really need to sell

[Isamemon]

hi all
I really really need to sell my 78 R80
its in the flea market today on page 2 ( under sub heading airheads)
Ive lowered the price to 3k

so I know we are in a bad economy, but Ill take constructive advice, why , on this forum and craigs list and the local paper am I not even getting a call on this bike, thus not even an offer

I am unemplyed thanks to a uninsured job accident ( self emplyed) and I really need to find this a home and help me out
its gonna be a super bike for someone

even at the vintage bike show a few weeks ago, with a 4 sale sign..nothing

[lkchris]

Page number references change quickly

Try http://www.bmwmoa.org/flea/detail.php?siteid=17151&catid=1

[keelerb]

Looks like a nice bike and to me that's a fair price. Unfortunately, you're trying to sell into a used-bike market that's about as bad as I've ever seen. Beyond the flea market, be sure you're on Cycle Trader and Craig's List and you might consider eBay as well. Good luck.

[108625]

I recently struggled to sell two airheads and can relate.
In the end, I accepted a partial trade for one, and both sides are happy with that deal.
The other I finally listed on ebay, twice. The first time, I got one low (not insulting, but too low to accept) bid, although forty watchers were logged on. When the auction ended without resrve being met, I offered the bidder a second chance, identifying the reserve price; he passed on that. I took new pictures rewrote the ad a little bit, and ran it again. Holy cow, before that ended there were over 100 watchers, and two low bids. I'm sure there would have been a flurry of sniping in the last few minutes of the auction, but while all these tightwads were watching, waiting to make their move, one buyer with the power of instant decision clicked "Buy it Now" a day before the auction was to end.
It's worth trying, particularly if you need it to sell quickly. Read their rules thoroughly, and state your terms clearly (such as "no bidding without positive feedback", etc). Feel free to ask if you need to know more, and good luck.
I'm sorry to read that this is something you have to do.

[mymindsok]

Yep! One of the other posters hit the nail on the head. This is a very poor time to try to sell a bike and it won't get better for a while.

Things might have been a little different if you had posted the bike three months ago, at the beginning of the riding season but by now, most serious riders have bikes for the summer and around this time of year, demand slacks up a little anyway.

Add in the fact that your's isnt a "high demand" model, and you might find that you'll need to lower your asking price to move the bike or simply sell off some other treasure to pay the bills.

From what I can see, Americans are becoming very worried about the economy (For good reason!) and they generaly arn't spending money on trivial persuits.

PS: The suggestion to try Ebay is a good one but take lots of good photos of the bike and don't put in a high reserve!

[eaganj346]

Another place to list your bike is the ADVrider site.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

I just sold my K75 there in a little over a week. I never got a response of any type off the BMWOA flea market. A lot of looks but no questions.

I came off my asking price a little but got what I consider a fair price for it.

HTH
John

[Isamemon]

thanks
I will try advrider
as far as I should have tried months ago
this is the 3rd time I have posted on this form and have been trying on craigs list since April

[jamesdunn]

Every time I have called about an airhead listed on Craig's List here it is sold. Personally, I have sold two BMWs quickly via the local paper (expensive to list). Admittedly K bikes. Another source is your local BMW club if you have one. Sometimes local is best, particularly if you live in a metropolitan area.

One idea is to place flyers on the boards at grocery stores, etcetera.

[kourt999]

+1 on advrider.

I sold a modified right-side-shift Enfield 350 there last month. The buyer bought it sight unseen. You can't get better than that.

kourt

[ccolwell]

Try http://www.ibmwr.org/marketplace.shtml

That's where I sold my R100. Put it everywhere you can for free, before ebay. I tried ebay with my 900SS and got nowhere.

[AnnapolisAirhead]

Add in the fact that your's isnt a "high demand" model, and you might find that you'll need to lower your asking price to move the bike or simply sell off some other treasure to pay the bills.


+1 on that. Your bike looks like a nice bike, but its simply middle of the road for airheads IMO (no offense intended). For $3k, I'd want an R100RT (possibly an R80RT), a clean R90/6 or a sharp Toaster al with 40-60k on them or less. An RS will bring bigger money as an in demand bike. But, there is an ass for every seat, if you have the patience. Your bike looks pretty straight but sounds like you are out of time and might want to consider dropping the price or selling something else.

I have a dual plugged '83 R100 with big bags, a trunk, fairing and all kinds of nice upgrades, etc. new valves, runs really well with 65k on it and I'd be surprised if I could approach $3k for it in this market.

Just a reality check. I feel for ya though. I'm having a hard time selling my Toaster. :brow

[Braddog]

Good Luck on the sale. This makes me think that I'll just keep both of my airheads. I was thinking of selling one of them, but I'm not going to give it away.

[Ted]

I have been looking for a nice, used K75 for a while now and have created this page (http://www.verrill.com/hunt/) to help look - maybe it will help you expand your advertising.

I have not seen your advertisements but there are things I look for:
1. Maintenance records. Ideally I would like a complete set of dealer records, but some will do. I not only want to see that the bike has been properly maintained but I want to make sure that the 21k miles showing isn't on top of 70k miles before the cluster was replaced. Having the records also helps when and if I want to re-sell.
2. Good pictures of all angles of the bike, including close-ups of any damage.
3. Honesty in the faults - all have them, it always sets off a big red flag when someone tells me a 15 year old bike with 40k miles has never been dropped and looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. On the flip side, if it has upgrades, take pics of them too and list them in detail.
4. Reasonable price - look around to see what others are selling for (not just advertised for) and price accordingly. I check the MOA Flea Market every day, but find the bikes tend to be priced much higher than on the IBMWR or Craig's List. I have never bought a bike on eBay, but I know folks have (Phil Marvin has bought several) with good results.
5. Make sure the bike is ready to ride across the country and advertise it as so, you have a good chance of selling to someone who will fly in and ride home. I'd say a majority of bikes sold on the IBMWR site are sold that way.

Now the ugly side of free advertising - you will undoubtedly get scam offers to buy. Most will center around the "I live in the UK and am sending you a certified check for $1,000 more than you are asking and would like you to wire it to the shippers." The check is fake and the "shipper" is the scammer - you are left with a worthless fake check your bank may take weeks to tell you about before debiting the amount back out of your account, and a big $1,000 hole in your pocket. Be intensely wary of any deal that involves you stepping foot into a Western Union no matter how genuine it seems.

Good Luck!

[108625]

I did put ours everywhere I could for free, for weeks, then months.
The forum Flea Market eventually worked for one bike, and an oilhead a couple years ago, but it's best suited to someone who has the luxury of time to wait for the right buyer, from a limited audience.
IBMWR really attracts lots of scammers, then time wasters, and every time I put my email address on there we're deluged with spam afterwards. If you run an ad there, get yourself a second email address just for that purpose.
Craig's list can have a similar effect, so maintain email privacy. The worst part of it is the tire-kickers and others who want to check it out and ride it, then talk trade, or explain they just can't afford what you're asking, but they really want it, can you come down at all?
Legit questions about your bike do not include "had any offers?", you can ask all day, but it's really none of your business, and it doesn't affect whether you want it or not; "what's your rock bottom?", if you want to know my rock bottom, don't ask it up front, before you've even seen the bike, and then try to negotiate down from there. If you want to ride the bike, that's fine, as long as you hand me my asking price in cash first. You can have it back when I have my bike back. I'm trusting you with my bike, and I'm liable for any accident you have riding it.
Ebay finally moved two bikes for me (airhead, and hexhead) when everything else panned out, and it spared me all the headaches of making myself available, negotiating, and test rides, etc.
The item either reaches reserve or it doesn't, the fee isn't that much in relation to the sale price, and if it doesn't sell the listing fee can be rolled over, and even then it's less than your local paper. The number of people you reach, without actually having to deal with each individually, is amazing.

[Ted]

Good point - you can get a free e-mail address with Yahoo.com in about 30-seconds.

[sgborgstrom]

That is a very sweet bike. From the description, it's ready to roll with just about everything already done.

Years ago I bumped an R75/7 to an 80 after wearing out the original cylinders (well north of 100K miles) created one of my favorite airheads. A bit more pep than the R/75 and smoother than an R100. I have a couple of friends I'll pass this on to.

If I hadn't just $3k on parts for a truck restoration I'm doing I'd be seriously considering a trip to Corvallis.

[535is]

Just a comment:

I don't know if it's my computer or not (I doubt it.), but three of your four photos are badly pixellated, so all but the first shot are almost useless as an effective portrayal of your bike.

[Boxerkuh]

I think that you have received very good feedback. This is a buyers market. I just bought my 92 R100R with 40K on it for $3500.00. You need to come off the price if you want to sell it, although it is not fair. It would be best if you can hold out the economy, because the prices will go back up. Good luck and hang in there... for some people, like me, shipping is also an issue, I considered in buying the bike and I calculated that into the purchase price of the bike... luckily my bike was found locally. Now, we do know that our bikes are worth more in parts than whole, but it will be more time and effort on your part and that would be a shame to take a perfectly fine bike all apart... I feel you; hang in there....:bow