Selling your Spyder

[Buckeye Bleau]

I do realize that there are many reasons that people sell their Rydes and the circumstances behind them are all different.

I want to make a point about this topic on hopes of helping someone else. If you need to or just want to sell the Spyder, it really can be a quick sale but you need to do your homework.

Reasearch wherever you can for the price of others for sale that are close to your model and year, then price yours at the lower end, because most Spyder owners are overpricing them and that will lead to a long sales cycle, no pun intended.

Clean and polish that Byke better than you ever have and list all the positives and Farkles, they may not get you extra money but they WILL get a quicker sale.

I am proud to say that it took me 48 hours to sell mine on a social media page to someone that I never knew. Maybe I was lucky, maybe I am good at what I used to do, marketing. When he showed up, made his decision and asked what is the least I will take, I said the listing price. He asked why no less, I sited other models for sale oncycleworld, Facebook Marketplace and SpyderLovers and the fact that I was very low on the list validates my price considering options, sparkle, maintenance records and such. He said fare enough.

Now someone is going to say, then you could have got more, yes, probably but the goal was to sell it not to hold it until spring for another $1,000.

Anyway, most likely I will be looking for another one in a year or two, but despite many opinions here that 2013 RTL was a great own, no problems, a few mods and my feet were not hot, I could Ryde all day. I will miss the Byke but I had to sell it because will will be moving in with my mother in law who suffers from Alzheimer's and we don't want to put her in a nursing home yet.

Thank you all for a great experience, may God Bless and keep you!

Joe

[blacklightning]

Well said. I have a tendency to switch rides quite often myself (15 bikes in 12 years). My method is to buy at a good price, and then pass the savings along to the next owner. When I went to sell my 2014 RT, it was sold in less than a week. The only reason it didn't sell the first day is because the purchaser had to check with his wife. But when he called back the next day to ask if I still had it, guy number 2 was leaving to come down the following weekend with cash. The first guy told me to call him back immediately and tell him to save the gas money because he would be over in 30 minutes with the cash.
BTW, people are afraid of Craigslist. My thoughts area, just be smart about your dealings. 90% of my purchases and sells are done on craigslist.

[Road-Kill]

Maybe because you are a realist and didnt advertise a stupid price.

[Navydad]

I tend to keep my touring rigs until I have 80,000 to 100,000 miles on them which takes about 4 to 6 years. I don't add many accessories except for comfort items. When I sell a bike I advertise it with high mileage, but with excellent care and I will have it shined with a fresh oil change and decent tires. I also keep a very detailed maintenance log. I price it to sell. Do I take a loss? Maybe, but factor in those 100,000 miles of smiles plus the fact that if it has wheels it is NOT an investment. I take the money I got from the sale and get my comfort accessories for the new ride and life goes on. I too have had good luck both selling and buying on Craigslist and as mentioned it just takes a bit of caution and common sense.

[Chupaca]

Great advise and will help those in that position. We all want to get our money back but you do have to be real.

[PMK]

Well said. I have a tendency to switch rides quite often myself (15 bikes in 12 years). My method is to buy at a good price, and then pass the savings along to the next owner. When I went to sell my 2014 RT, it was sold in less than a week. The only reason it didn't sell the first day is because the purchaser had to check with his wife. But when he called back the next day to ask if I still had it, guy number 2 was leaving to come down the following weekend with cash. The first guy told me to call him back immediately and tell him to save the gas money because he would be over in 30 minutes with the cash.
BTW, people are afraid of Craigslist. My thoughts area, just be smart about your dealings. 90% of my purchases and sells are done on craigslist.

Curious, did you sell to the first guy that said he would be over in 30 minutes with cash, or allow the number 2 guy a chance? Who wound up being the buyer, 1 or 2?

[blacklightning]

Curious, did you sell to the first guy that said he would be over in 30 minutes with cash, or allow the number 2 guy a chance? Who wound up being the buyer, 1 or 2?

Buyer number 1. Reason being that he was the first one to actually look at the bike. Buyer number 2 was ready to buy, "sight unseen". The buyer number 1 was also local and a friend of a friend. Unfortunately he has been having health issues and has probably ridden it less than 2k miles in the 18 months that he has owned it. But I sold it to him at a good price, so he should not have any problem selling if he should decide to do that.
As I said, I like to buy at a good price, so I can sell at a good price. I see it as helping a brother or sister to get into the sport that I love so much. I would rather sell at dealer trade in value than to sell to a dealership for them to mark it up and skin someone.

[Buckeye Bleau]

I actually sold mine through Facebook Marketplace.

Joe

[ARtraveler]

Glad to hear of your success story. What you have said is right on. Those holding out for that extra $1K usually lose.

Think of accessories as a "sunk" cost. Never going to get their perceived value.

What you paid for or have invested in the machine is also a "sunk" cost. People don't care what you have into it.

Pricing comparable to your area and a tad lowball can make yours stand out--if the customer has also done due diligence. Occasionally someone who does not have a clue, but has some money will also jump in--with not to many questions asked. SL for sale pages--do NOT have a lot of those people looking for a Spyder ride.

[wyliec]

It took me about 1 minute to get $5000 for a 2008GS SM5 when I sat down to trade for a Jeep. I checked KBB, and that was the high end for selling.

[ARtraveler]

It took me about 1 minute to get $5000 for a 2008GS SM5 when I sat down to trade for a Jeep. I checked KBB, and that was the high end for selling.

Guessing there is a lot to play with in the Jeep pricing. $5,000 was definitely a "fair" price. But interesting they still did not try to lowball you.

[al0vely]

I see people who advertise their used RTS Spyders the same year as mine for $15k - $18k. I purchased mine a 2014 on here in the Spring on this site for cheap and plan to get rid of it in the spring for $12 - $14k . I am not going to deep clean it or anything - just selling it looking better than I bought it - which is easy to do.