Paging the Bristoli

Platy? Anyone else?

I'm wondering if someone could look over a bike for me....

 

Might be able to get there at the weekend if there is nobody closer.

 

wrote in @news.gradwell.net:

I think he was looking for someone with a demonstrable clue.

Thanks for making me laugh though.

 

Actually, the eBay auction times out in 16 hours (I've just noticed), so
it's make my mind up time.

Tough call.

 

I could do it tomorrow morning.

 

Sure, tho Platy is closer. Let me know.

 

YHM

 

Bloody hell, that was a close call. As some will know, I'm looking for
the 'right' Kawasaki GPZ900R, and this one

250365589014

popped up on the radar. I only got wind of it yesterday through my
searches, which surprised me as I'd have thought it would have shown
up before, and there was less than a day to run. You can see from the
pix it seems to be in a tyre workshop, or something similar.

I emailed the seller with a number of pertinent questions (tax, MoT,
state of consumables, was it a UK model, what was the exhaust like,
was it running sweetly, etc etc), and didn't actually get much in the
way of specific answers. I was that ---> <--- close to slamming down a
bid on it, but the sketchy reply and the zero feedback made me take up
Platypus's offer of a look-see. He'd deduced the bike was bang next
door to a Bristol dealer, and might actually be one of theirs.

I hadn't noticed the phone numbers on the auction page. Doh. Platy
did, though. His report:

"I phoned. The landline doesn't take incoming calls, and the moby is
switched off. I'll pop round for a Geoffries."

My answer: "Ta. Doesn't sound that good now. Hmmmm......"

Then a phone call from Platy. All he said was: "I'll email you...."
That didn't sound good.

It wasn't. Platy's email:

"Well, I've been out and had a look. The unit's closed up, no signs
of life.

"I talked to the guy in the Bike Hut. Apparently, our friend has done
a runner. He's allegedly in Australia, having left a lot of people in
the
lurch. I asked if he was likely to end up in possession of the ZX900,
and he was fairly scathing as to whether it ever existed.

"If he comes back to you and says the bike is available to view, I can
do a viewing, but I won't be holding my breath."

There may be a perfectly rational explanation, and the place might
just have been closed for lunch, but I'm not taking the chance. Huge,
huge, huge thanks to Platy.

 

It clearly existed once, but it doesn't look like that was recently -
that plate's been "unlicenced" since 2002. Not SORNed.

 

Er, that is, buying it. Obv. Doh.

 

Jesus. It gets worse )

 

Surely you wouldn't have been actually buying it until you were standing
in front of the thing, handing over your money. At which point, you'd be
making a few checks as to whether it appeared stolen or non-existent,
wouldn't you?

 

I was thinking something like sending £100-250 by Paypal as a deposit.

 

I can't think of any circumstances where I'd risk that, either as buyer
or seller.

 

<Shrug>

I've done it, and buyers have sent me deposits by Paypal. There again,
my fb is good.

You're right in one respect: I might not have sent a deposit to a zero-
FB seller. There again, if he'd given some good concise answers to my
questions, I might well have. It was only because his answers seemed
evasive and incomplete that I took more of an interest.

 

Mine's spotless, so I'd expect a seller to trust me without needing a
deposit. Generally speaking, I find that people who are trusting, tend
to be the most trustworthy themselves.
So far, nobody's asked me for a deposit, but then I always get in touch
immediately and arrange to collect the item ASAP. Not much point asking
for one if I'm going to be there the next day.

When I'm selling, I don't want to risk a chargeback. So would have to
refund the Paypal deposit in their presence and have them pay cash,
which is too much hassle.

And besides, a deposit on an unseen item is never going to guarantee a
sale anyway. But it will increase the aggravation for both sides if the
buyer feels that the item's not as described.

Just as well he wasn't a more efficient scammer then!

 

I've paid £100 deposit by paypal and I think it's a realistic request
if a seller asks for it.

My best one was being asked to pay the balance in full by bank
transfer and the seller would deliver the bike free of charge. A bit
of searching (by my elder brother who works in the 'internet security'
business) led us along a right trail trying to track down the seller
and when I reported it to Ebay they told me they'd deal with it and
forget the purchase ever took place.

 

Same here (well, not totally spotless but 100% atm, and no negs in the
last year).

Oh, agree 100%. And the ones who always think people are out to rip
others off tend to do the same thing themselves....

 

But what happens if you then go to collect the item and find that it's
not as described? There's a very real danger of this with vehicles.
Chances are, the atmosphere's going to be a bit strained once you've
pointed out all the previously unmentioned rust holes in the POS they're
selling, so insisting on standing over them while they log on to Paypal
to refund your deposit isn't going to make things any more pleasant.

As an occasional seller, I'm aware of the risk of buyers not appearing
and factor this in when deciding whether to sell by eBay. When selling
something like a car, I always state in my listings that the seller must
get in touch, with a phone number, within 48 hours. Talking on the phone
gives as good an indication of the buyer's seriousness as I need.

The one time I did get a NPB for a car, they didn't get in touch at all,
and when I called them, they claimed never to have bid. So a deposit
wouldn't have been an issue.

 

You'd almost certainly get the additional security nuisance, too.