buying in low price and selling for higher in europe
 

Hello everybody,
I'm thinking about doing a long motorcycle trip around europe next summer.
Since my budget is pretty low i thought i could cut down expenses by buying the motorcycle in one country and selling it in another. I have time and i don't have specific region in mind so i'm very flexible about were to buy and sell.
My budget for the motorcycle and the necessary equipment is about 2000 euro(i have french nationality if it's help).
Do you think it's a reasonable idea?

I don't think it's good idea. There is always fees and problems in selling a vehicle in an other country. And if your budget is only 2000 euros the bike would only be about 1000 euro. I don't think you could make mutch gain on a 1000 euro bike anywhere.

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What if it was 2000 euro just for the bike?

The same principle applies at any point in the overall scale of pricing.

That is why there are motorcycle dealers in existance; it is they who are actively in the market, constantly, and who buy at trade prices and sell at consumer prices, thus covering their own costs and making a living by practice of their trade.

In contrast, quite a number of private sellers appear to want to sell their bike at near enough to a dealer's price without providing any of the attendant services of those dealers.

Nor am I saying that it can't be done, but it does involve time and some effort equivalent to that expended by the dealers.
e.g. not least, you have to find a buyer who sees value in your offering after having found a seller who did not fully realise the full value of their machine when they passed it on to you (and that short answer neglects other factors such as the mileage that you have added to the bike in the interim).

ps
Some dealers offer such a service. A buy back scheme basically but they won't guarantee a buy in price = that will depend on the condition of the bike when you return to them.

What made me think that it's possible, is the huge difference in prices between eastern-europe and western-europe. When i was traveling in eastern-europe the price of almost everything was 50% in compare the the west. If it's the same situation in the used motorcycle market it start to sound reasonable, isn't it?

If you listen to all that say you can't you will start to beleave it, if it's something you would like to do then have a go, if it doesn't work out the way you wanted so it's still an experience you can build on, when I was 16 I used to cycle every where so I cycled to Blackpool from Sunderland it took about three days there and three days back with some days In-between, I was skin and bone when I got back as I didn't have much money, my mam nearly killed me, if I told them I was going I would have never done it.

Walking around the world is possible. But I don't think it is cheap ... think about the time taken and the food consumed.

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What are the import duties you would have to pay on the motorcycle?
And would the motorcycle comply with the local standards for brakes, lights, emissions etc etc?

While 'Just do it' maybe a good marketing thing .. there can be a loss of money rather than a gain in buying and selling a vehicle .. particularly in different countries. Investigate before you do it, afterwards is too late hillelze. Govt customs department can tell you about import duty. And there will be some govt department on putting the vehicle on the road.

Oz is much more strict on transport than we are in Europe, it's quite easy to move around here with a motorbike with out much cost, no extra insurance with been in the eu.

:offtopic: but coincidentally, I used to try to follow this guy's progress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Bushby
I am not sure where he has got to, but Russia is proving to take a while.

Those with long memories may recall the buy in Germany and sell in The Gambia route that was in vogue twenty or so years ago, where the profit could pay for the trip. So it can be done - but you do need to research your market.

If the o.p. can buy bikes in eastern EU Europe for "50%" and sell them - presumably in western Europe - for the going rate then, as I understand it, he's perfectly entitled to do that. Subject to sorting out the paperwork of course, but taxes shouldn't be an issue within the EU. How a French national would legally get on the road with a bike bought in Romania or Latvia I've no idea but people have done stranger things.

Import duties from outside the EU are a different matter. The bike I have in the US is likely to stay there as import duties would come to well over 25% of the purchase price. And that's not counting the cost of freighting it.


Also 20yrs ago I remember reading about Ffyona Campbell doing this and thinking that were worse ways to travel than by bike !

I have done this and did OK; broke even after buying a bike in the US, riding it all over North America and shipping to the UK; even after shipping and import taxes I sold it about ten years later for what I paid and spent, but that was also due to exchange rate movement over the period....

Possible? -Yes.

Easy? - No.

Predictable profit? - Definitely not.

It's not too likely to work OK within the Euro zone for a range of reasons related to the last post.

A few years ago bikes were flowing out of the UK as Europeans bought up stocks from UK based dealers - because of the low value of the UK £ to the Euro.
That has now reversed and second owner bikes are being sold into the UK market from Europe.
A guy I spoke with a few years ago involved in the trade told me that the key rate of exchange that fixes the direction of this is 1.25 Euro to the £ (now at around 1.42 as of today).

Also, too many other variables - popular models in Europe are often not so desirable in the UK; I did OK as the bike I brought in was unique in the UK and somebody wanted it. Had it been a regular model I would have lost big time.

There are some sectors of the market where it's still possible to do this - some classic bikes (mainly Japanese stuff) that are virtually worthless in the US and seem to command high prices in the UK for example, but the way the £/$ rate is at the moment together with the relative market values it certainly wouldn't be viable to bring my US GoldWing over here.

Within the eurozone though there's bound to be some variability in vehicle values between countries but whether it's enough to make the effort of buying / selling one relatively low price motorcycle worthwhile is the question. Any potential profit could very easily be lost by "transactional" issues like paying too much / subsequently finding hidden faults etc - and that's before dealing with the paperwork. Most of the dealers I've known have said the profit is in the buying, not the selling. If there is a market there then you can pretty much guarantee traders will be dabbling in it already.

You have to be cautious in Eastern Europe when buying a bike.

There was a time (not so long ago) where one of the main entry points for US cars/bikes/boats/ATVs was Lithuania.

I personally know people that were in this business for years. Ship stuff by container loads. Many containers :) cars mainly went to former Soviet Union republics.

Anyway, to cut a long tory short, many bikes were imported with salvage title... either MVA, Dropped, flooded or whatever ... not all... but many would have been hurt in the process and that's how they became so cheap and attractive.

Often times ,even if damage is cosmetic , insurance companies would just write the bike off. You never know what happened to frame etc.

I am not saying you will pick up a dud, not very likely. But still, something worth keeping in mind.

That's the reason why bikes are so much cheaper there. Not because they make them for pennies on the dollar or anything :)

with that said, if i was in the market for a bike there... and knew seller , knew the damage (if there was any) and knew who repaired it.... it is rather attractive NOT to pay 50% extra :)