How to avoid buying a stolen bicycle

What a verified title looks like

On TitleVelo, a clear record looks like the card below. The make, model, year, and color should match the bicycle in front of you, and the serial on the frame should match the number you typed.

Check a serial on TitleVelo

Check TitleVelo

Enter the full serial number. A partial number is not returned.

• Verified & Clean Title. The filing was accepted, and the bicycle is not reported stolen in this registry.
• Reported Stolen. Do not buy it. A police report may still be waiting for review. The public record already says stolen.
• Verification Pending. Someone filed it, and the review is not finished.
• Transfer Pending. The current holder has issued a claim code.
• Dealer Inventory. A shop still holds the bicycle.
• No record. This serial is not in TitleVelo. Check the other services below, and ask for the seller’s paperwork.

Check other stolen-bike services

TitleVelo checks Bike Index and 529 Garage when a record is filed and again when a serial is looked up. A theft can be reported later, or only on another list. Search the same serial yourself before you pay.

• Bike Index — search the serial on the public stolen-bike registry.
• 529 Garage — search the serial in the 529 registry.
• The police department for the city where you are buying. Ask whether that serial is in a local stolen-property report.

Ask the seller to transfer the title

A verified card shows that the serial has a record. It does not show that the person selling the bicycle holds that record. The holder opens TitleVelo, creates a claim code, and gives it to you. You can hear the code or receive it by AirDrop. You accept it from your own account. The code is valid for 14 days. The steps are on How to transfer a bicycle title. A new bicycle sold by the shop that filed it is placed on the buyer’s account at no charge. A later transfer costs the person who accepts it $1.99.

If the seller cannot create that code, they do not hold the TitleVelo record. Walk away, even if they show you a screenshot.

The clearest record starts at the shop

The strongest chain begins when an authorized dealer files a new bicycle at the sale. The shop enters the serial number. That first filing has no fee and does not need a receipt. TitleVelo places the bicycle on the buyer’s account.

1. The shop files the new bicycle and enters the buyer’s email.
2. The bicycle is placed on the buyer’s account. The public lookup can show Verified & Clean Title.
3. Each later sale repeats that step. The current holder creates a code, and the next owner accepts it.

A bicycle with no shop filing can still be registered by the owner. That filing needs a photo of the serial and a purchase receipt that shows the same serial, plus the $4.99 review fee. The steps are on How to get a title for a bicycle. A shop filing followed by transfers is the cleaner record, because each change of holder is a code the previous holder had to create.

For bicycle shops

Look up the full serial on TitleVelo, Bike Index, and 529 Garage before you buy a used bicycle for the shop or sell one. If any of those lists marks it stolen, do not take it in and do not sell it.

On a card payment, compare a government photo ID with the card. The first name and the last name should match. A stolen card is often used under someone else’s name. If the names differ, do not run that card. Do not keep a copy of the ID. Compare the names and hand the ID back.

When the shop sells a new bicycle it filed, the bicycle goes on the buyer’s account. When the shop resells a bicycle it took in, create the claim code in front of the buyer and let them accept it into their own account.

Walk away

• The serial is reported stolen on TitleVelo, Bike Index, 529 Garage, or by the local police.
• The seller will not let you read the serial on the frame.
• The number on the frame differs from the listing or from the lookup.
• The seller cannot create a TitleVelo claim code for a bicycle that already has a record.
• The seller wants the money before you can see the bicycle and the serial.

Questions

Verify a serial · Create an account · Terms of Service