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MY GUIDE: Recovering Stolen Bikes from ebay & Classifed ad sites (Copyright ©)

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MY GUIDE: Recovering Stolen Bikes from ebay & Classifed ad sites (Copyright ©)
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flag road-psyclist
Posted: Jul 21, 2010 at 16:19 Quote
Title for my thread ignore

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Hello and welcome to a guide made by Spike Clarke which I slightly edited.

If you have had your bike stolen this guide will help you looking out for it to appear on ebay.

This guide is on how to recover your bike from ebay.

Most people wouldn't think that thieves would sell a stolen bike on
ebay and it will come to you as a surprise as you read this.

**UPDATE*** http://bikefinder.stolen-bikes.co.uk - is a site for U.K citizens to find stolen bikes. Simply browse through the ads and see if you recognise your bike.

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I've found 5 bikes which were stolen from friends of mine on ebay.
(this goes for lots of parts too)

These bikes were ALL recovered.
The following pages show tips on how to look out for and recover your bicycle.

SingleTrack World found one of their bikes on ebay too.

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Stolen bikes generally take a couple of months to surface on ebay/classified ad sites when they aren't so hot or have been passed around a bit.

Keep checking weekly at the least, listings usually last a week.

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LOOK FOR BAD LISTINGS -

Don't expect them to list the bike with the make and model, they are often just titled "Mountain/Road Bike"

Also, they will sometimes list it as just (for example) "Specialized" instead of the full model name, and also, "Specialized Selector" instead of "Specialized Secteur" to avoid detection in searches.

They often use stock images and use blurb from the net as they know fairly little about the bike.

Usually you can find them by setting the "sort by" Distance:
Nearest first.
ie It was stolen in Bristol, then it will be sold from Bristol or within a few miles, i.e a city/town or village away from the theft.

Most are local pick up because the "sellers" won't write an address and send it, or can't afford the postage because they don't want to spend the money .

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Most thieves change parts on bikes to avoid identity, you can usually spot a dodgy looking bike by the weird spec on it though.

See tips on bidding winning the auction BEFORE you make contact

When identifying your bike it helps if your bike has customised features and you can ask the "seller" questions about the bike that you know answers to.

BUT don't be too obvious (eg. does the seat have a little tear on the left hand side from when I fell down the steps)

Get friends involved to ask questions on your behalf too.

REMEMBER: THESE THIEVES LIE CHEAT ALL THE TIME, THEY WILL BE NERVOUS WILL BAIL OUT IF YOU PUSH TOO HARD *ACT CASUAL*

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After all of these steps Contact the Police.
The Police have a special unit set up to investigate regional ebay crime.
Ask for Police help in recovery contact them as soon as you positively identify your bike and follow their instructions.

Feedback Welcome

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flag dusthill
Posted: Jun 6, 2011 at 14:12 Quote
I would just like to comment on this discussion-

It's great that we all have nice bikes and we love riding them, but why does "no one" use a simple chain and lock(where ever you park your ride(even at home-in the garage).

I keep mine locked to my bed post and keep the doors locked.
It might seem like much but I've lost to many.
flag road-psyclist
Posted: Jun 6, 2011 at 14:15 Quote
I've got this beast.

The best security lock in the U.K.

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I don't understand why people don't buy good locks either to be honest. It's so more simple and your bike is secure from thieves too.
flag Highrevkev
Posted: Aug 11, 2011 at 7:45 Quote
How do you recover your bike if its already been sold?

I found my friends' bike on Pinkbikes for sale pages but it was sold a couple months ago. It is unmistakably my friends' bike- an 07 demo 7, tattoo with a white Fox 40, DT swiss front wheel, Dee traxx rear wheel, Blue CC headset, Saint brakes (I could go on & on...I know every part) Check it out yourself..... Killercam03 is selling it
flag OTehNoes
Posted: Aug 11, 2011 at 7:58 Quote
I dunno, I guess try and find who has it now!
flag Highrevkev
Posted: Aug 11, 2011 at 8:51 Quote
We found it last weekend up at Northstar- the guy who bought it was really cool about it. But we couldn't exactly just take it from him....he spent $3k on it... taking it would put him out $3k.... he's willing to work with my friend to straighten everything out, but how do we get the person who stole it in the first place? There's no guarantee that the guy he bought it from was the thief either.... so who gets stuck with the bill?
flag OTehNoes
Posted: Aug 11, 2011 at 8:57 Quote
Highrevkev wrote:
We found it last weekend up at Northstar- the guy who bought it was really cool about it. But we couldn't exactly just take it from him....he spent $3k on it... taking it would put him out $3k.... he's willing to work with my friend to straighten everything out, but how do we get the person who stole it in the first place? There's no guarantee that the guy he bought it from was the thief either.... so who gets stuck with the bill?

Not sure but inform the police about the guy who sold it anyhow, obviously who you found isn't the culprit, but Killercam03 could be.
flag road-psyclist
Posted: Aug 11, 2011 at 9:00 Quote
Private message http://marquis.pinkbike.com who is a moderator and he can sort everything he can do out for you.
flag tom666
FL
Posted: Sep 5, 2011 at 14:27 Quote
Highrevkev wrote:
We found it last weekend up at Northstar- the guy who bought it was really cool about it. But we couldn't exactly just take it from him....he spent $3k on it... taking it would put him out $3k.... he's willing to work with my friend to straighten everything out, but how do we get the person who stole it in the first place? There's no guarantee that the guy he bought it from was the thief either.... so who gets stuck with the bill?

Make sure you contact the police. The guy who has it now can tell you who sold it to him, then they can arrest him, if it wasn't him he's sure to tell you who sold it to him rather than go to prison. Then they can do the same thing to the next guy.
flag cried2dream
Posted: Sep 12, 2011 at 1:53 Quote
A great explanation there of what to do just incase it happens to u, thanks for the info
flag deeeight
O+
Posted: Nov 4, 2011 at 16:58 Quote
Having gone through a problem like this last year where a guy responded to one of my ads offering a trade, and traded me a freshly (like the night before) stolen bike for my bike. This was discovered a week later after I spent time/money fixing what was wrong with the stolen bike, put it up for sale, and had buddies of the actual owner show up to retrieve it.

Things I learned from that...

#1 If there is an actual police report open on stolen property, it is THEIR responsibility to collect the stolen property, not your friends. Anyone else other than the actual owner or the police goes to recover stolen goods, its considered as knowingly receiving stolen property in canada and you can be charged for possessing them then.

#2 If someone comes to you saying "the bike is stolen", call the police, have them come and sort it out. Don't just be "nice" and let the guys claiming they're friends of the owner, regardless of what proof they claim to have, just take it from you. Because when you go to the cops yourself to file a report for theft, fraud, whatever (because you're now out whatever you paid/traded for the stolen item), they're gonna lecture you at the very least about "how do you know the people who came for the property weren't thieves re-stealing it to sell it again?"...as the duty officer who took my report did to me.
flag Ashclo2010
Posted: Jan 29, 2012 at 14:20 Quote
Low life people who hant got a life just sit at home smoking dope and doing drugs go out steal a bike then earn some dollar out of it
flag werzmebike
Posted: Mar 15, 2012 at 9:05 Quote
My 2010 Orange five popped up on Ebay, being sold from a shop in Belfast. Mtbs-R-us.
They were quite helpful at first when I'd provided them with all the relevant details & wanted to resolve the situation amicably. Now they've gone to ground & can't get any answer from them at all ! The police are an absolute disgrace & don't give a monkeys ! Bang goes over three grand. As for the posts regarding locks etc. They broke into my home to steal it which proves 'if they want it, they'll get it'.....
flag tom666
FL
Posted: Mar 15, 2012 at 9:08 Quote
Was it locked up inside your home?

If you get a ground anchor and a good lock you're set. They won't be able to take it without making a shit load of noise.
flag road-psyclist
Posted: Mar 15, 2012 at 9:09 Quote
They will get it if they want it. But locks help deter them if you use more than one as it take a long time to get through them.

The way you tried to approach it is your own fault. You should've acted like you wanted to buy the bike and pick up, taken the police with you with all your evidence and that way you would've caught them.
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