If you’ve upgraded your car or no longer need your motorbike, it’s a good idea to put it up for sale to recoup some cash. But how do you ensure that you’re getting good value for your vehicle? Here are a few tips to help you sell your car or motorbike for the best possible profit…
WHAT’S THE MOST PROFITABLE METHOD?
There are many ways that you can get money for your unwanted vehicle, but which is the best option for you? If you’re already buying a new car from a dealer, maybe the trade-in price would give you more off the cost of your new vehicle compared to the profit you’d make by selling it. If the trade-in value is not so good, why not try using vehicle valuation sites such as webuyanycar.com or webuyanybike.co.uk, where you can get an offer for your car straight away, which may be higher than the trade-in price you’ve been given. You can often get a good price when you sell your car or motorbike privately, but this takes time and you’ll have to be prepared to take phone calls, reply to texts and use your evenings to show buyers around your car.
WHERE TO ADVERTISE YOUR VEHICLE
If you’ve chosen to sell your vehicle privately, there are many places that you can advertise it – some of which are completely free. Have you seen cars for sale pop up on Facebook recently? You can do the same and post a photo of your car in a local selling group on Facebook. This way, you know that potential buyers are local and they can contact you via direct message on the app. Similarly, you can post ads on Gumtree, Preloved or via Ebay (where you’ll pay a fee based on the final selling price).
Alternatively, you can go old-school and put an advert on the noticeboard in your local post office or supermarket. Again, you’ll be getting only local buyers and can be contacted via telephone. You might have to pay a few pounds for the period of time that the advert is displayed – so make it a good advert with all the vehicle details and a good photo (if you can).
Finally, how about paying for an advert in the newspaper or via Autotrader? Often printed adverts cost more than online ads, but you’ll probably get to have your ad on the publication’s website as part of that price.
HOW TO PREPARE IT FOR SALE
There are things you can do to prepare your car or motorbike for sale, so that when a prospective buyer arrives, it’s in the best possible condition. Giving it a clean-up is a great start, but how thoroughly should it be cleaned? Taking your car to the car wash is an easy option and you can decide how much you want to spend on cleaning when you’re there. The cost of a washing service depends on whether it needs a polish as well as a wash… or does it need a full valet inside and out?
If the upholstery isn’t looking great, you can use a car fabric cleaner to get out any dirt and stains but be sure to tackle this task well in advance so that the seats are completely dry before you let someone sit on them! Alternatively, you can buy seat covers and new mats to update the interior of your car. And it goes without saying that you should empty the pockets and compartments of all your belongings so that the vehicle can be taken away as soon as it’s bought.
By the way, replacing aftermarket parts with original parts is a way that you can increase the value of your vehicle. High value cars and motorbikes or vintage vehicles would benefit from having branded parts whenever a repair is made to preserve their authenticity, so this is something to consider when you’re trying to sell.
NEGOTIATING TIPS
The vehicle valuation sites I mentioned above can give you an idea of how much your car is worth, so you can use that as your bottom line when when negotiating. Any lower offers can be disregarded as you’d be better off selling it to webuyanycar or webuyanymotorbike. Also, don’t go for the first offer straight away (as the buyer will probably be able to increase their bid) and be ready to haggle. Negotiating a price is all part of the fun of selling a car privately so, if you start with a price that’s a little higher than you’d expect to achieve, you can give the buyer a discount so that everyone feels like they got a good deal.
I hope that this article will be helpful the next time you’re planning to sell a vehicle! Do you have any suggestions for selling your car? Do you know of a low-cost place to advertise or a way to get more money for your vehicle? Please leave your tips in the comments below.
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