Veloeye recently started a petition to tackle the sale of stolen bikes through eBay and Gumtree. Pete had a chat with Veloeye’s Matthew Rice about it.
Bike theft in the UK is a massive problem but there’s not an awful lot you can do to trace an owner of a stolen bike. The guys at Veloeye have launched a petition to have Gumtree and eBay require a bike’s serial number as part of the seller’s information.
Pete caught up with Matthew Rice at Veloeye for a chat.
Why do you think bike theft is such a big problem in the UK?
Bikes are currently the most stolen item in the UK. Bikes are quick and easy to steal and sell because they are often not locked securely and are often difficult to trace back to their owners. Lots of people do not record their frame numbers so even if they go to the police it is very difficult for the police to be able to trace a bike back to its owner.
What made you start the petition now?
As Veloeye has grown we have had more and more people coming to us telling us their stories on bike theft. The Police as well were telling us how they could very rarely trace an owner or for an owner to actually prove a bike was theirs.
Everybody seemed to be saying the same thing that if frame numbers were required when selling bikes it would be much easier to trace back to an owner. Veloeye has always worked on the basis of registering bike frame numbers to owners and electronically transferring ownership when selling on.
We spoke to David Mundell MP about a petition and he said that he thought it was a great idea and he would also take it to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Why a petition?
We had tried to speak to Gumtree and eBay on many an occasion over the past year but had not been successful in getting a response. As we had the support from the cycling community and an MP we decided to do an online petition.
Have Gumtree or eBay refused in the past to make serial numbers a requirement for sale?
I don’t know if they have refused but they do not request it.
Are VeloEye the only company involved in this petition?
Yes, although I have also spoken to Richard at StolenRide who has spoken to Gumtree in the past. Richard got in touch as he shares the same view on frame numbers.
How will having the bike’s serial number help reduce thefts?
It will make it easier to trace a bike back to its owner. If we can make it harder to sell a stolen bike then it will be less tempting to steal. It is just too easy to sell them online at the moment.
Should eBay and Gumtree agree to require the serial numbers for a sale, what next?
This is just the beginning of what these companies can do to make it harder to sell stolen items on their sites. It would be great if the manufacturers got involved as well and held a central database of frame numbers for cross checking.
How does VeloEye help reduce bike thefts as a product?
Veloeye is a QR code and smartphone app. You mark the bike with the QR code, scan it with the app and upload all of the bikes details.
If the bike is stolen 1 button on the app will push a picture of the bike and location of theft out across social media. It will also tweet bike shops in the area and will email a document with all of the relevant information to take to the police.
Anybody with the app can scan a bike and it will either say everything is good or that the bike has been registered as stolen. If it has been registered as stolen 1 button on the app will tell the owner where it has been found.
With our free online search anybody in the market for a second hand bike, police or shops can type in make or model of a bike and it will show if anybody has marked it as stolen.
This makes it harder to sell a stolen bike and therefore less desirable to steal.
