How should I accept payment and should the fact that they have not made a formal auction bid make a difference/be cause for concern?
Unless you want your selling career to end before it's even started, do NOT sell the bike until the buyer has bid for and won it through eBay checkout. Selling outside of eBay, which evades payment of eBay's fees, could result in a 7 day suspension of your account. EBay monitors ever message between members for attempts to exchange contact details, which is not allowed until the auction had ended and the buyer has won it.
If the buyer pays by cash, which is what you're asking for, it hardly matters where you meet to hand it over. Give him a receipt for his payment, and ask him to sign a collection receipt for the bike.
Be cautious if the buyer wants to pay by any other method. Remember that when an item is collected the seller has no proof of postage or delivery, and so is vulnerable to any scam in which the buyer later claims not to have received it, or not to have authorised the payment.
p.s. next ime you sell something here, photograph it against a clear background so that it will stand out.
pps. setting a reserve will mean an additional 4% fee on the reserve price. This is on top of the normal selling fee, and is payable whether or not the bike sells. It's cheaper and better just to start auctions at the lowest price you would be willing to accept.
Q~~_7.JPG "plpmr"){kind=avatar}
