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Ebay

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  • March 31, 2018 at 9:42 pm #28314
    Dr Winston

    I didn’t know where to post this but just wanted to say it.

    As somebody who’s rerturning to cycling i’m looking to buy a couple of bikes to add to my two i already have…to that end i’ve been having a few peeks on ebay….and it really is slack, really slack.

    I’m staggered that folk selling bikes aren’t required by law to provide a frame number with every bicycle sale posted on that site…or any other auction site for that matter.

    I’ve already had one “seller” suddenly lose intrest when i asked for a frame number.

    Surely frame numbers on auction lots would kill the trade in stolen bikes on sites like that stone dead in the water…and therfore also reduce bike theft.

    Why has it never been done?..it seems like such a simple fix to me.

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Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • April 6, 2018 at 8:35 pm #915953
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    Dr Winston

    Just as a post script…

    Just as a post script…

    Still trawling through and i’ve noticed a (very) few sellers actually include a photograph of the serial number as part of the set of photographs showing the bike. As a potential buyer i find that really reassuring.

    Good stuff…

    April 3, 2018 at 4:23 pm #915951
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    sergius

    It’s this (https://www

    It’s this (https://www.immobilise.com/) or the nmpr directly now in the UK.

    April 3, 2018 at 4:19 pm #915949
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    StuInNorway

    All our bikes have their

    All our bikes have their serial numbers noted and registered in the Scandinavian bike register. Costs about £30 for (from memory) 3 years (might be 5). Number is logged, frame stickered with anti-tamper sticker thatit’s registered. Gives a discount on insurance, and if it’snicked and recovered there is a 99%+ change of getting it back.
    When I grew up in the UK, you sinply took your bike to the local Police station, they stamped your postcode into the frame under the crank, and noted the serial number themselves for you.  Clearly this is no longer the case.

    April 3, 2018 at 3:25 pm #915947
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    skidlid

    Serial numbers are wonderful

    Serial numbers are wonderful things, if you’ve made a note of it or recorded it somewhere. If not then it’s a waste of time. 

    Everybody should keep a record of their bikes serial number. If you don’t and it gets stolen, even if the police recover it you’ll never get it back ’cause the police have no idea who owns it. So, the police may not investigate the actual theft of a bicycle, but they are duty bound to try and locate an owner of identifable property coming into their possession.

    If you are on e-based selling site and you are actuakly given a frame number to check and it comes back as ‘No Trace’ it doesn’t mean it’s not stolen, it could just mean that the owner failed to make a note of it and therefore unable to notify anybody when it was stolen.

    How many of you actually have the frame number of your bike/s, your partners bike, your children’s bike/s written down or noted somewhere safe? If not, you are part of the overall problem. Correct that by making a note of it now before it is too late.

    April 3, 2018 at 12:25 am #915945
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    Boatsie

    Lol.
    Lol.
    I admire the Archimedean screw.
    Nowadays, just pump it up and go with the flow.
    ” Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. ” Archimedes

    April 2, 2018 at 10:50 am #915943
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    alansmurphy

    ” We’re hammered when we get
    ” We’re hammered when we get the ‘ ohhh sugar, other species exists and they brought an emp, ship,, no food easy to get neither’ ”

    That was one of my mother’s favourite sayings!

    April 2, 2018 at 5:05 am #915941
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    Boatsie

    Most people are fool. Eg
    Most people are fool. Eg eBay.
    The threat of needing a trade system outweighs the height that they are an equal in a kingdom. They are dangerous; they are intelligent fools. Thieves suck, whether they intelligent or lacking how to combine their wisdom with knowledge to benefit brother, they just suck.
    Sucks that the foolish laws nowadays are assisting laziness and pollution rather than regeneration of decent stock. We’re hammered when we get the ‘ ohhh sugar, other species exists and they brought an emp, ship,, no food easy to get neither’
    I agree too, frame number easy enough.
    Wouldn’t need to stop em dead.. Slowing ’em would trace easier and it ain’t much effort to print frame numbers.

    April 2, 2018 at 4:54 am #915939
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    Anonymous

    I don’t agree with your
    I don’t agree with your premise that requiring a frame number would stop theives or stolen bikes from being sold. This is pie in the sky thinking, it doesn’t stop dead anything because the risk of being caught as I stated is negligible, even when presented with hard evidence the police are simply not interested in using their time over such.
    Good look finding a bike.

    April 1, 2018 at 10:46 pm #915937
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    Dr Winston

    Agreed Zero…and plain to

    Agreed Zero…and plain to see. 

    My point is that Ebay themselves shouldn’t have a choice in it. The law in this country should state that they are required to ensure all bikes are auctioned with a frame number. There has been a major problem with bike theft and auction sites for many years and that law would stop all but the most stupid thieves from posting their ill gotten gains for sale. All it might require is a simple cross check by anybody on the stolen bike sites to catch them. Just the fact that they are required to give the frame number would stop the trade almost overnight….it would be too risky.

    ….and….Please tell me more Don….Where do I go?

    April 1, 2018 at 7:14 pm #915935
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    don simon fbpe

    eBay is shit, I introduced

    eBay is shit, I introduced them to a scammer who was selling damaged kit then refusing to collect or refund thus resulting in no negative feedback, even when negative feedback was left, it disappeared. They weren’t interested.

    I have closed my eBay account as there are other, and better ways to buy stuff.

    April 1, 2018 at 7:06 pm #915933
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    zero_trooper

    The issue is, is that Ebay

    The issue is, is that Ebay probably just aren’t interested 

    April 1, 2018 at 4:53 pm #915931
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    Dr Winston
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    bought loads of bikes from ebay ov er the last 15 years, never once asked for a serial number. the only time i did some checking on a bike was a high end and fairly limited run hybrid being sold by a young lad via gumtree about 10 years ago. i rang his local plod to check and all clear.

    many people don’t bother reporting a stolen bike because police won’t investigate/take any action even when you have info of who stole it/where located, so serial numbers aren’t that big a deal anymore.

     

    but just the very fact that they have to provide a frame number stops dead anybody who has stolen a bike from trying to sell it. The risk of getting caught out is so high that they simply can’t. It’s an easy thing for EBAY to insist on and it’s an easy check for anybody to check on the various stolen bikes forums. 

    Whilst the police haven’t got the time to investigate bike thefts from scratch I’m fairly sure they would take up any case that appears on ebay with somebody daft enough to try and advertise a frame number that matches reported thefts.

    in short the risk would be too high to advertise a stolen bike.

    April 1, 2018 at 6:59 am #915929
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    Anonymous

    bought loads of bikes from

    bought loads of bikes from ebay ov er the last 15 years, never once asked for a serial number. the only time i did some checking on a bike was a high end and fairly limited run hybrid being sold by a young lad via gumtree about 10 years ago. i rang his local plod to check and all clear.

    many people don’t bother reporting a stolen bike because police won’t investigate/take any action even when you have info of who stole it/where located, so serial numbers aren’t that big a deal anymore.

     

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