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Trying again to sell my previous steed, the SV650S (trying a bit harder this time) but having never actually sold a bike on the open market before I'm very aware that there are loads of scams out there that I need to be aware of. Anyone got any to share.

i'm sure I remember reading something somewhere not so long ago about being very wary of callers who ring up asking lots of questions about the bike which are blatantly covered in the advert, as if all they know is that you are selling a bike of some description. I ask because i got a call this afternoon from some bloke who sounded like he was ringing from a call centre somewhere and said that all he knew about the bike was it's make and model. When I asked what he wanted to know it sounded from the tone of his voice as if he was reading off questions from a list in front of him and I could hear him typing after evry answer I gave (reminded me of trying to get an insurance quote over the phone). When I answered his question about price he immediately started quoting book prices at me very used car salesman like so I think at the very least it was a dealer trying to pick it up cheap to sell on at a profit.

I think the best known is the one where some foreign bod wants to pay you a lot more and you refund the difference - at the very least it's money laundering but usually a total scam where you lose your money as his cheque appears to have cleared then turns out to be worthless.

I'm sure you've heard of that one but it's always worth a mention for anyone who hasn't.

Finally remebered what it is I was talking about (as prompted by some scumbag who was trying to con me out of my hard earned).

Scam goes along the line of:

"Hello Sir, we have a load of people that are interested in buying your bike because they have joined our mailing list and told us their requirements and yours fits the bill exactly. We have all these people lined up and you will get your full asking price, all our commision is put on the price they pay. All you have to do now is pay us £80 of your hard earned and we will pass on your name and phone number and they can contact you about buying your bike. You won't be out of pocket because as well as the full price of your bike, we will give you £70 of your £80 joining fee back as well."

Sounds far too good to be true and I ain't paying 80 squid to find out.

I'll take my chances with evilbay thank you very much.