Different Ways to Sell Your Used Car
There will come a point in time whereby you want to sell your car, maybe it’s had a long, hardworking life and has seen better days or, perhaps you just want a different car.
Either way, you are probably going to want to sell your existing car which, unless you already have a buyer lined up, doesn’t seem like an easy task when you stop to think about it so, to help you on your way here are some hints and tips.
Take time to think
There is going to be a reel of questions that you’re going to be asking yourself as you hit different stages of the sales process and, unless you’ve got the answers, you could find yourself in a little bit of bother.
There are obvious questions such as, ‘How much will you sell for?’, ‘Do you need to take the car to them?’, ‘How do you make sure you’re getting a good deal?’ All of that will depend upon how and to who you choose to sell your car, you could try the following;
Use a broker?
At one point in time, this option might have put people off because your sale was based upon somebody else selling your car for you, to the highest bidder so, you’d get your car sold for you, but then you’d have a chunk of commission deducted by the broker which normally left people feeling a little hard done by.
In addition to having to lose a chunk of money, there weren’t any guarantees as to how long your car would be ‘on the market, or when you would get paid.
The great thing is, these days you have companies that are able to promise, with a guarantee that they will agree on a price with you on day 1, you can then go away and think about it or, agree there and then.
Once agreed, they will take you through the process of the legalities, you’ll need to register an account on their website; cars4us.com.au too, after which you’ll get your money within 24 hours. Finally, they’ll actually come and collect the car from you, yes, that’s right! You don’t need to go anywhere or lift a finger, well, you should probably make sure that your motor is at least clean.
Spread the word
Often, word of mouth has been the best and easiest way to sell personal items and, because you probably drive your car everywhere anyway and speak with various people throughout your day, all you’d have to do is to drop it into the conversation, right? You’ve then got to hope that somebody takes a bite, although, this is a car we’re talking about here, it’s kind of a big deal and, although those people you speak with may pass the information on to others, it can start to become a bit of a drawn-out process.
Sadly, to get the best effect with word of mouth, you normally have to be spreading bad news, that would likely spread like wildfire, your car though well, people have bigger things to worry about, they might make all the right noises, walk off and completely forget. You could put a sign on your car which isn’t unheard of, the trouble with that though is that, you probably need your phone number on the ad and, do you really want to be giving your number out to any old Tom, Dick, and Harry?
Social Media/Blog
In more recent years, the world of social media marketing, blogging, and personal, private sales have grown massively and some people do very well out of it, there is, however, a big risk when it comes to advertising in this way.
Consider the size of the audience you have, which should normally, be a bonus, but with something like social media you are opening the floodgates to almost anyone and everyone, you will make appointments, people won’t turn up, people will turn up and have absolutely no intention in buying your car, they just fancy a trip out for a bit.
You’ll get people who agree on a price or, try to haggle with you right from the off-set and then change their mind at the last minute when you’ve already dropped the price for them in an attempt to seal a deal.
You could be fortunate and get a straight forward, honest, decent buyer who makes the process easy for you but, they are few and far between. The chances are, you’ll be cheesed off, question the sanity of the human race, and perhaps even resort to ditching the car and walking everywhere instead, the idea at least could take less effort.
Trade in with a dealer
Most people will want a car to replace the one that they’ve just sold, one of the best ways to ensure that you get a replacement motor would be to visit a dealer who already has a yard full of various cars.
You could part-exchange your car with the dealer and then get a reduced rate on a new car, the only trouble is the matter of trust, if you really know your stuff, then you’d be fine, but most people don’t know what a good price for their old car is or what a good deal looks like in terms of part-exchange.
On top of that, how would you know if the new motor is any good? With all due respect and everything, the guy is a dealer, he’s there to make money not to give you an early Christmas present, dealers are very smart and know the market inside-out so, the chances of you walking away with the upper hand are pretty, well, slim.
Stay safe
Regardless of how you choose to sell, make sure you do a bit of homework first and don’t go with the first person that comes along, very rarely do you get the best deal that way. Unless you are in a mad rush to sell, then take your time and be relaxed, remember the ball is in your court, you can sell to whomever you choose to.
Carefully select who comes to view your car, certainly if you choose the social media route, make sure to check out their profiles to find out a little more about them before you meet.
