Selling your vehicle is not the easiest thing you can do, and if it’s your first time, chances are you’ll stress a lot more than you need to. Thankfully, we can give you a few tips that will go a long way if you manage to implement them.
In a perfect world, selling your vehicle shouldn’t take more than a few hours in total. However, in reality, it’s a lot different. Selling a used vehicle can take weeks or even months depending on the car model you’re trying to sell. If it’s a slightly rarer car it will be even more difficult to find a serious buyer who won’t be lowballing you on the first meetup.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to reduce the length of each meetup, and most importantly, the number of calls you receive regarding the car listing. All this will save you a lot of time and nerves, so let’s take a look.
Include all the car specifications in your listing and be as accurate as possible
Most of the phone calls will be people trying to find out whether the specifications for the car are what they think they are. In order to avoid these pointless phone calls, it’s best that you do a full and complete listing of all specifications, including what type of package the car has, maintenance reports, mileage, and horsepower. This is obviously not all, but every car will have different listings so we can’t generalize, but you get the idea. Be specific and describe everything so that you avoid doing all of that during a phone call or an awkward meeting that may end in “I’m not buying it” after some time.
If you are not sure how to form your price and you are just looking to sell the vehicle as quickly as possible, perhaps taking a look at a website called carsellzone may help you out with your decisions. Don’t stress though, since not everybody has experience with selling used cars. Take your time and relax.
Take photos that can answer all questions a potential customer may ask
Our number one tip is to never try and hide some external flaws the car might have due to it being old, or if it was ever involved in an accident. When you’re taking the photos for your listing, make sure to show every part of the vehicle, including those that you may feel are slightly unimportant at the time. Trunk, under the hood, wheels, even a close-up photo of the dashboard where the customer can see the mileage. And, do some close-ups of the damaged parts as well. Doing so will help you avoid awkward situations and “you didn’t tell me this existed” when someone arrives to inspect the vehicle on the spot.
Also, customers won’t attempt to act smart and try to reduce your price based on something “they just discovered on the spot” while looking at the car. And, most importantly, you won’t be wasting time because those who dislike such small imperfections on an old car won’t even call you to show up for a close-up inspection of the vehicle. You are saving time for yourself and for them as well. Plus, it’s a fair and polite thing to do anyway. Remember that trying to mask off these imperfections will also do more harm than good.
Your customers will try to negotiate the price, so do this smart thing
When forming your price, add a few extra hundred dollars on top of that. Don’t be afraid, this won’t drive off customers. In fact, it will do quite the opposite, which is making them feel more attracted to the car because it’s more expensive, therefore they’ll see the quality and a reason behind that price. And, since almost always they’ll try to bring the price down, you won’t be losing money, but instead, you’ll lower the price up to a point that was realistic for your final goal in the first place. And, what’s the bonus to all this? Your customers will think that they are getting a discount, which is not the case, but who cares since you are making a profit and they are satisfied with the outcome.
Don’t think that you won’t be dealing with people who will try to negotiate. They’ll tell you all sorts of things, most of the time being the famous “I have a lot of other offers just like this one, so I’m doing you a favor”, which is about ninety-nine percent of the cases isn’t true at all. Don’t fall for it.
Wash your car and present it in the best light for when the customers arrive
Although it’s really important not to attempt any homemade paint-jobs with the goal of hiding certain imperfections, that doesn’t mean you should invite people over to take a look at a car that hasn’t been washed properly. Hygiene is one thing, hiding imperfections is something totally different. And, we all know that the human eye is attracted to what looks good, so aesthetics are definitely one of the most important things when you’re trying to sell something, whether that’s a car or a house. Wash the car, even wax it properly if you can afford it. This will leave an impression that you are a responsible owner, which will definitely increase the chances of selling the vehicle.
Conclusion
Receiving calls during the night from impatient buyers, just so they arrive at the spot and try to drop the price by thirty percent before leaving, is definitely not the best thing you can experience. Thankfully, implementing these easy-to-follow tips will help you make the entire selling process a lot easier and less stressful. We’re thankful for the time you took to read this piece, and as always, remember to do things the smart way. Selling a car can be an easy and profitable thing to do if you do it correctly.