Originally Posted by
francophile
Does anyone else bother running bikes you're buying/selling through Bike Index to confirm if it was reported stolen anywhere?
https://bikeindex.org/bikes?stolenness=stolen
I usually try to run everything through once I can reveal the serial on a frame.
I do this normally after I bring the bike home. However, I'll do it in front of the seller if the environment seems unusual. One time a guy started getting very uncomfortable and admitted the bike was abandoned, but the serial number came up clean so I bought it. That frame was rusted through so it got parted out anyway, it was cheap.