The golden rule: don't let the machine go until the full amount is showing in your own banking app. A screenshot isn't payment, and neither is an email. Don't refund overpayments or pay 'courier fees'. And nobody takes a test ride until the money is in your account.
Fake payment screenshots
This is the most common one. The buyer turns up, says they've paid by bank transfer, and shows you a screenshot or a banking app screen saying the money has gone. It looks real. It isn't. Faking a payment screen takes seconds.
Variations include a fake 'payment confirmation' email made to look like it's from your bank or PayPal, and a text saying the payment is 'pending' and will clear in a few hours. The industry's Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign warns that criminals send fake receipts and confirmations using trusted organisations' logos.
So check for yourself. Open the banking app on your own phone and look at the balance. No money there means no payment, whatever the buyer says is 'on its way'. A genuine buyer will wait.
The courier collection scam
A buyer who can't come in person offers to pay the full price and send a courier to collect. They're keen and don't haggle. They also ask very little about the machine.
Then the 'payment' arrives as an email that looks like it's from PayPal or a bank, saying the money is held until you pay the courier's fee or send a tracking number. Or the courier turns up and the machine is gone before you realise nothing was ever paid.
Be suspicious of any buyer who won't come and see the machine. Never pay a fee to receive money: genuine payment systems don't work that way. And no machine leaves your yard until cleared money is in your account.
Overpayment and refund scams
The buyer 'accidentally' pays too much, or pays extra 'for the courier', then asks you to send back the difference. Sometimes the first payment was never real. Other times it's a cheque or banker's draft that bounces a few days later. Either way, the refund you send is real, and it's gone.
Never refund an overpayment. Someone who genuinely paid too much can sort it out with their own bank, while you wait for the full payment to clear and stay cleared. Ask for the exact agreed amount and nothing more, and the trick can't start.
Test rides that don't come back
A 'buyer' asks for a quick ride to check it runs properly, and simply keeps going. Electric dirt bikes are especially easy targets. Light and nearly silent, they can be out of sight in seconds.
Some ground rules for viewings:
- Show it running yourself: start it and ride it round the yard while they listen.
- If they insist on riding it, only do it once the full asking price is in your account, with the agreement that you'll refund if they walk away.
- Never hand over the key and turn your back. Keep it on your land, where you can see it.
- Have someone with you when buyers visit, and take the buyer's full name and address first.
Remember the law, too.
Most Sur-Ron, Talaria, Stark Varg and E Ride Pro models are not road legal. They're for private land with the landowner's permission, and tracks. We never suggest riding a non-road-legal bike on public roads.
A public lane is a road, so a buyer's test ride down it is road riding. Keep any demonstration on private land.
How to take payment safely
For a machine worth a lot of money, a bank transfer is the safest way to be paid, as long as you check it yourself.
| Payment method | Safe to release the machine? |
|---|---|
| Bank transfer, showing in your own banking app | Yes. The sender can't cancel it once it's gone. |
| A screenshot or message saying it's been paid | No. These are easy to fake. |
| Cheque or banker's draft | Not until it has fully cleared. Forged drafts are a known scam. |
| Cash | Only if you can check it and bank it safely. Large amounts of cash carry their own risks. |
| Any payment that needs you to pay a fee first | Never. |
A few more habits that help:
- Get the buyer's full name and address, and look at their photo ID.
- Never share a verification code sent to your phone. Some scammers ask for one to 'prove you're real', then use it to take over your accounts.
- Keep all messages until the sale is done.
- If something feels rushed or odd, stop. A real buyer will still be there tomorrow.
Been scammed? Call your bank straight away. Then report it. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud in December 2025 as the national service for reporting fraud (0300 123 2040). In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101. For the risks of each selling route side by side, compare the main ways to sell.
How we pay when we buy yours
Our payment goes by bank transfer and lands before anything is loaded. Check it yourself in your own banking app. Our phone doesn't count, and nor does a screenshot. No money in your account, no loading.
- You never pay us anything. There's no fee of any kind, collection included.
- We never ask for a refund or send more than the agreed price.
- Every machine gets the same ID and paperwork checks, matched to the frame number, because we're careful about who we buy from too.
- You get our offer before we come out. If the machine is as you described it, the offer stands. Otherwise we explain what's different, and you're free to walk away at no cost.
There's more about who we are and why sellers come to us, and you can see each step of collection. To start an offer takes about 2 minutes, and you'll hear back within 24 hours.