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Not many Wings for sale ?

3K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  rickwinger 
#1 ·
Unfortunately I'm being forced to put my 05 Wing up for sale to help in down payment $ for a new house. I put it on Craiglist here in the Charlotte NC area about 3 weeks ago. As I was expecting, I received about 6 scammers with very imaginative stories about certified checks and a shipper showing up at my house with check in hand. They are funny to correspond with, I had one guy will willing to give me $100K ,in a guaranteed certified check. He couldn't come himself because he was a Captain in the Army on a secret mission, but it was for his 18 year old son graduating from high school.. Yeah,, that one was funny.
Anyways, looks like Wings might be hard to come by and if available, command some high prices.
Just talked to a real person that lives 4 hours away and he's really interested in my 05 plain jane that has 55K on the clock, willing to put $8K in my hand this weekend.
Now, , this bike is nice shape, but still ?
I thought I priced it high ? But looking at other offers on Craigslist, there isn't that many for sale.

Like maybe 3 ?

Maybe that drives the prices up?
 
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#3 ·
Scammers are all over,

I was looking for a used, low mileage Ford Explorer to pull my camper & was looking for one with a V8 engine & tow package that are hard to find but there out there. Answered an Craigslist ad for one for sale out in Virginia. Suppose to be a estate car that was moved to Boston. Could tell by the broken English in the E-mails that this was a scam. Just send me the money & I will ship it to your door!

Finally I just told him that I had a friend living in Boston & He could come with the cash & if its as advertised pay you & drive it away.
Never heard from him again!

Good Luck with the sale of your Wing!
 
#6 ·
When I was selling my 03', the guy was stuck on an oil rig and was buying it as a surprise birthday gift for his brother.

Just once I'd like to get them to send the check and see how mad they get when I insist they have to wait for the check to clear.
 
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#8 ·
Actually.... the scammers checks wil clear ..... the fraud will not be discovered until months later..... the bank will get their money back from you..... it's illegal for you to pass a bad check even know you didn't originate it. A lot of them want to over pay you and have you give them money back..... you will end up being liable for the check amount. A lot of times they actually don't care if they get what they buy. They are just looking for dummies to cash checks.
 
#7 ·
I found out years ago to never put anything on craigs list, unless you want to get the attention of the scammers. When I sold my last wing, I put it on ebay with a pay a deposit and come and pick it up with cash, or pay in full, then arrange a shipping company come and get it. The only thing I had has was a couple of guys wanting to trade a boat for it.
It sold in three days.
 
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#11 ·
One of the worst thing about scammers is how much they cost the honest guy that wants to buy a bike without a bunch of worry or hassle. What I mean by that is the vast number of people ( like me ) that feel like they HAVE TO go to a reputable dealer to buy to feel safe, which means paying the dealer profit margin instead of being able to deal with honest sellers/buyers and both parties coming out better.
 
#9 ·
Had a neighbor that got burned on a Goldwing he "bought" on ebay, probably 10 years ago. I think he lost about $8,000. His bank told him he was protected using a credit card, turned out he wasn't. Sounded like a great deal and he just couldn't pass it up! :frown2:

Ebay used to be ripe with fake GW sales but over the last 5 years or so I haven't spotted any obvious ones but there are always plenty of them on Craigslist. You would think a $15,000 trike listed for $2,000 would be a little suspicious....:wink2:
 
#12 ·
Even when you go to see a Wing/car in person you have to be careful. Couple years ago an elderly couple when to look at a car in GA I believe they were murdered and thrown into a lake.... We live in a different world be careful listen to that voice inside of you when it tells you this isn't right.... I found in using CL that in the listing I state no scammers no im sending my driver with check because I'm in Scandinavia on a world wind tour of business. Cash in hand us currency ? that cut out the nuisance calls and email.... worked for me....
 
#14 ·
I agree with listening to that little voice that tells you something isn't right.

However, the vast amount of transactions are not a problems. We can cite news stories of all kinds of deals that go wrong and even people just coming back to their house after being gone to the store and being assaulted but that doesn't mean that it's common and I refuse to live in fear of the "what if".

Even so, I try not to put myself in the situation where I am easy prey. Most of the times I'll have a friend with me and if something doesn't look right or feel right, I leave as soon as possible or just leave immediately and tell them that I changed my mind and am not coming.

PS...I do live in Texas where a lot of good guys carry a weapon. Bad guys typically think twice about showing up at a man's house in Tx and trying to mess with him. So...maybe it is a bit different around here.
 
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#13 ·
Must have sold at least a dozen vehicles or whatever on craigslist. Never had a problem.

I turn off e-mail responses so I only get texts or calls and that cuts out 1/2 of the scams. I still get text scams but they are usually pretty easy to spot and ignore. I insist on doing the deal in person and insist on either cash or meeting at my bank to work out payment if other than cash and I've never had an issue.

I've sold to out of town buyers too...I have no problem selling to out of town people as long as they show up with payment in person to buy the vehicle.

Scammers don't typically want to show up. Too many suckers out there that they can rip off without leaving their laptop.

BTW....back to the original post...I don't know the details of your bike but $8K for a 2005 might be priced about right depending on the options and mileage. The people that have a hard time selling are the ones that think their base level 2005 with 100K miles should still be worth 9K because they put $4K of accessories on it and it's still shiny.
 
#16 ·
Really good responses and I appreciate it..
I did have a good experience about 6 years ago when I sold my ST-1300. But I advertised it on a dedicated ST forum instead of Cragslist. Talked to him on the tele well before, sent him all the photos he wanted. He sent me a bank check by Fed Ex, brought it to my local bank and the manager pecked away on the keyboard for about 10 minutes and assured me that it was a good check and deposited the money into my account.
He then flew into the Charlotte airport, took a taxi to my work carrying his riding gear and rode it home.
But that was 6 years ago, con artists today are better then they used to be. That's why I insist on cash now.
If they have a check in hand, they can drive to the bank and cash it them selves.
 
#18 ·
Cycle Trader is showing a dozen within 250 miles of my home. That's just the two-wheeled motorcycles and does not include trikes.

My thought is to do a bit more research.
 
#19 ·
A few years ago, a friend of mine told me he buys & sells stuff via Craigslist often. When I asked if he was concerned about all of the stories I'd heard, he said "no". His reasoning...

He said they agree on a date & time to meet up, and he gives them an address. That address just happens to be the parking lot of the local county sheriff's office. He goes there and waits. He figures if they show up, then everything's good. If not, well... that tells him all he needs to know.
 
#20 ·
I just sold a Ford Explorer on CL. I haven't bought or sold a motorcycle or a car in the last 10 years that wasn't from CL.

As a buyer, or seller, you are in charge of all the information you wish to share with the other person. If you are that horny to sell something and set yourself up for a fraudulent exchange of your money for nothing, then you are the one at fault.

Here are some questions to get rid of the scammers:

1. Do you have clear title?
2. Is it in your possession?
3. What is the vin number?
4. When can I see it? Where?
5. How long have you owned it?
6. Where did you buy it?
7. Why are you selling it?

There are free vin number check sites on the internet.

These questions will let the seller know you are serious in your approach to purchasing something. If the seller doesn't want to engage in that dialog, say thanks, but no thanks.
 
#25 ·
I thought I priced it right, but to tell you the truth, the phone lines have not been burning up with folks wanting it. Then again, Seems like sales on Goldwings have been a bit slow from what I see on Craigslist, most of them on there have been there for a while. Maybe its because its still considered Winter here in NC, maybe its because most of them are so over priced .
Like another member mentioned, just because you added $4 K of chrome to your bike does not mean that its worth $4K more then real market price.
In my case, its still not sold yet. The Buyer is still trying to get his funds straight, but he's trying and I hear from him at once a day. I think its going to happen this week tho.
Ive stayed off the bike for the 3 weeks just because I really need to sell it and didn't want to hurt it in any way, But I took it to work Saturday just because I really wanted to, I gotta tell you ? I really like this bike and its really bothering me to have to sell it.
Ive been riding a long time, had many bikes and this one leaving is going to be a traumatic experience.
My only consolation is that once I get myself situated again, I can buy another.
 
#23 ·
Craigslist is a mixed bag, especially when it comes to higher end bikes like goldwings.

There are some of these old coots that expect INSANE amount of money for their bike. For instance, there was a guy who had a 99 GL1500. Sure, it was clean, very nice, only like 30k miles, but he wanted 8K for it. That's stupid. No one is going to pay that. He has come down to like 7k over the course of a year, but it will sit until he gets into the 5k department.

Your bike sounds spot on for value and price. Unsure of any [valid] additions you may have, stick on chrome doesnt count, then you have a fair deal. Never under estimate the value of "list high, sell low[er]."

I had a guy come from ohio for my 05 wing with 49k on it and I asked 8k and wouldn't take a dollar less.
 
#24 ·
I've seen GW's for sale that were showroom clean and perfect with low miles. But they had pin striping, so they sat forever.


If you want to sell a bike, then strip everything off of it that didn't come from the factory. Just because you think its cool, doesn't mean everyone else does.
 
#26 ·
Several factors affect sales. Winter is certainly one of them, but annually it seems that sales pick up most when tax returns start coming back.
 
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