"Type of Title" on Ebay

[littlebill31]

I am addicted to pouring over older bikes on ebay. Mainly just to see what's out there and what people are paying for them.

Recently I bid on a bike. It was pretty cheap, rebuildable and where is say's, "Type of Title" were the words "Clean", as in it at least has one. Not the case.
When you sell a bike on ebay you have, basically, two options for the title type. Clean or Other. Apparently many sellers are forgetting to put "other". I, being gun shy, emailed the seller and asked if the title was in their name. Response, "Bill of sale only". And yet again some "dude" (I use this term as an insult) get's pissy because he's a liar. There are many ads on ebay that say the title is "clear", but if you read the description, there it is, "bill of sale". I'm slightly fascinated by what people try to get away with when selling a vehicle. A mistake I can understand, but to intentionally falsify an ad? And they get away with it too. Enough for them to be confident that they will get away with it again and again. And enough so that it is profitable.

I asked a seller to email me a photo of the back of a title to make sure it, under "buyer", was not filled in. It was. Recently I looked at a bike and the name on the front of the title was nowhere close to the signature on the back. Amazing. No wonder all these bikes are being junked. My state will laugh at you if there is any type of corrected or questionable paperwork. They could care less, they want it to be perfect.

Now, I will say that this is not always the case. I have, and currently, deal with several sellers that are great to work with and totally honest. This is refreshing.
I've just become so extremely reluctant to believe a seller anymore that my trust is gone. It's really very sad.

 

[650Skull]

You brimg up some good points. It is important to always confirm things with a question, the reply will determain if the transaction is worth going on with. a genuine seller is 99% of the time curtious and helpfull. I recently asked a seller if the postage was what was advertised, the reply was just the number and nothing else, no feeling from the answer so i didn't bid. Pays to very cautious.

Have you put a complaint into ebay about title issues?

 

[littlebill31]

Oh ya. I have no problems doing that. But, they will keep doing it.

 

[ReycleBill]

Craigslist appears to be no better. I've gotten to the point that I simply don't want to buy used vehicles or used parts via ebay or craigslist-- the great Internet chop shops.

 

[littlebill31]

There's a guy on ebay that has 2 Honda CB's, in bad shape. It say's clear title, but nothing in the description. I've messaged him twice to see about them. No answer.
Then I messaged him from my wifes account about extra parts. Answered.

 

[osteoderm]

I won't hasten to defend unscrupulous eBay sellers, but it some cases, a "bill of sale only" is clean... enough, but barely. For instance, some states don't title bikes, while others only title bikes after/before a certain age cut-off.
In this case "clean" may just mean that the seller is claiming not to know of any lien or claim on the bike by a third party. If I were to sell my '74 here in RI tomorrow, it would come with a bill of sale and a cancelled registration only; there is no title-in-hand for a bike of this age in this state. While that's standard in this (and some other) states, it could cause a huge hassle for a buyer in another state. Buyer beware!

 

[ReycleBill]

I won't hasten to defend unscrupulous eBay sellers, but it some cases, a "bill of sale only" is clean... enough, but barely. For instance, some states don't title bikes, while others only title bikes after/before a certain age cut-off.
In this case "clean" may just mean that the seller is claiming not to know of any lien or claim on the bike by a third party. If I were to sell my '74 here in RI tomorrow, it would come with a bill of sale and a cancelled registration only; there is no title-in-hand for a bike of this age in this state. While that's standard in this (and some other) states, it could cause a huge hassle for a buyer in another state. Buyer beware!

Agreed, it is true that some states don't issue titles for motorcycles or didn't used to issue titles for motorcycles. A friend of mine just bought a 1969 Sporster in New York and brought it to North Carolina but the previous and only owner of the bike was his older brother. NC. will make him fill out a few forms and maybe wait a little longer than normal but all he is doing is jumping through hoops.

As for Bills of Sale, it also varies a lot from state to state. Here in NC a blank sheet of paper has more value than a Bill of Sale-- seriously. Always check with your local DMV if you aren't up to speed. If you try to title a previously stolen VIN the best you can hope for is to have the bike confiscated.

You local DMV office usually has access to regs in other states-- be really nice and they might look them up for you.

Hopefully, someday, enough people will use http://www.stolenmotorcycle.net to make it a valuable tool to keep people from getting ripped off. At least, that's why we built it.

 

[Pawl]

I don't get all this "Title" stuff, up here in Northern Canada, all you really need is a bill of sale, hell you can even forge one! . . . oops! . . did I say that out loud?, they like it if you have a registration (the paper you hand to the cops when you get stopped) signed over to you, but no big deal if you don't. I had no problem registering my Chang Jiang even though "Chang Jiang" is not in their system, my bill of sale said it was manufactured from 70's refurbished BMW parts, so the woman at motor vehicles spun her monitor around and asked me which BMW it would be. As it is a flathead I chose the oldest one they had on the list, it is now a 1971 BMW R71 . . . and I was done, outta there!. I can see that as this place gets bigger, they might tighten up on registering newly aquired bikes, but for right now it's still the wild West (North) up here. Motorcycles never have to be inspected up here either. cool huh?

 

[xjwmx]

Ebay could stop this immediately by requiring a photo of the front and back of the title if 'clean' is checked.

However -- ebay does not do that, because it will cut into their revenue from vehicle transactions. That is the really sad thing. Institutionalized facilitation of thievery.

 

[ReycleBill]

I don't get all this "Title" stuff, up here in Northern Canada, all you really need is a bill of sale, hell you can even forge one! . . . oops! . . did I say that out loud?, they like it if you have a registration (the paper you hand to the cops when you get stopped) signed over to you, but no big deal if you don't. I had no problem registering my Chang Jiang even though "Chang Jiang" is not in their system, my bill of sale said it was manufactured from 70's refurbished BMW parts, so the woman at motor vehicles spun her monitor around and asked me which BMW it would be. As it is a flathead I chose the oldest one they had on the list, it is now a 1971 BMW R71 . . . and I was done, outta there!. I can see that as this place gets bigger, they might tighten up on registering newly aquired bikes, but for right now it's still the wild West (North) up here. Motorcyles never have to be inspected up here either. cool huh?

Enjoy it while you can.

 

[ReycleBill]

Ebay could stop this immediately by requiring a photo of the front and back of the title if 'clean' is checked.

However -- ebay does not do that, because it will cut into their revenue from vehicle transactions. That is the really sad thing. Institutionalized facilitation of thievery.

ebay and craigslist, the great Internet chop shops...

 

[osteoderm]

Enjoy it while you can.

"While you can"? It's Yellowknife. As in, 10 months of winter followed by 2 months of lousy skiing... Everyone else I know living north of Ft. Nelson just ride their snowmobiles all "summer". Nothing much changes in a hurry in the NT.

 

[littlebill31]

In my state, and most others, you need to have a title. A BOS is useless. Especially when they run it and find out it was previously titled in another state. Then they take it until you can prove ownership, which means getting a title or getting the previous registration, as long as it is transferable. That's why here in Delaware you have to bring the vehicle in. In order to get a title you have to have it inspected, period. Even if it fails, you still have to run it through. Of course Delaware inspection is free, but they want to make sure it is legal.
My point is, is that it says "title". We all know what that means. If it only has a BOS then click "other" because it is other than a title. I've contacted a bunch of sellers about bikes I was going to buy that said they have a title, but then find out it has a bill of sale, then I get the, "der, my buddy did this" or "all you have to do is...", well then why didn't they do it? Because it's not that easy. Or I get the idiots that have a title in someone elses name and the "buyer" info on the back has already been filled out. Only good thing about that is I can, maybe, contact the original owner to get a duplicate title, unless, (what happened to a friend) they find out some title service got another title and the bike is so tangled in red tape and flagged that the sucker sits in a compound for 2 years.