Selling a Second-Hand Car: Selling Online
The chances are if you’re on the hunt for a new set of wheels that you already have one set sitting in your garage or on your driveway. You can, of course, trade the old vehicle in for the new one, but you tend to get a few more shekels if you sell it yourself – well, usually. This depends on the vehicle you’re selling and what your local car dealer can offer you in the way of a trade-in. But often, if you do your homework, you end up working out that you can probably get more by being your own used car salesman/woman/person.
Online auction sites like EBay (by far the most popular and international online sales site) are very popular for selling off your stuff. People go on that site for fun “just to have a wee look at what’s out there” and also when they’re seriously hunting for a car. And there are many upsides to doing so, as well as the odd downside.
One of the downsides is that you usually have to pay an insertion fee – after all, the operators of EBay have to eat. And even though listing some things on EBay can be done for free, cars can’t be, as you’ll find out if you read the small print. And you also have to pay a percentage of the final selling price. Make sure that you factor these costs in when you set the reserve price on the auction. At this point, you still want to be sure that you’re getting more cash in hand for your old wheels than you would get by using the vehicle as a trade in. Also consider this when setting your reserve price and your “buy now” price. The same applies to other online auction sites that allows private individuals to list stuff for sale.
To get a good idea of what your starting price and what your reserve price should be, have a look at other cars listed of the same age and type as the one you’re selling. Your price should be roughly around the same level, although you need to take mileage and overall condition into consideration.
Photos are an absolute must when you’re selling a vehicle online, but not all photos are alike. It can get a little ho-hum if the only photos you put up just show the exterior of the car from different angles. Yes, your car looks pretty good and you’ve done a nice job with the polish, but often buyers want to know more than just that – at least I would. If you’re looking for, say, a Honda Accord, and you see half a dozen listings that just show the front and side, and they’re all similar colours, they all start to look the same. So what sort of photos should you include?
- Side, front and rear views of the vehicle, and ensure that the licence plate is showing
- Shot of the dash and possibly a close-up of the odometer to prove that the mileage is really what you say it is.
- View of the boot plus things like the spare tyre.
- Shot of the engine bay – it doesn’t have to be steam cleaned!
- If the seats fold down, show them in folded and upright position
- A shot of any special features, e.g. alloy wheels
- A shot of any flaws that you’ve mentioned in your description so the viewers know exactly what they’re in for, e.g. that worn tyre or that little ding.
Be reasonably detailed when describing your vehicle and don’t just copy and paste the relevant page out of our car reviews (I’ve seen this done). Let your buyers know all the basic stats like the year, the engine size, the mileage, and all that sort of thing. If it’s got any special features or if you’ve recently replaced some parts, then list these as well (e.g. “brand new tyres on front”).
You may or may not want to list minor flaws. The key word here is “minor” – small things that you’d like to know if you were the buyer. You may also want to list the reason you’re selling it, but use discretion. “Owner going overseas,” “Expecting new addition to the family,” and “We’re downsizing and don’t need a second vehicle,” are all good reasons why you could be selling, but don’t explain that “It’s a thirsty brute and I’m not supporting its drinking habit any longer.”
There are a lot of cars for sale online so your vehicle may not sell the first time you list it. Often, the second attempt is more successful (but you might strike it lucky first time). Patience pays off… or you might like to try another method.
Level 2, 9 Help Street