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....

[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?