No serial, no sale?

[javadude]

Yeah, ok conspiracy man.

I'm also really sorry about the aliens who landed in your back garden and anal-probed you.

 

Conspiracy? I'm not the one treating every sale on the hub with suspicion. You guys are like a bunch of frenzied witch hunters on a crusade. Its up to any buyer to ensure that the goods they are buying are not stolen. If you want to buy a bike from me you are welcome to come and have a look at the serial number, but I'm not publishing it on some web site for the whole world to see.

[AndreZA]

Putting a serial number on site where anybody can just copy it is not a good idea. then you can use it to register a stolen bike. Why do you think you never see car serial number or number plates on a website.

[JarradVZ]

Conspiracy? I'm not the one treating every sale on the hub with suspicion. You guys are like a bunch of frenzied witch hunters on a crusade. Its up to any buyer to ensure that the goods they are buying are not stolen. If you want to buy a bike from me you are welcome to come and have a look at the serial number, but I'm not publishing it on some web site for the whole world to see.

You are missing the point. It's not about being suspicious of anyone but rather making this platform a more difficult place to exploit by would-be dodgy dealers. If this could spread to other forums then eventually criminals would have a tougher time of offloading their goods. I am not accusing anyone.

Your point about someone reporting your bike stolen - this person would be an idiot because any dated photo with you and your bike or simply publishing your serial on nbrza or here would leave him with egg on his face.

There is no reason for you not to publish your serial numbers.

So instead of being a pessimist git and complaining about the bike theft, why not help us to change things?

And no, I'm not joining the reservists but thank-you very much for the offer.

[BogusOne]

You are missing the point. It's not about being suspicious of anyone but rather making this platform a more difficult place to exploit by would-be dodgy dealers. If this could spread to other forums then eventually criminals would have a tougher time of offloading their goods. I am not accusing anyone.

Your point about someone reporting your bike stolen - this person would be an idiot because any dated photo with you and your bike or simply publishing your serial on nbrza or here would leave him with egg on his face.

There is no reason for you not to publish your serial numbers.

So instead of being a pessimist git and complaining about the bike theft, why not help us to change things?

And no, I'm not joining the reservists but thank-you very much for the offer.

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/75973-merida-mission-900-urgent-sale-last-price-drop/page__view__findpost__p__1120972

[David Marshall]

I would rather go with the data dot system. It is the components rather than the frames that have resale value, especially when the bike is a couple of years old. Personaly I don't think much stolen stuff is traded on the hub - there is just not the volume of quality parts being sold. The target bikes are high end MTB's so we should be seeing more shocks, groupsets etc and although there are lots of for sale posts very few fit this category.

[Tuxstir]

timhenman. your idea is in he right direction, but its not a good idea. i agree with mampara and velo, i would not openly publish my serial no.

i think maybe instead of private listing of serial no's, it should be government controlled, like what they did with the whole rica act on cellphones.

you buy your bike, ad it immediately gets entered into a data base. the problem really comes into, how do you control and enforce such a system, with our understaffed police force.

cause at the end of the day, they are the ones that need to enforce it, but such a system would atleast make it easier to pick up stolen bikes at border posts.

your system doesnt help prevent theft, only making it easier to access our personal info.

 

i also noticed that you haven't listed your bikes serial no! i thought you would lead by example?

[Tieffels]

My take on the matter is that there is a massive pile of high end frames lying in a ditch somewhere with all the big budget parts stripped and sold on here/gumtree etc. Why take the risk of stealing a bike and selling it complete? Strip the shock and wheels and Kapow, R6000, all in a morning's work. If they are really entrepreneurial, throw in the drive train and brakes for another 1 or R2k.. The only evidence pointing to a stolen bike is the frame, so just get rid of that..

[ianhoy]

Whats that site where you register your bike?

This will take a while to work into the system but might be a good idea

http://www.nbrza.co.za/

[covie]

being the pesimist as usual, that would simply mean they will sell all the parts and chuck the frames.

[Clint Adams]

This would be so important for all items like frames etc...

 

Serials should be available if asked for! There are lots of thieves and crooks out there.

[Taps]

This morning I had no milk...... no cereal.

[pezulu]

Only a VERY small portion of riders actually log on to this forum.

What about the other thousands of riders that don't log in here?

 

To effectively control the resale of stolen bikes you would need a system much the same as the one used for motor vehicles.

All bikes, with their serial numbers, would have to be entered onto a central database, and each transaction would need to be updated on the system in realtime.

 

Unfortunately we all know that the updating of vehicle registration particulars is not very effective. There are numerous loopholes in the system. Vehicles are also still being stolen daily.

 

To set up a database would not be too difficult.

All that would be needed was a sufficient number of people to actually capture the data, and a method for sending the data through to the database.

For that one would need resources, manpower and funding.

 

Hubbers can easily set up a database like that.

One person could set up the database, and all the necessary information could be captured on a spreadsheet.

Data updates could be sent through via email, and any queries regarding bikes could be made in the same manner.

It may take a few days to capture all the data, but once that was done, it would be fairly easy to keep the system updated.

[LeTurbo]

1) A lot of the older steel bikes don't have serial numbers, just (sometimes) vague model numbers.

 

2) Most of the guys who steal bikes are not in the economic bracket to have computer access.

 

3) If they did advertise on The Hub, or if the serial number were tracked in cyber space, they'd just sell it in the real world.

 

4) Most of the stolen bikes are probably sold in the townships.

 

5) If they're not sold in the townships, guys like Cash Converters are not going to bother going on the 'net to check serial numbers. They'll take a photocopy of the (forged) ID and leave it at that. There backs are covered as far as police procedure goes.

[Eugene]

If you don't trust me and you think my bike is stolen, don't buy it. This is the Hub, a public forum, they are not the police. You cannot expect them to start enforcing this rule to ads placed.

 

People are entitled to ask for Serial numbers just like they are entitled to ask for the size, but to force people to publish the number each time they post an ad is just plain rediculous.

[scotty]

I like the idea of a central point with a list of stolen bikes is maintained, this can then be reffered to by police, eBlockwatch members, security companies etc, might take a while but then Rome was not built in a day.

[DMC007]

If you don't trust me and you think my bike is stolen, don't buy it. This is the Hub, a public forum, they are not the police. You cannot expect them to start enforcing this rule to ads placed.

 

People are entitled to ask for Serial numbers just like they are entitled to ask for the size, but to force people to publish the number each time they post an ad is just plain rediculous.

 

Agreed. There are few dodgie Hubbers....but going so far as serial no's

I wont...sorry.