What would you do if you bought a frame from ebay and the...

[utahdog2003]

But pragmatically it achieves nothing as the bike is untraceable unless chipped and would then get sold on in a Police Auction. Let it ride, write it off to experience, but ask for a frame number next time you buy a bike.

I Second. Just ride it.

 

[gibbleking]

the police have to prove that when you purchased the bike you were aware beyond reasonable doubt that the bike was stolen ie the bike was being sold at a price that would suggest it was stolen...in other words if you bought the bike for a price that was clearly less than it was worth then perhaps you would be in trouble.however as you bought the bike off ebay thru paypal or card then you cant be held responsible...you would however lose ownership of the bike if it could be proven it was stolen.lastly if the owner could not be traced then chances are if youre nice to the copper dealing with it then maybe you would have a claim to it.

 

[Corduroyboy]

Re: What would you do if you bought a frame from ebay and th

...frame number had been filed off and painted over.

The person isn't responding to my emails anymore!
It could have been bought from a Police Auction (as I regulary do) so it's perfectly legitimate now. I don't know.
There's no proof that it's stolen, just the frame number is missing makes me wonder (why would you remove it etc).

It's a tough one this! On the one hand you (rightfully) don't want to perpetrate a crime, on the other hand, you (rightfully) want to use what you believe to be a legitimate purchase. The bigger picture is that if this is a stolen bike and the seller was involved, he will get away with the crime and is likely to keep on committing it...
But then again (no offence to any Police officers around), the Police don't really have a good track record of 'nailing' offenders in this area, so the result of reporting it may be that nothing happens apart from you losing out.
Don't have the answer, I'm afraid. :?

 

[lumos2000]

also remembering the seller has your address. :?

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

Re: What would you do if you bought a frame from ebay and th

...frame number had been filed off and painted over.

The person isn't responding to my emails anymore!
It could have been bought from a Police Auction (as I regulary do) so it's perfectly legitimate now. I don't know.
There's no proof that it's stolen, just the frame number is missing makes me wonder (why would you remove it etc).

NOT to be a glass half-full kinda guy, but where is the serial number located and what frame is it. I've had a couple IF frames that over time have had the bottom bracket serial number rubbed off by the elements (rocks etc...), and I've touched up the rub marks and scratches to prevent rust...the serial numbers tend to be lightly engraved, and are even hard to distinguish on fairly new frames.

Now if you have a GT or Tumpjumper frame witht he serial number on the inside of the rear dropout, then that's kinda fishy.

 

[Rampage]

But pragmatically it achieves nothing as the bike is untraceable unless chipped and would then get sold on in a Police Auction. Let it ride, write it off to experience, but ask for a frame number next time you buy a bike.

I Second. Just ride it.

Thats exactly what I've been doing!

Thanks for the replys.
In the end I had an email from the person I bought it from, he get bikes from Police Auctions and recycling centres apparently.
After the hassle of this, I'm out tomorrow to buy a new bike.
So it will probably be in the for sale section soon!
I'll make a note of the persons name and address and keep it safe.

I've owned/sold a few bikes without frame numbers before (Police Auctions) but have always told people that it is missing before selling.

 

[holden]

i think someone mentioned this, but you're taking the sellers word as true, which it could be, but it could be a lie also.

given international/online sales, unless it's super rare/one-of-a-kind, if you think its stolen, i don't think there's much you can (effectively) do about it. if it were a local sale, you could post something on a craigslist/classifieds/etc type forum.