In the past, you had very limited options if you ever needed to sell your car. One of your options was to sell to a local dealer. However, dealers offered low prices as they were just middlemen between you and the eventual consumers and they keep a margin for their profit. If you wanted to avoid dealing with the middleman and sell directly, your best bet was to run an ad in the newspaper. This type of advertisement was expensive, and there was no guarantee of a response due to the limited viewership of the paper. As you can tell, these options were not ideal, to say the least, and something had to change.
Since the rise of the internet, many aspects of life have been streamlined, including marketing. Over the past few years, online shopping has become a trend that has simplified life for buyers and sellers alike. This is true for all commodities, including automobiles. As a seller, you can advertise online to a much wider spectrum of potential buyers. You don’t have to settle for lower prices offered by local dealers. Also, you don’t need to drive out to these dealers. This way you save time and money.
If you are looking to sell your car, you now have several options to choose from. Here are 4 of them.
eBay Motors:
eBay has been around for a long time and is now a household name in the world of online marketplaces. It is perhaps the biggest online platform for buying and selling all sorts of items. It works on an auction-based system. You post an ad online, and a timed auction ensues. This gives buyers the potential to get excellent deals on the site, making it largely popular.
In 2015, eBay launched eBay Motors, meant exclusively for automobiles and their parts. This platform has since gained a lot of popularity and is a great option to consider if you want to sell your car. eBay lets you submit an ad locally (with a few restrictions) for free. This route is sufficient for most sellers, but if you want to expand your advertisement’s radius, you can do so for a nominal fee.
eBay is easy to use, and people are well-versed with its process. At the end of the day, eBay’s popularity among buyers and their trust in its system, make it a go-to option for most sellers.
Cars.com:
Cars.com is one of the largest and most reputable names in the automobile market. You can buy, sell or look for car repair and service options on this website.
If you intend to sell your car here, you have one of two options. You could post a conventional ad on their website and wait to get contacted by an interested buyer. This option is suitable if you want the best possible price for your vehicle given that you don’t mind waiting. You could also choose to sell to a local vendor. This option is comparatively faster, however, as previously mentioned, a dealer will not give you the best possible price. Thus, this option is only suitable for those who are looking for a quick sale.
Cars.com offers a wide variety of cars to the buyers. This combined with their user-friendly website and steady reputation makes it an ideal service to sell your car.
We Buy Cars Today:
If you live in the UK, We Buy Cars Today is an excellent site for you to sell your car. If you haven’t heard of them, these people offer multiple services that make this site worth your while. Firstly, you get a free valuation of your car. All you need to do is enter a few of your car’s details such as registration number, age, etc. and you’ll get an estimated price. Secondly, they buy cars regardless of its condition. This means you are guaranteed to get rid of your old car, even if it is damaged. This includes selling it to be scrapped. Lastly, the entire process is quick and seamless because you don’t have to wait to get responses from potential buyers. As they will pick your car up from your doorstep, you don’t have to go through the hassle of driving it out somewhere.
This makes We Buy Cars Today perfect for when you want to make a swift transaction or when your car is so damaged that nobody else will buy it. Just log in to their website and follow the given steps to make your sale.
Facebook Marketplace:
The social media giant, Facebook, made its first venture into an online marketplace in 2007. This platform was not successful at first and went into hiatus in 2014 before being relaunched in 2016. This new version has proved to be considerably better and has attracted a lot of traffic since being reintroduced.
Facebook Marketplace lets you post your ads for free using your existing Facebook account. You communicate with prospective buyers through Facebook, thus eradicating the need to exchange contact information. You can also view the buyer’s profile to judge their credibility. These features make Facebook Marketplace relatively safe.
While it is the only website mentioned here that is not specific to automobile trading, Facebook Marketplace is still one of the best options out there for this purpose. When you advertise a product, your goal is for it to gain as many views as possible. Facebook has a staggering 2.23 billion active monthly users; all of whom can avail this marketplace. What better platform can there be to post your ad! Facebook simply makes it to this list because it has such an expansive user base that any ad posted here is sure to gain a lot of attention.
