Students in the Netherlands have been found painting their bicycle pink or yellow. The bright colours are thought to reduce the risk of theft as it is easier to spot the thief and may make the bike less easy to sell.

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Similarly, a car thief interested in making money can be expected to go for cars with the highest resale value, i.e. cars in the most popular exterior colours. Colour is key in the car market. A car in silver or yellow goes for the same price at the dealership, but the resale value greatly differs between the two.

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The preference for common colours may be strengthened by the fact that a stolen car with a common colour is less easy to spot by police officers that have been alerted a car theft has occurred. That may be particularly important for those using a stolen car to commit another crime such as a robbery.