Buying privately long distance
Discussion
I haven’t done this in a long time and obviously it worth it for me as I am getting the bike I want. However I am lost at what to do.
Other than asking for a copy of the v5, doing a finance/ writeoff check and perhaps a copy of his liecence, what else could should I do.
Seller is in Scotland and I am in London.
Also do I pay when the courier gets there or before.
Cheers
Sam
Other than asking for a copy of the v5, doing a finance/ writeoff check and perhaps a copy of his liecence, what else could should I do.
Seller is in Scotland and I am in London.
Also do I pay when the courier gets there or before.
Cheers
Sam
Make a weekend of it, hire a van / trailer is the safest way to do it. Otherwise you're relying on the honesty of the seller that the bike does indeed match the description. You're also in a bit of a pickle if the bike turns up with damage that wasn't in a photo beforehand ie damage that occured in transit.
There are some good couriers that specialise in this though. You'd pay a deposit or whatever to the buyer and pay the courier. The courier turns up, does a brief visual inspection of the bike noting any obvious damage and ensures the docs are in order, once all is good they phone you and then you do a bank transfer for the remainder of the money. V5 etc gets signed and the courier loads the bike into their van.
I have heard stories where the courier turns up and the seller has blatantly misrepresented the bike or can't find the V5 and the courier refuses the collect the bike but you're still on the hook for the delivery fee or at least a decent chunk of it.
There are some good couriers that specialise in this though. You'd pay a deposit or whatever to the buyer and pay the courier. The courier turns up, does a brief visual inspection of the bike noting any obvious damage and ensures the docs are in order, once all is good they phone you and then you do a bank transfer for the remainder of the money. V5 etc gets signed and the courier loads the bike into their van.
I have heard stories where the courier turns up and the seller has blatantly misrepresented the bike or can't find the V5 and the courier refuses the collect the bike but you're still on the hook for the delivery fee or at least a decent chunk of it.
Buying a bike blind, and getting a courier to collect it, is purley about trust.
Have a long chat on the phone, and decide whether or not you're trusting this seller.
Some bike couriers will do an inspection for an extra fee.
Things like V5, and driving licence, the seller will only probably show these once someone's there with them. A reg number is probably all they'll give until they've met someone.
Done it both ways plenty of times, met some great people, and if both parties are honest people, it's easy.
Some of the horror stories you hear nowadays though, buyers demanding money back, threats of court etc, I'd be much more wary now.
Have a long chat on the phone, and decide whether or not you're trusting this seller.
Some bike couriers will do an inspection for an extra fee.
Things like V5, and driving licence, the seller will only probably show these once someone's there with them. A reg number is probably all they'll give until they've met someone.
Done it both ways plenty of times, met some great people, and if both parties are honest people, it's easy.
Some of the horror stories you hear nowadays though, buyers demanding money back, threats of court etc, I'd be much more wary now.
Crudeoink said:
Make a weekend of it, hire a van / trailer is the safest way to do it. Otherwise you're relying on the honesty of the seller that the bike does indeed match the description. You're also in a bit of a pickle if the bike turns up with damage that wasn't in a photo beforehand ie damage that occured in transit.
There are some good couriers that specialise in this though. You'd pay a deposit or whatever to the buyer and pay the courier. The courier turns up, does a brief visual inspection of the bike noting any obvious damage and ensures the docs are in order, once all is good they phone you and then you do a bank transfer for the remainder of the money. V5 etc gets signed and the courier loads the bike into their van.
I have heard stories where the courier turns up and the seller has blatantly misrepresented the bike or can't find the V5 and the courier refuses the collect the bike but you're still on the hook for the delivery fee or at least a decent chunk of it.
My issue is that last time I bought a bike privately the bank held up the payment for fraud checks, which took them 4 hours! I will ask the couriers who give me quotes to work something out. There are some good couriers that specialise in this though. You'd pay a deposit or whatever to the buyer and pay the courier. The courier turns up, does a brief visual inspection of the bike noting any obvious damage and ensures the docs are in order, once all is good they phone you and then you do a bank transfer for the remainder of the money. V5 etc gets signed and the courier loads the bike into their van.
I have heard stories where the courier turns up and the seller has blatantly misrepresented the bike or can't find the V5 and the courier refuses the collect the bike but you're still on the hook for the delivery fee or at least a decent chunk of it.
I bought a Sierra Cosworth blind through ebay a few years ago before they got into house price values.It was in Manchester and me in Inverness so there wasn’t much option at the time.
The seller wasn’t sure about bank transfers and phoned his sister who worked in a bank to check I couldn’t take the money back,him thinking he was possibly the one getting scammed was reassuring for me though
A bit of facebook stalking also suggested he was genuine enough.
The guy I got to transport it is a big Ford fan too and I had him lined up ready before getting in touch with the seller,he checked it over and called me to say it was as described and possibly even better,transfer complete and it arrived later that night.
Things all sort of lined up in my favour on that one but I’d be very very careful these days.
The seller wasn’t sure about bank transfers and phoned his sister who worked in a bank to check I couldn’t take the money back,him thinking he was possibly the one getting scammed was reassuring for me though
A bit of facebook stalking also suggested he was genuine enough.
The guy I got to transport it is a big Ford fan too and I had him lined up ready before getting in touch with the seller,he checked it over and called me to say it was as described and possibly even better,transfer complete and it arrived later that night.
Things all sort of lined up in my favour on that one but I’d be very very careful these days.
Stevenr said:
I bought a Sierra Cosworth blind through ebay a few years ago before they got into house price values.It was in Manchester and me in Inverness so there wasn t much option at the time.
The seller wasn t sure about bank transfers and phoned his sister who worked in a bank to check I couldn t take the money back,him thinking he was possibly the one getting scammed was reassuring for me though
A bit of facebook stalking also suggested he was genuine enough.
The guy I got to transport it is a big Ford fan too and I had him lined up ready before getting in touch with the seller,he checked it over and called me to say it was as described and possibly even better,transfer complete and it arrived later that night.
Things all sort of lined up in my favour on that one but I d be very very careful these days.
Jeez , where can you buy brave pills that size ? Not a chance I’d try that with Cosworth .The seller wasn t sure about bank transfers and phoned his sister who worked in a bank to check I couldn t take the money back,him thinking he was possibly the one getting scammed was reassuring for me though
A bit of facebook stalking also suggested he was genuine enough.
The guy I got to transport it is a big Ford fan too and I had him lined up ready before getting in touch with the seller,he checked it over and called me to say it was as described and possibly even better,transfer complete and it arrived later that night.
Things all sort of lined up in my favour on that one but I d be very very careful these days.
I have bought privately, long distance and sight unseen twice.
Both times it was all about being comfortable with the seller and also at a price where as few unexpected issues would not turn the purchase in to a disaster.
I got pics and videos of the bikes first and asked a lot of questions. I also made the point of actually talking to the seller rather than rely on emails and text messages - you learn a lot about a person when you speak to them.
Both bikes were under £3k, and both times I was happy.
The second time I got the bike transport guy to handle all the paperwork and do an inspection, and that went very smoothly.
I wouldn't go down this route for an expensive bike or one that I expected to be absolutely perfect. In fact the last time I did this it was because I wanted to do a bit of work on the bike so deliberately bought one that was imperfect - and cheap.
Both times it was all about being comfortable with the seller and also at a price where as few unexpected issues would not turn the purchase in to a disaster.
I got pics and videos of the bikes first and asked a lot of questions. I also made the point of actually talking to the seller rather than rely on emails and text messages - you learn a lot about a person when you speak to them.
Both bikes were under £3k, and both times I was happy.
The second time I got the bike transport guy to handle all the paperwork and do an inspection, and that went very smoothly.
I wouldn't go down this route for an expensive bike or one that I expected to be absolutely perfect. In fact the last time I did this it was because I wanted to do a bit of work on the bike so deliberately bought one that was imperfect - and cheap.
In 2026 I don't think there's a reason anyone could deny a video call.
This would at least give you more ability to check both the seller AND the bike.
I also don't think an honest seller could deny showing an addressed letter etc to correspond with the V5.
It's what I'd offer prior to a seller coming a long way anyway.
As a seller I'd be extremely wary of a courier turning up as that seems more of a scam nowadays.
This would at least give you more ability to check both the seller AND the bike.
I also don't think an honest seller could deny showing an addressed letter etc to correspond with the V5.
It's what I'd offer prior to a seller coming a long way anyway.
As a seller I'd be extremely wary of a courier turning up as that seems more of a scam nowadays.
Thank you for all the responses, I would really appreciate someone taking a look. I am spending over £7k.
I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, • Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it’s 400 miles back down to London and I haven’t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn’t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don’t fancy a rucksack all the way.
I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, • Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it’s 400 miles back down to London and I haven’t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn’t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don’t fancy a rucksack all the way.
hellsbuddha said:
Thank you for all the responses, I would really appreciate someone taking a look. I am spending over £7k.
I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it s 400 miles back down to London and I haven t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don t fancy a rucksack all the way.
I've sent you a PM, Kirrie isn't far from me at all. I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it s 400 miles back down to London and I haven t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don t fancy a rucksack all the way.
Tam_Mullen said:
hellsbuddha said:
Thank you for all the responses, I would really appreciate someone taking a look. I am spending over £7k.
I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it s 400 miles back down to London and I haven t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don t fancy a rucksack all the way.
I've sent you a PM, Kirrie isn't far from me at all. I did speak to him for 30 minutes and he seemed lovely but what do I know.
He is in DD8, Kirriemuir, Angus
He did say take a flight and bus to get to him but then it s 400 miles back down to London and I haven t really ridden in 9m except a short test ride, so it didn t appeal. Also bike is a Trident so no luggage bits and I don t fancy a rucksack all the way.
Gets some transportation quotes for that distance, with the current cost of diesel they're not cheap. Been trying to sell an old car with no MOT and the few seriously interested parties baulk when they check how much it is to transport home, so either going to have to wait for a more local buyer or hope the diesel price comes down or knock even more off the asking price to offset it.
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