensive makes it even harder to sell.
The correct price is cheaper than any others available but not too cheap, so you are not getting the money you deserve, or it comes across as a scam. You must also ensure you are affordable enough to not price yourself out from buyers.
You can read our article on How much is my bike worth or use the fantastic buycycle calculator can give you this correct price.
Robert Ferri
5. Offer delivery
If you are looking to sell a bike quickly and want to open up to a lot more buyers, then offering delivery makes a big difference. It means that people further away will be open to buying it without the hassle of collection and saves meetups.
Boxing up a bike when you know how is easy. If you use a company such as buycycle, they will show you have to box up and even send you everything you need to put it all together packed safely. They even help organize a courier.
If you plan to do it yourself, it can be a bit more of a challenge, and you take on more risk if you haven’t packed a bike already. Getting quotes before you send and finding companies that will safely transport bikes will take time. A lot of people use buycycle to make it easier.
6. Answer messages quickly and politely
When a buyer is looking for a certain bike and has a few options, sometimes the seller who gets back to them quickly and politely sells their bike before anyone else. It is highly recommended that you reply in a timely manner and be very friendly and helpful when doing so.
7. Be flexible
Finally, we have to be flexible. If someone comes with an offer close to what you want, then it is important to be flexible and work with them in negotiating. When selling a bike, you will often get a lot of offers, as people do want to try their luck with some money off.
It is not rare for people to refuse a good offer and then weeks later have to take an offer even less because they thought it wasn’t a great offer at the time. I highly recommend being really thoughtful of offers you get and considering them even if they are not quite what you want.
8. Proactive selling
How do I go about selling my bicycle faster? You need to be proactive with your selling. When you have listed your bike on buycycle or another marketplace, you should share the page with other potential buyers in different places. Sharing on your social media or in groups who might be interested in the bike can find potential buyers looking to spend money and buy quickly.
How to sell a bicycle fast
When it comes to selling a bike quickly, it doesn’t have to be cheap. It needs to be a good advert, have great pictures, be easy for the buyer to get, be well priced, and come well looked after. A good route to go down when selling my bicycle faster is using a service such as buycycle, which will help you do this and get the quick sale you need with money in the bank shortly.