Selling a bike...via raffle - Do you think it would work?

stoofa · 23 Feb 2011 at 15:11

A friend of mine is attempting to sell his bike.
He feels it is worth around £6500, do far offers from dealers have been poor.
He's also got the problem of letting potential buyers test-ride it - having to get people to pay the cash up front before the test.

Anyway, we were throwing around some ideas for him when we came up with - why not raffle your bike off?

Hit the forums and various websites and sell tickets at £10 each.
Once he has sold 650 tickets the raffle is closed.
He picks a random ticket and that person gets his bike.

Questions are, do you think this might actually work - would people be interested - would you pay £10 to be in with a chance of winning a bike?
Are there any legal implications with this plan?

Ta

Engram · 23 Feb 2011 at 15:15

I very much doubt that he'll get 650 people to pay £10 for a 1 in 650 chance of winning a bike.

Trifid · 23 Feb 2011 at 15:23

Engram said:
I very much doubt that he'll get 650 people to pay £10 for a 1 in 650 chance of winning a bike.

This as well.

I thought it was accepted practice with bikes that you leave a deposit of the value of the bike before test riding it? (I'm not a biker though!)

stoofa · 23 Feb 2011 at 15:25

It was just a thought more than anything.
How about 6500 people all going in for £1?

The bike in question is a Hayabusa - a desirable bike (or so I'm informed - not a biker myself).

Wyvern971 · 23 Feb 2011 at 16:07

It could be he is overestimating the value of the bike.

How old is it
How many miles (not important really, but buyers can be fussy)
What condition
Any mods

Also now is not the best time to sell, not many people are looking to buy, and those that are are looking for a bargain.

As to the Raffle Idea I don't think he'd sell many tickets at £10 a pop and I doubt he'd sell enough at £1 each either.

stoofa · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:11

It is:

Hayabusa
08 Plate
9k Miles
Black
Near perfect condition - stone chips etc for age, but no accident damage
No mods, as factory supplied.

He feels he should be able to get £6000 - £6500.

Two dealers he spoke to about buying it off him were only offering around £5000.

Morbius · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:20

It could well be worth £6000 to £6500 but possibly not to a dealer as they've got to put their own markup on it afterwards.

Trojan · 28 Feb 2011 at 21:37

I've read before that the limit for a private raffle without council approval is £250, so I'd guess your mate wouldn't legally be allowed.

I'd double check this before taking it as gospel though!