Buying a used bike without buying a stolen one

Check the frame number

Every frame has a unique number, usually under the bottom bracket. Ask the seller for it, or look yourself. The free frame-number check searches FietsRadar’s register in one go and hands you to the RDW bike-theft register, where bikes with a police report are listed, with the number ready to paste.

The RDW register asks for the brand as well as the frame number. Note both.

Warning signs

• the price is far below what such a bike normally costs
• there is no receipt, and no story why not
• the seller has no key, or the lock is broken
• the frame number is filed off, painted over or damaged
• you are meeting somewhere odd, or the seller is in a hurry
• the seller does not want you to check the frame number

Why it matters

Buying a bike you could reasonably have suspected was stolen is a crime in the Netherlands (handling stolen goods, article 417bis of the Criminal Code). The bike can be seized and your money is gone. And its owner is still looking for it.

Put the bike in your own name

If the seller has the bike on FietsRadar, ask them to transfer it to you. The frame number, photos and description move to your account; the seller’s receipt and purchase price do not.