Trade in the bike....

[Headbanger]

Interesting few weeks, Since I have put my bike up for sale I've ventured into/contacted a few bike shops and inquired about trading it.

Being aware that trade value is whatever they feel like offering I've been quite surprised that a number of bike shops just flat out refused to discuss a trade-in, One the other day just shut down the convo as soon as I said it was a Harley, in fact they said they don't trade Harley's.

WTF?, They have no idea of how much I'm willing to spend to change bike nor how little I would accept for my bike, Seems stupid to me to kill a sale completely when a person employed to sell should explore making money on both bikes.

I also ran straight into the same situation when the oldboy wanted to trade in his GSX on a brand new bike, Sales staff at two shops (one being a Suzuki dealership) started to talk him through the steps of listing it on trademe.

WTF x 2, Fuckin retards, My old boy has money, he's not interested in that shit, If they had said your bike and $12 grand and its yours they would have made a damn fine sale, and got his bike cheap enough to make another 4 to 6 grand.

Going back to my bike, I know what to list it as for an instant sale, The dealer would only have to offer a grand less then that, They would have sold the bike I was looking at for sticker price, and been able to move my bike within a day.

Either they need some lessons or there is something I don't know......Either way there are a few bike shops that not only failed in their role of selling a bike but also made it straight onto my list of shops not to bother with in the future.

[White trash]

If you know what to list it for for an "instant sale", and you'll take a grand less than that, why the hell haven't you sold it?

Not being a cunt here or anything, just seems a bit weird.

What are you looking to trade on by the way?

[Headbanger]

Because I want more then bottom dollar, I'm quite happy to sit on the bike for awhile and wait for a buyer.

I doubt many people would list anything At the bottom dollar unless there were some mitigating factors.

The point wasn't that I would necessarily take such a low ball offer on my bike, But just that I'm surprised that didn't even explore that avenue.

[SKIDA//00]

im a dealer pm me and lets see wat sort of deal i can put together for you..

[Lurch]

I guess one problem is that when the store sels the bike they have to back it up under the CGA. There is an underlying potential cost/risk for them.

[Headbanger]

Holeshots just informed me it was too old.

Lmfao. Fair enough, But as I said its not like trades have to go on the show room floor, Offer enough to make the sale and then flick the damn things off.

[Headbanger]

I guess one problem is that when the store sells the bike they have to back it up under the CGA. There is an underlying potential cost/risk for them.

No more then every other used bike they ever bike they sell, Though if the bike was trashed then I could see them not being interested.

[duckonin]

im a dealer pm me and lets see wat sort of deal i can put together for you..

Good for you Dave Anderson's, and darn good advertising....:2thumbsup

[Maki]

Interesting few weeks, Since I have put my bike up for sale I've ventured into/contacted a few bike shops and inquired about trading it.

Being aware that trade value is whatever they feel like offering I've been quite surprised that a number of bike shops just flat out refused to discuss a trade-in, One the other day just shut down the convo as soon as I said it was a Harley, in fact they said they don't trade Harley's.

WTF?, They have no idea of how much I'm willing to spend to change bike nor how little I would accept for my bike, Seems stupid to me to kill a sale completely when a person employed to sell should explore making money on both bikes.

I also ran straight into the same situation when the oldboy wanted to trade in his GSX on a brand new bike, Sales staff at two shops (one being a Suzuki dealership) started to talk him through the steps of listing it on trademe.

WTF x 2, Fuckin retards, My old boy has money, he's not interested in that shit, If they had said your bike and $12 grand and its yours they would have made a damn fine sale, and got his bike cheap enough to make another 4 to 6 grand.

Going back to my bike, I know what to list it as for an instant sale, The dealer would only have to offer a grand less then that, They would have sold the bike I was looking at for sticker price, and been able to move my bike within a day.

Either they need some lessons or there is something I don't know......Either way there are a few bike shops that not only failed in their role of selling a bike but also made it straight onto my list of shops not to bother with in the future.


Would it have made you feel better if the shop had offered you a crappy trade in value for your bike? I doubt it. Just sell it on trademe and the market will decide...

[vifferman]

I believe that the bottom line is customer service, and if the shop values that and "goodwill", they can make some allowances that are really not much of an inconvenience or cost to them.

I've had a mixed response when trading up. The first time, to be completely honest, my bike was a piece of crap, but the shop treated me very well. They gave me a discount on gear (boots and helmet), and offered to sell my bike on my behalf for an agreed commission, and were very pleasant about the whole thing.

The second time was a bit different: the bike the shop were selling was on behalf of the owner, and they wanted to inspect my bike before agreeing to anything. It was getting on a bit (14), and they were quite rude about it, grumbled about the condition, and refused to have anything to do with it. However, I advertised it and sold it quite easily myself, at the cost of some marital discord due to owning two bikes for a few weeks.

The third time, I was "caught on the hop", as I hadn't even intended to trade up, so although had a fair idea of the going rate for the bike I was buying, I had no idea what I wanted for my trade-in, so I got ripped off badly on it, which was my own fault. However, I was also treated very shabbily by the dealer. They lied to me, gave the impression they didn't give a crap about anything except their profit (in fact, they basically said as much!) and as a result have lost my custom forever. So far, what they made on the deal has been more than exceeded by what I have spent elsewhere on gear, consumables, servicing, spare parts, etc.

I can understand a dealer not wanting to have shabby old bikes cluttering up their showroom, but there's always a market for 'budget' bikes, so it's not that big a deal to them. If they don't want them on the floor, there are other avenues open to them anyway. What's better: to have a showroom full of only shiny bikes of the kind that represent what their shop is about, or customer goodwill, and the opportunity for making two lots of profit as well as on-going custom from a satisfied buyer?

[Swoop]

This is the problem when you own a fork. If you were riding a spork, on the other hand...

[Maki]

The third time, I was "caught on the hop", as I hadn't even intended to trade up, so although had a fair idea of the going rate for the bike I was buying, I had no idea what I wanted for my trade-in, so I got ripped off badly on it, which was my own fault. However, I was also treated very shabbily by the dealer. They lied to me, gave the impression they didn't give a crap about anything except their profit (in fact, they basically said as much!) and as a result have lost my custom forever. So far, what they made on the deal has been more than exceeded by what I have spent elsewhere on gear, consumables, servicing, spare parts, etc.



Whould you care to elobarate so others might learn from your experience? How were you caught on the hop, and in what way were you lied to? Were they offering you a shiny new bike that you could not resist?
Thanks.

[Headbanger]

Would it have made you feel better if the shop had offered you a crappy trade in value for your bike? I doubt it.

You doubt it?, hell man, That was the point of my entire post. Talk turkey to me, offer a deal, hell yes I'd expect it to be weighted in their favour, Then its up to me to go with it or walk away.

I'd love to be in a situation where people came to me and it was up to me to make a deal that favoured me every time, I'd make that shit happen.

Seems to me its pure laziness.

[Maki]

Seems to me its pure laziness.



I admit that the thought occured to me too....

[Dooly]

Interesting.
I'm about to do the same, but am thinking of just bunging it on TM, and or doing a trade.
Talked to a dealer about it a week or so ago and what he thought seemed reasonable as a trade.

Anyone want a 04 Speed Triple with all the bling and Tuneboy setup from Triplefourensics?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Interesting.
I'm about to do the same, but am thinking of just bunging it on TM, and or doing a trade.
Talked to a dealer about it a week or so ago and what he thought seemed reasonable as a trade.

Anyone want a 04 Speed Triple with all the bling and Tuneboy setup from Triplefourensics?

Feel free to PM me what you're after for it...and what you'd like to own!

Pete

[Dooly]

Feel free to PM me what you're after for it...and what you'd like to own!

Pete

Got a 1098 Duc Pete?:2thumbsup

(Sorry HB, not meaning to hijack yr thread)

[ukusa]

my experience, last bike was '07, 8500 kms, nothing to spend, new wof/rego. Without even asking, bike shop said they wouldn't trade, but they would happily sell on behalf for a fee. They also suggested private. My guess is they would possibly lose a new bike sale if also selling a late model, low k's bike

[FROSTY]

One simple explaination is that plain and simple money's tight out there.
Before ya jump in please bear with me.
I own a reasonable sized suzuki bike shop in say wellington.
I'm having a not so good month and I'm shitting bricks over all the consighnment stock sitting unsold on my showroom floor.-These bikes I WILL need to pay for
Margins are bloody tight anyway.
Along comes Joe bloggs with his (for this discussion) Harley
Ok now to do the deal-ANY deal I must first pay for the Suzuki he wants then of course pay him for his harley from the slim profits on the suzuki. I then have to sell his second hand old Harley before I even have recovered the money from selling the suzuki let alone made any profit.
Add to that as a dealer I have responsibility for the Harley under the CGA and SOGA so ALL my profit could go up in smoke if the harley even gives a fart and you can see why trades are not something bike shops might want.
Not saying its right or wrong just saying its a real possible explaination.
I must say as a car/bike dealer I'm faced with this exact dillema every day.I tend to be a bit more diplomatic. I offer a change over figure but also offer a trade later option where we don't trade in up front but as long as the trade hasn't covered many more km's and is in the same sort of condition we will keep the trade offer open for a month-giving them time to get better money elsewhere

[ynot slow]

Sure we have trade in figure we want,well usually an idea.My bike was 20years old but 41000km,genuine in average nick,they did a damn good look over in workshop,came up with a figure.Then sold it on trademe as is.No comeback to them,similar to private seller(if I wanted to piss around with auction process).

I had a mate who bought a new cruiser with the Suzuki fest promo year before last,he traded his scorpio,and was impressed at trade in given,mind you his old bike had done 10,000km and was an 05 model,so dealer had nothing to do other than clean it up.

But wtf saying not interested in trading,and not even giving you an idea of trade sucks.Sure you might be looking at $6500 get offered $5000 but at least you can negotiate a deal to suit.If not walk away.And as for the dads bike wtf as well,rule 1 of selling is never judge the man by looks along,the fact they gave no idea of value sucks.

[boomer]

waah waaah chicky chicky waaah waaah

[yachtie10]

This happened to me when i wanted the last (I think) new hornet 900 in the country last December
emailed the dealer to get a estimate of the price he would give for a trade in (because he was in the south island)
Was told they were not interested in a trade only a sale (my bike was a 10 year old bandit with 40000)

traded it on a new bandit with no issues with a local dealer.

[MarkH]

I've been quite surprised that a number of bike shops just flat out refused to discuss a trade-in, One the other day just shut down the convo as soon as I said it was a Harley, in fact they said they don't trade Harley's.

WTF?, They have no idea of how much I'm willing to spend to change bike nor how little I would accept for my bike, Seems stupid to me to kill a sale completely when a person employed to sell should explore making money on both bikes.

Going back to my bike, I know what to list it as for an instant sale, The dealer would only have to offer a grand less then that, They would have sold the bike I was looking at for sticker price, and been able to move my bike within a day.

Either they need some lessons or there is something I don't know......Either way there are a few bike shops that not only failed in their role of selling a bike but also made it straight onto my list of shops not to bother with in the future.


Because I want more then bottom dollar, I'm quite happy to sit on the bike for awhile and wait for a buyer.

The point wasn't that I would necessarily take such a low ball offer on my bike, But just that I'm surprised that didn't even explore that avenue.

Hang on - you WOULD take $1000 less than bottom dollar from a dealer, but you WOULDN'T sell it for bottom dollar - you are happy to wait for a buyer? :scratch:

Anyway, here is my guess on what the dealers are doing:
They don't want your bike and they know that the amount they would be willing to pay is an insulting low ball figure, less than what you could flick it off on trade me for - within an hour of listing. Rather than piss you off by offering an insulting figure they suggest you just sell it privately - you'll get more for it that way anyway. Better to tell a customer that they are better off selling on trade me than offer them a thou or two less than an 'instant sale' amount and have the customer tell every one they know that the bike shop tried to rip them off on their trade-in.

[vifferman]

Hang on - you WOULD take $1000 less than bottom dollar from a dealer, but you WOULDN'T sell it for bottom dollar - you are happy to wait for a buyer? :scratch:
I can understand that logic.
If the dealer takes it as a trade, it's worth something to me for the convenience of not having to piss around trying to sell it, vet purchasers, change ownership, etc. If I have to go through all that, then I want to maximise what I get for it.


Anyway, here is my guess on what the dealers are doing:
They don't want your bike and they know that the amount they would be willing to pay is an insulting low ball figure, less than what you could flick it off on trade me for - within an hour of listing. Rather than piss you off by offering an insulting figure they suggest you just sell it privately - you'll get more for it that way anyway. Better to tell a customer that they are better off selling on trade me than offer them a thou or two less than an 'instant sale' amount and have the customer tell every one they know that the bike shop tried to rip them off on their trade-in.

Better to be entirely up-front and honest with the customer. Most reasonable people are happier with an outcome that isn't what they'd prefer, if they know the reasons behind it.

If the dealer says something like this, I'm sure Joe Everidge would understand.
"Look - we can't give you the full market value for your bike, because it means it will most likely be sitting around in our shop for longer than we're comfortable with. It's a brand we don't stock, so potential customers aren't likely to be coming in here looking for one of those.
You've obviously spent some money on this thing, but that won't necessarily be reflected in the trade-in price we can give you. If you sell it privately, you can at least sell off the accessories separately to get a bit more.
We could sell it on your behalf, but we'd have to take a commission for the work and for having it on our shop floor taking up space. Frankly, you'd be better off selling it yourself."

The shop does have some flexibility with prices - if they choose to opt for making a bit less on a sale or trade-in, banking on making it up in aftersales servicing, accessories, parts, etc, which could be worth more in the long run. If it's a new bike they're selling, they're almost certainly going to be getting something back in servicing, and if they're smart, they should be able to add some accessories onto the sale.

[nallac]

I'd rather them tell ya what they could offer as a trade,even if it is low
thats why you went there for in the first place isn't it????????.

[Headbanger]

Hang on - you WOULD take $1000 less than bottom dollar from a dealer, but you WOULDN'T sell it for bottom dollar - you are happy to wait for a buyer? :scratch:

The point was not that I would take less then I wanted for my bike but that they never even bothered to see if they could put a deal together, and by making an assumption (or perhaps due to being a crap/lazy salesperson) they killed any potential sale immediately. The reason I also included the exact same thing happening with my fathers bike was to demonstrate further how retarded this course of action is.



Anyway, here is my guess on what the dealers are doing:
They don't want your bike and they know that the amount they would be willing to pay is an insulting low ball figure, less than what you could flick it off on trade me for - within an hour of listing. Rather than piss you off by offering an insulting figure they suggest you just sell it privately - you'll get more for it that way anyway. Better to tell a customer that they are better off selling on trade me than offer them a thou or two less than an 'instant sale' amount and have the customer tell every one they know that the bike shop tried to rip them off on their trade-in.


Except I went to them and presented them with an opportunity to make a sale and a potential a profit on two transactions and they dropped the ball immediately. You would think if times are tight they would put slightly more effort into their job then No, no trade and then returning to their desks. (this isnt all bike shops of course, 2 have offered me trade-in value and are the two shops I will be visiting when my bike sells)

Hell, If they worked for me they would be turning that into a sale. Hell if I was working in a bike shop I'd be doing my best to turn that into a sale.

How is offering a sum less then what the potential customer expects (no doubt the vast majority of potential customers initially want more for their trade then what is offered) more damaging to doing business then killing the entire process on the spot?

For the record, The bike I saw a few days ago and which prompted me to inquire about a trade was so damn nice, and perfect, and exactly what I wanted that I would have definitely given massive consideration to any trade price offered. Hell, I probably would have bought it on the spot.

[ynot slow]

Except I went to them and presented them with an opportunity to make a sale and a potential a profit on two transactions and they dropped the ball immediately. You would think if times are tight they would put slightly more effort into their job then No, no trade and then returning to their desks. (this isnt all bike shops of course, 2 have offered me trade-in value and are the two shops I will be visiting when my bike sells)

Hell, If they worked for me they would be turning that into a sale. Hell if I was working in a bike shop I'd be doing my best to turn that into a sale.

How is offering a sum less then what the potential customer expects (no doubt the vast majority of potential customers initially want more for their trade then what is offered) more damaging to doing business then killing the entire process on the spot?

For the record, The bike I saw a few days ago and which prompted me to inquire about a trade was so damn nice, and perfect, and exactly what I wanted that I would have definitely given massive consideration to any trade price offered. Hell, I probably would have bought it on the spot.

Times are tough,well must be good to be in position in any retail outlet not to need to sell stock.
If the trade in didn't reach the expectation you wanted, then you had right to bargain as well,maybe they didn't like bargaining.And how did they know the price they give you wouldn't make you buy,as you said a good salesman may have sold you a bike at his trade in terms,simply cause you were part way sold on it.Their loss.

[Jules13]

It does seem a hard one. I am due to upgrade and now I am pleased I know how it works if you are the dealer so I wont be offended by no offer or a low offer and would have probably told others I was unhappy if I had got either. I would still like an offer though so I dont have to go through the hassle of selling privately or not having a bike in between or losing the bike I like as I know I will be fussy and when I find it I will want it. NOW. Also being female thats how we work anyway. I am asking the shops what they are prepared to do now and finance rates make a big difference too.

[Crasherfromwayback]

It does seem a hard one. I am due to upgrade and now I am pleased I know how it works if you are the dealer so I wont be offended by no offer or a low offer and would have probably told others I was unhappy if I had got either. I would still like an offer though so I dont have to go through the hassle of selling privately or not having a bike in between or losing the bike I like as I know I will be fussy and when I find it I will want it. NOW. Also being female thats how we work anyway. I am asking the shops what they are prepared to do now and finance rates make a big difference too.

Feel free to PM me with what you're after...I love selling bikes!

Pete

[Headbanger]

Feeling better now, The first bike shop to see her in the flesh just offered me a couple k more then the last best offer.

Now I just need to mull over how much sustained rage/vengeance I think I can handle from the wife .