Here's mine trying to sell it and start something new. I have it listed for 20k. What do you guys think? 08 softail deluxe. 9500 miles. Stage 1, Shotgun shock, samsons, custom paint ,carlini etc.

 

Good looking bike,

Everybody is looking for ""THE DEAL"" and as said above,, all the extra's you have don't mean crap to most buyers and they won't pay you extra for them, Unless you hold out till that person comes along who has to have your bike.

but I think you may be disappointed on what you will get for it.. and probably will be pissed at what some will offer you.




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priv owner sale.. I figured 1/2 way between trade and retail in KBB...
Dealer won't give very much for any extra $$ for mods on trade-in,, but they will sure add on some coin when the sell it.

I just priced a new Road GL.. My 07 books for $8,400,, the dealer offer me $8,700 because it still looks new and has over $6k in mods and engine work.. It does have some miles but I have every record since she was new

 

I'm thinking that NADA and KBB haven't built the "planned obsolescence" into the used touring bike prices yet. I had a 2012 Ultra Classic listed on cragislist last month for $16,500 and got no bites. NADA says average retail on mine was $18,690. There is no way I would pay someone anywhere near that when I can buy a new one for a few thousand more and pick up all the changes that were made in 2014.

 

My experience is that extras don't add any value unless they add up to at least half the price of the bike and can be taken off to be sold. It's not that they buyer will sell them, but it's an extra comfort to know they won't loose if they have to sell the bike. That goes for any brand bike, not just Harley.

Most bikes sell quickly if they are closer to the BB trade-in than retail. Also, the higher end bikes like Harleys, Gold Wings and Indians have less lookers, but the same percentage of buyers. What I mean is that unless you price it down near trade-in, it will take longer to find a buyer if your bike is still reasonably priced. Just be patient, it's a lot of money.

All three of my last Harleys sat for two months before I got a serious call, then that person bought it. Harleys have an advantage that they come stock with lot of different styles and colors. So buyers will hold out for the right bike and then buy it because they are afraid another won't pop up. I had buyer of my 09 Ultra drive 600 miles through a snow storm for the rare turquoise and white colors.

Beary

 

It's all about market value. Look at your local Craigslist or other online classifieds for similar bikes. If you want to sell fast, price lower than the others. If you price higher, be prepared to wait until the cheaper ones have sold. It's not rocket science, and how much you have put into has almost no effect on what you can sell it for.

My bro just bought a 2012 bike. There were 3 of them on the local classifieds (2 2012s and 1 2013), all same model, with similar add ons, all similar miles and in good condition. Prices ranged from 9k to 14k. Which one do you think he bought? The guy pricing his at 14k will be waiting by the phone for a while, even though he has put more $ into his motor and what not.

I don't think the average buyer can justify spending more up front for those things. Just like the rest of us, it is easier to afford to do mods over time as funds allow.

If you need to get the money out of the mods you are doing when you sell the bike, you shouldn't do them in the first place.

And a custom paint job ALWAYS limits your audience. I would almost say a custom paint job needs to LOWER your asking price. Otherwise you have to wait for someone with your exact same taste in style, color, etc. to come along.

 

If the bike is more than a very few years old, KBB, NADA, etc. are pretty much useless. Don't think of a bike as an investment. If you feel it is reasonably priced and you like it, go for it.

 

Would like to comment on the Ebay thing ...

Yes it is a great way to find bikes and get a idea. I just bought my latest bike that way. Watched a auction till the end and after it was over with no bids I emailed the buyer stating I was interested but would only give x amount for it. Told them I could save them on the seller fees that Ebay charges ect ... Plus it is winter and bikes are priced well.

At the end of the day I got a 10k bike (Book Value) with 4k in upgrades for 8k

 

Yeah... when you look at the completed sales (sold and not sold) I suspect that the not solds show up on Craigslist and are finally sold for what the ones on eBay that did sell went for... with adjustments for seller fees being 0 and shipping (or traveling to) costs.

I think eBay is a huge rip off to the seller and that has to be taken into account in the pricing. You would have to inflate the value quite a bit. I have sold things just to get them out of my garage on eBay that ended up being a loss when I paid the eBay fees and >actual< shipping (instead of eBay's estimate). I don't sell on there anymore.

C#

 

While I agree with you on the retail price, I disagree with whole sale or trade-in numbers because that is what the dealership use for negotiation. And that is why mileage and add-ons don't hurt or help you very much with dealerships.

Dealerships gamble that the BB trade-in number is the least they will get for the used bike, so they use the difference between the BB trade-in value and BB retail to either drop the price of the new bike, or give the buyer more than BB trade-in value on their trade in. Either way the buyer feels like they are getting a better deal than sticker, when in reality they are probably getting a worse deal than if they just paid cash and sold the bike on Craigs for trade-in value.

BB and NADA really give the seller more power to negotiate because the buyer is usually more emotionally in the moment and looking for a reason to feel good about making the purchase. Car dealerships are very good about using these numbers.

I just watched my daugher and her husband buy their first car. The dealer ask what payment they wanted to stay around and gave them an offer with that payment. It looked like a good deal the way the presented it, but in the final numbers, the dealer didn't come off the price. I had kind of coached them on this, so my daughter looked at the sales manager and said, "I made a mistake by giving you the payment. We want to pay $xx,xxx price for the car." The manager said, but you said....... She stood to her guns and said, this is the price I want to pay and we have a lot of other cars to go look at today, so we need to move on if you can't meet that price. The dealer called them two hours later while they were testing another car to come back and negotiate. They got the car for that price, which was $4,000 less than the price with the low payments.

Whether you are negotiating with a dealer or a home seller, always work from the dealer cost or trade-in value, not the retail value. At the very worst, you know the bike is worth trade-in, so that is a bottom line negotiating place.

Beary