How to Sell Used Cars Online

A car can be sold easily over the Internet than through a dealer, helping you skip the dealer fees, thus, getting more value for your old car.

Selling your trusty old rust bucket to buy a new car for yourself or your family is an old American tradition. What has changed through time is the place where you sell the old car. Today, there are buyers for almost all models of cars of all companies. Welcome to the online world of selling used cars!

Selling a used car online is quite a simple process. Here's what you must do.

When you put your car on the market yourself, the onus is on you to fix the price you want to sell it at. But you have to be reasonable. For that, you can refer to the 'blue book', which gives you some idea of what price your used car commands on the market.

Once you know the potential price of your car in the market, the next step is to see how much higher or lower you can price your car. The blue book gives an average price for the car. Hence, if your car is better or worse, in terms of mileage, accessories, etc., than the average car of that model, you can price it higher or lower.

If you want to sell the car at a good price, you will have to do a slight touch up job on it so that it looks good. This involves washing and waxing the car, fixing the dents or scratches on the exterior, and repairing the interiors, if required. Once done, you'll have to dig out all your service records and bills.

Make sure that all the registration documents of the car, and insurance papers, if any, are in order.

Once all the maintenance work is done and your car looks ready to go, take a nice picture of the automobile. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A good picture of your car may be worth a few dollars more as well. Ask around for websites that are good in selling old cars.

If you are not able to find a site, try visiting websites like cars.com and eBay.com, which are the general favorites among used car buyers.

These websites are quite reliable and very popular, so you can be sure that your car will get quite a few parties offering competitive prices. Make sure that your ad is self-explanatory and elicits more interest rather than questions. Once you shortlist the buyers, you can arrange a test drive, and final negotiations can be carried out.

There are many advantages of selling old cars online as compared to through newspapers, such as:

• The advertisement is accessible to a wider audience as more people access popular websites. Newspapers classifieds may be seen only by local readers. Wider coverage means more people, more hits, and, perhaps, better prices.

• Car selling websites give more space for you to write information about the car. While newspapers charge you heavily for every inch of space, you can afford to put up sufficient details about the model and specifications of your car on a website.

• In case you have accidentally omitted a crucial detail about your car, a website enables you to get feedback on that missing detail. Potential buyers can request details and you can provide it to them on a website as opposed to a newspaper, where communication is one way.

• The follow-up and communication is easier and faster on a website than through any other medium.

So, to sell your used car faster and more effectively, sell it online.