Buying then selling bike in Oz
 

Buying then selling bike

I’m looking at going to Australia for about 3 months later this year: the idea would be to spend the time travelling pretty constantly by bike. Rental for such a long period is crazy expensive, so the options are to ship my own bike over, or buy a used one at the start of the trip, then sell it when I’m finished.

I’d almost certainly buy from a dealer, since I’d rather pay more for something that’s been recently serviced and has a warranty. And at the end I’d probably sell to a dealer [not necessarily the same one], since although I’d probably get less than on a private sale, it should be a lot quicker. From what I’ve read that looks pretty feasible and straightforward. but there’s one aspect I haven’t seen covered anywhere: the difference between the buying and selling prices of the bike. Obviously it’s impossible to be precise, but there must be a ball park percentage difference between the two prices: ie pay $10,000 get $5,000 back [50%], or pay $6000 get $4000 back [66%] I’m assuming selling the bike in similar condition it was bought in, but plus thousands of kilometers.

Anyone got any idea what the figures might be? Or has even done such a thing?

Hiya,
This is probably a good place to start...
http://www.bikesales.com.au
Have a great trip!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'd be interested to see the replies you get. About 20 years ago, I rented a BMW F650 in Aus for a month, and it cost me $2500 then. I'd love to go back to Australia for another extended ride, but I don't want to go for less than a couple of months. With rental rates being at least $100/day, I might as well buy a decent used bike than rent.

Keep in mind that most stealers.... er I mean "dealers" need to make at least AU$2,500 on each bike they sell. You ballpark figure of 1/2 purchase price is probably realistic on bike in the $5,000-8,000 purchase range.

Regards

Nigel

Have a look at Motorcycle Research - Compare Motorcycles - New and used motorcycle prices - RedBook.com.au which gives estimates of market values and trade in prices as supplied by dealers. You need to drill down a bit on each model to see current prices - the price you see is the original price when sold new. eg 1988 BMW R65 new price $7280, current price range $1200 to $2100.


Selling to a dealer is a lot easier than selling private, and you can easily sell in another State, which is harder selling privately. ie you don't need to provide a road worthy cert if selling to a dealer.


Most of the States have websites telling you the processes to go through when buying or selling.

IMO, the Aus market is pretty dead at the moment Lots of good second hand bikes available for good prices. The Redbook website is a bit optimistic on the resale value (at least here in WA) and you can drop upto 20% of what Redbook says for trade in as a private sale. E.g. a '09 Varadero is listed as $7700 lowest value for a trade in, yet an inmate could not sell his bike privately for $7k the other day.

There is also the little matter of having an address when you purchase a motorcycle.

And you'll get more if you sell the bike in the same state as you buy it, otherwise the buyer has to put the bike over the pits again to get it registered in that state (each state has its own rules, costs and system)

Im riding a english bike imported on a carnet here at the moment, if you have any questions regarding that. Squirt me an email or something.

Im more active on my Facebook page though.

Cheers

Hostel or RV park address will do but in some states you may need to have a receipt for the rent as proof that you live there. Postal address can be different.

Third party injury insurance is mandatory and is part of the registration process.

Hi,
I'm just back from NZ and bought & sold the bike there.
Prior I contacted

Cyclespot - Motorcycle dealers for Honda, BMW, KTM, Ducati, Vespa, Husqvarna, Indian, Victory

in Auckland and spoke to Mike there. He was very helpful and fair.
I bought a BMW F 650 for 5,000$ and sold it for 3,000$ after some two month.
There's absolutely no reason to have a bigger bike for that country.
Registration and insurance was done within minutes. Absolutely easy.
And in total it was much much cheaper than renting or shipping.
Good luck and enjoy the ride; you'll love it.

Thomas

Thomas on solo tour | Australia/New Zealand 2015/2016

Hi,

If you could contact me privately I think I could help with a motorcycle of your choice.

hi Russki Guzzi, if ur interested Free Local Classifieds Ads from all over Australia - Gumtree is full of very interesting bikes for sale, some of which come well-prepared for a trip. l'm looking at possibility of 3-6 month myself and would also imagine that selling a bike on to another traveller through this forum might b an option ( though possibly time-consuming)

Hi!
I am interested in knowing what happened with Russki Guzzi, are you currently in Australia?
I also have similar plans, buy a motorcycle in Australia or New Zealand and travel in both countries for a few months, then could move to other countries or sell my bike there. I currently live in Canada and want to keep my current bike here as I plan to return home often after a 2 to 4 months travel in other parts of the world.
Any other advice on this topic? thanks,
Claire

Hi Claire. Due to ADR regulations, it's almost impossible to permanently import a motor vehicle into Australia unless it's an older collectable vehicle. Is MUCH easier to import into NZ. About the only practical option to use one bike in both countries would be to buy in Aussie and sell in NZ. It's fairly expensive to freight a bike across the Tasman so if you're thinking about buying a cheaper bike, it might be cost less to buy and sell in both countries.

Regards

Nigel

If you buy a bike in NZ and then take it to Australia, would you need to get a carnet for Australia or is it covered by the trans Tasman agreement.

Other possible problem is if bringing vehicle into australia on a carnet, would there be problems leaving for a couple of months without it.

I dont know if in NZ bring to AU you can do it but NZ definitely need a carnet from Aus to NZ, spoke to NZ customs about a month ago.. even the temporary import docs that NZ have are being faded out...