Before you get you put your car on the market it is worth trying the Internet to get a good idea of how you wish to sell it. There are services out there that will offer you a fair price for your car and come and collect it. Selling a car has never been easier! Gone are the days of trudging around to dealers or waiting for someone who wants the exact model you are selling and then dealing with their queries. Now it is just a matter of forwarding a few details to the right site and sitting back while you wait for them to answer you. It is even easier than waiting for a consignment deal, you get the money up front with a minimum of hassle.

I have had some terrible experiences while selling a car. I have had to do it on multiple occasions when I have upgraded or purchased a new vehicle and needed to get rid of the old one. To me, any form of advertising based approach can be painful. There is a reason they call people tyre kickers. Fielding queries can become a full time job for the duration of the sale and you have to put up with them at all hours. That is where services who do all of the leg work for you become worth their weight in gold. It works both ways. There are services out there that will find the car you like for you and get it at the right price too.

When you complete a hassle free transaction both the buyer and seller come away from the whole thing feeling relieved that it has been such an easy going transaction. People are more likely to feel satisfied with the transaction and there is a greater possibility of repeat business. Companies that connect buyers with those selling a car are doing a great service. Alternatively having companies who just take some details, send you back an offer then come and pick it up are even better. You are dealing with the buyer directly in this instance and can be assured that nobody is going to be knocking on your complaining about being sold a lemon.

There is the other end of the spectrum as well; that is people who actually enjoy the thrill of selling something privately, as I was when i wanted to sell my car. In fact many people make a career out of it. Online auction houses are full of people who buy low and sell high. It is also the back bone of the whole share trading system. For most people however, the hassle far outweighs the advantages. It is also a competitive world where you are reliant on your product selling. Having a service in place that actually wants your product before you are even contemplating selling it makes the whole process so much smoother. It is nice to know that when the day comes you are able to sell what you want to sell and continue on your merry way without having to rely on random strangers coming across your advertisement.

There are plenty of people out there that are willing to play fairly. If you are selling a car you still need to keep on the lookout for dodgy buyers. These are normally pretty easy to spot. They may ask to pay half now and half later. You can’t give them half the car now and half later so why would you want to accept such a deal? They may also tell you they are a licensed driver – always check the license and insurance of anyone you let test drive your car. If they crash the car and it needs to be reported, letting an unlicensed driver drive your car will earn you a fine as well. There may also be insurance complications with you footing the bill for all of the repairs. This will also make your insurance premiums go up.

When someone takes your vehicle for a test drive; always go with them. Just because you are selling a car doesn’t mean you can afford to have it stolen. If the buyer doesn’t have a license and is unhappy about you joining them on the test drive then the deal is probably not worth the risk. Pleasantly tell them that you have changed your mind about selling the vehicle and that you may change your mind at some stage. This will let them down softly and avoid the risk of them coming back with vengeance on the mind. Always let someone know that you are seeing someone about selling a car. If possible bring a friend along to make sure the deal goes down without a problem. It will also give you a witness in the event you need some paper work signed.

Never hand over the car until you have received the full agreed upon price. If you are paid via a cheque, make sure the cheque clears first. A common scam involves people paying with a cheque. The cheque never clears and the buyer has already taken the vehicle. This is why it is important to see a license for identity purposes when a buyer approaches you about buying a car. It is easy to become a victim of such scams buy avoiding them is even easier. If the buyer does not want to wait for the cheque to clear tell them that they can pay via a cashier’s cheque. That way you can go to the bank with the buyer and get a cheque you can cash immediately on the spot.

Be aware of your rights. You do not necessarily have to refund the buyers money if they are unhappy with their purchase. If the buyer has taken the car and driven around for a couple of weeks then comes knocking on your wanting a refund there is no telling what the car may have been used for or how it was treated when the buyer was using it. Do not give the buyer a refund on the vehicle unless you can verify that the car is in the exact same condition as when they took it.

Many people don’t realise that they have options when they want to sell their car. There are multiple places to sell your car. You may be a little worried about using a relatively unknown methodology to get rid of the old machine. Sometimes you have to think outside the box a little. It is assumed you have taken good care of your car and you have removed any barriers (i.e. you are not selling a lemon and your car is in good condition) but still won’t sell.

I will detail methods I have tried in the past to sell my car. Some of them I probably didn’t try at the right time – the market for that particular avenue may have been saturated or it was the wrong type of car for that market. I have tried many methods. Some I will try again and others require a specific niche to take advantage of. A lot of it does come down to the type of car you are selling and the price you are looking for. These methods include car auctions, trade meets, parking it on the side of a busy thoroughfare, approaching used car dealerships and various online methods.

I will start with the vague one; various online methods. I have tried to sell my car using online auctions, car sales portals and general online classifieds. The most successful method of selling my car – for me – was online classifieds. Area specific classifieds make it pretty easy to find someone in your immediate area that wants a bargain. Not only did I manage to sell my car via online classifieds, I also generated a lot of interest. I am sure if people see me post another car I have a readymade band of interested people waiting to check out what I have to offer.

Another very valid method I tried to sell my car was online auctions. Although I haven’t been as successful with this method as I was with classifieds (and it is not as location specific), if your car is a classic or a rarity people will travel to look at it. The global economic crisis may have slowed down online auction traffic a little, but there are still plenty of punters online that are trying to get hold of a bargain. Again, it is also a good place to get a dedicated group of buyers who are interested in your products. Many online auction sites have a favourite seller function which also makes advertising your products a snap.

Selling your car is all about promotion. It is the same as marketing anything. The first step is to actually believe in your product. Spice up the description; make sure it is in good working order and answer queries in a timely and accurate fashion. If you tell someone that the car is a six cylinder model instead of a four cylinder model and the person comes to look at it to find you were lying, not only have you probably shafted yourself out of a sale but you have also lost a potential buyer in the future.

Why? Well that is easy. I want to sell my car fast because the longer I hold onto it the harder it will be to get the price I want for it. It is too easy to accept a subpar offer if the car has been sitting around collecting dust for a month without an interested buyer. Eventually enough is enough and you will be willing to practically give it away. To sell my car fast I like to enhance the value as much as I can. This can be as easy as putting a few new tyres on it and giving it a thorough clean. If I really want to go overboard I will take it to a mechanic and get him to give it a full service. This may not be financially sensible. In that case I will just make sure the fluids are topped up.

It also feels good to be rid of something that is just taking up space. I like to sell my car fast because it frees up space and doesn’t congest my driveway. You also have to pay for it the longer you keep it. There are monthly insurance payments you have to pay and having the car sit there can be detrimental to it. The battery may go flat, the fuel starts to stagnate and if the weather is harsh it can do damage to the paint work. It is also wasteful. I hate wastage. If the car is just sitting there I feel like it is much better off being used by someone who needs it. There is no point holding on the car unless you are a collector. Even then, collectors can be a discerning bunch – if the car is not worth collecting then what is the point?

So how can I sell my car fast? Well to begin with it pays to know where you can sell it quickly. There are multiple places online that offer you the opportunity to advertise it. Many of these places don’t cost anything. You may also approach friends and family and see if they would like a bargain. There are way too many methods to consider if you wish to sell it online. You are better off researching more about the how’s if you wish to sell it online. Although I have seen some interesting sites which valuate your car and make you an offer on the spot which would be worth looking into.

The other how is actually pretty easy. I mentioned you can enhance the value just by cleaning it and adding some tyres. It doesn’t stop there if you want someone to buy your car. You can replace the stereo with something a little better than the stereo it was released with. You can get a basic CD player is pretty cheap. It is pretty easy to install as well if you have the tools. A lot of the time it is just a matter of removing the old one and plugging the new one in. You may also have a look at adding a few other accessories like cheap seat covers.

It is important to know how much you should set pricewise when selling your car. If I want someone to buy my car I look for as much information as I can on what the car is worth. Starting with a blue book to see what your car is worth is a good first step. Although car prices fluctuate greatly during the year they are valid and they are not the best way to accurately gauge how much it is worth. Taking it to a car dealer to get an estimate is also not the best idea. They will typically tell you a figure lower than what it is actually worth in the hope that you will sell it to them then and there. That is where online valuation services step in.

Getting an impartial estimate of what your car is worth is a great way to set the price reasonably. Nobody would buy my car if I set the price too high and the likelihood of someone buying it if I set it too low is also reduced because people will assume there is something wrong with it. A fair price is one that adequately reflects the value of what the car is actually worth. Setting it a little higher is acceptable as long as you don’t go crazy it is normally considered acceptable to go ten percent over your asking price to give people opportunity to negotiate with you. If someone wanted to buy my car and offered me the extra ten percent I would take it immediately. If you go much over that ten percent it might scare potential buyers away. It is generally safe to assume that haggling is going to take place when selling something privately.

A valuation service can also save you a lot of time. Rather than scouring the Internet or classifieds looking for what others are asking you can just shoot off an email or fill in an online form and get the information almost immediately. It can also save you the hassle of constantly repricing your car in order to find the sweet spot (proverbially) which is the price that actually does end up triggering an interested buyer. Never assume what your car is worth, get it appraised or valuated by a professional who knows the product. Make sure you know all of the details about the vehicle before you approach them for an appraisal as well.

It is too easy to take a guess at what the vehicle is worth. Go too high and you scare people away, go too low and you might be shooting yourself in the foot. If someone were to buy my car and I saw the same car advertised for a few thousand dollars more I would be livid. The potential to misjudge the value of the vehicle is massive. Always seek help before you set your price. Get the vehicle valuated or at the very least look up the blue book value before putting it on the market.