Secrets of selling your Royal Enfieldon CraigsList include re-posting your ad

This blog lists Royal Enfield motorcycles for sale in the U.S. I prowl eBay and CraigsList looking for ads, and list them in the columns at right. It's an enjoyable hobby and lets me see what kind of things people are doing to their Royal Enfield motorcycles.

A camouflaged Military.

I also get to see what techniques, if any, they are using to make their ads more effective. Some ads, particularly on CraigsList, which is free and easy to use, are just touchingly awful. Consider the fellows who photograph their motorcycles inside cluttered garages or, in one case, behind a chicken wire fence!

At least close the drawer.

Others go to considerable extra work. Bob "Banzai Bob" Harvey of Kansas City, Mo. was kind enough to explain his technique of re-posting his CraigsList ad every few days. (Important: if you try this, be sure to delete your old ad, or CraigsList may see you as a spammer and block your ads.)

"The Craigslist software only allows any specific ad to be re-posted every two days," Bob wrote. "That way it is the top post. Many people change their ad slightly to make sure that their ad stays on top. Not only is this annoying to CraigsList watchers, over-posters usually get flagged and cursed. I find that re-posting every two to four days is about right and no one appears to get annoyed with me.

"Some bikes appear to take longer to sell than others. I had a rare 1968 Suzuki trail bike that took almost six months of ads to sell. The other day I sold a Honda CB350 the very day I posted it. People often will call about a bike and say, 'I've seen your ad for a couple of weeks now.' I have an extremely rare Benelli mini that I re-posted for months and months. I finally got tired of doing that and now only post it maybe once a month."

An attractive photograph.

Why is he selling his Royal Enfield 2005 Deluxe?

"As far as the Royal Enfield, I think it is a charming motorcycle. It is perfect for cruising two-lane country roads. It handles surprisingly well for an antiquated design and runs and shifts quite well. I tend to think that if I were to keep it for a very long time, however it may become maintenance intensive. That I believe is the chance you take, however, when you choose to ride what amounts to a two-wheeled curio.

"I realistically probably won't sell the Royal Enfield for a while. In the meantime I'll take it out every couple of day for a jaunt around some of the local two-lanes."

Bob's technique causes me a bit of extra work: I have to update the link to his ad every time he re-posts his motorcycle. I don't mind, and I appreciate him taking the time to fill me in on why he does it.

I've pulled together a bunch of other "Secrets of Selling on CraigsList" from the Internet and will share them with you next time.