Safety Centre

We host the listing and the private messages between you and the other rider. We do not take payment, hold funds, or ship anything. Every sale happens between two people, in person or by their own choice of shipping arrangement, using their own choice of payment method.

That means: nobody at Prerode will ever ask you for card details, bank details, or a payment for a bike. If a message claims to be from “Prerode escrow” or “Prerode shipping”, it is a scam. Report it and we will remove the account.

1. View the bike in person if you can

Meet the seller and see the bike before paying. Bring a torch, check the serial number matches the listing, spin the wheels, squeeze the brakes, look for cracks on the frame (especially around the head tube, bottom bracket, and welds on carbon). If the seller cannot meet or refuses to send extra photos, walk away.

2. Meet somewhere sensible

Public place, daylight, ideally a bike shop car park or a police-approved meetup spot. Bring a friend if the bike is high-value. Some UK police forces run designated meetup zones with CCTV. Search “safe exchange zone” plus your town.

3. Check the bike is not stolen

Ask the seller for the frame serial number before you travel. Check it on BikeRegister and Immobilise. Ask for the original receipt or a service history. Any seller who cannot produce a serial number or a receipt on a bike worth more than a few hundred pounds is a warning sign.

4. Pay a way you both trust

Cash on collection is common for private sales. Bank transfer is fine if you can verify the transfer has cleared before you leave. Do not use gift cards, crypto, Western Union, or Revolut “pay a friend” links sent by someone you have never met. If the seller pushes hard for one specific payment method that benefits them, stop and think.

5. Keep everything on-platform until you meet

Our safety scan runs on messages sent through Prerode, which means we can spot common scam patterns and warn you. Once someone drags the conversation to WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, or email, we cannot help. It is fine to swap contact details after you have agreed to meet, not before.

• Take photos with a piece of paper showing today's date and your username. This proves the bike is yours and current.
• Record the serial number in your listing. Buyers ask for it, and it gives you a paper trail if the bike is later stolen and turns up.
• Register the bike on BikeRegister before you list. If a buyer's deal falls through and the bike goes back on the shelf, you already have provenance sorted for the next buyer.
• Meet at a public spot in daylight. Do not invite unknown buyers to your home if you can avoid it, especially for high-value bikes.
• Wait for the payment to clear in your account before handing over the bike. “It will show up in a minute” is the single most common seller scam. Faster Payments usually settle within minutes, so waiting costs nothing.
• Never accept a payment for more than the sale price with a request to refund the difference. This is the classic overpayment scam and the original payment will bounce.

The “shipping company” scam

Someone offers to buy your bike from far away and says they will arrange a courier. You get an email that looks like it is from a shipping company asking you to pay a fee to release the funds. There is no shipping company. The email is fake. Delete it.

The “Prerode protection” scam

A buyer or seller messages you claiming Prerode offers escrow or buyer protection, and asks you to click a link to pay a small fee. We do not offer escrow. We do not send payment links. Report the account.

Payment screenshot fakes

A buyer sends a screenshot of a bank transfer as proof they have paid. A screenshot is not proof. Only your own banking app showing the funds cleared is proof.

Off-platform pressure

“Message me on WhatsApp, my Prerode account is broken.” Scammers move you off-platform because they know we scan our own messages. Stay on Prerode until you have agreed the meetup.

Test-ride runaways

If a stranger asks for a solo test ride on a high-value bike, ask for a deposit that covers the bike's value, held in cash, before they get on. Or ride together. Bikes taken on unaccompanied test rides do get stolen.

• Report the listing or the message using the report button on the page, or see how to report a listing.
• Suspected stolen bike: report it to BikeRegister and to your local police force. For an in-progress theft or an urgent safety issue, call 999.
• Fraud or scam attempt: report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk. Report it to us as well so we can suspend the account.
• Bike arrived not as described (if you did ship it): because you paid the seller directly, your recovery route is your bank (chargeback if you used a card) or the small-claims court. We can preserve messages, listing versions, and photos as evidence.

• Prohibited Items Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Your data & privacy
• Selling & taxes