Selling Privately Or Trading In Your Car: Which Will Get You More Sales?

The decision to sell your car to a private seller or trade it to a dealer for another car can be a difficult one. This is because, inherently, nobody wants to make a loss. Hence, you need to take careful considerations to know which is best for you. And of course, which will get you more. 

Selling Privately Vs Trading Your Car

Trading in your car basically means exchanging it for another car with a car dealer. The kind of car you get in return depends on the value of the car you are trading in. If the value is higher than your newly designed car, then you will need to add some money to balance it up. If the value is lower than the new car you are getting, then the dealer will have to give you a balance. 

On the other hand, selling privately is another ballgame entirely. When selling your car privately, it becomes your responsibility to put your car out for sale and secure an interested buyer. Generally speaking, selling your car privately comes with more stress and it’s demanding especially if a suitable buyer isn’t speedily forthcoming.

Private Selling Or Trading: Which Will Get You More?

There is hardly any one-size-fits-all answer to which will benefit you more. There are a number of factors to consider. Carefully considering this and applying it to your situation, will let you know the best option for you.

Reconditioning Cost

When selling your car to a private seller, you tend to incur some costs on reconditioning and detailing the vehicle. This is because no buyer will want to buy a faulty car or an ugly looking one. So, if your car is in bad shape, you tend to spend more to have it good enough to get good bargain prices from interested buyers.

However, if you are trading in, reconditioning cost doesn’t necessarily have to be a worry for you. This is because the car dealer will definitely do some reconditioning and detailing to resell it to other buyers. When you trade in your car, you tend to save on the reconditioning cost.

Advertising

Advertising a car for sale costs money, especially if you want the car to get the attention of good buyers. Selling privately puts the responsibility on you to create awareness about your car for sale. On the contrary, trading in the car puts the advertising tasks on the shoulders of the dealer. Doing this will save you stress, time and money.

Time

Selling your car privately might take time, especially if you are hell-bent on getting a good price on your car. While this is fine, the challenge with it is that it might take time. Negotiations can keep on going with different interested buyers without reaching an agreed amount.

However, when you choose to trade in, the time spent gets considerably reduced. Nevertheless, you might not get a very high price as you like even though it is still a fair price. This happens because the price the dealer gives you is determined by prevailing industry conditions on your vehicle and how well you can negotiate. Notwithstanding, it saves you time and needless stress.

Safety

If safety is a strong point of caution for you, then trading in your car is a better option. Having to fix meeting points with different buyers might be risky, especially if they are strangers. The private sale also requires a high level of vigilance to ensure you get fully paid before releasing your car.

On the contrary, trading in your car is generally safer, especially if you are dealing with a reputable car dealer.

Your Need

There are various reasons anyone can decide to sell their old car. Not everyone necessarily wants a new car as a replacement for selling their old car. Doing a private car sale gives you a good chance of getting your money back in cash. 

However, this presents a challenge when trading in. In most trade-ins, you will have to pick a new car. However, depending on your negotiations with the car dealer, you stand a chance of getting the cash value of your car.

Popularity And People’s Preference For Your Car

How popular and how much people like your car can play a big role in how much and how fast you sell your car especially if you want to sell privately. It will be difficult to get a buyer for a car that is out of vogue and has numerous bad complaints from other users. 

CONCLUSION

The choice is yours to sell privately or trade in your car. The factors presented above will let you know which option will get you more depending on your peculiar situation.

Nevertheless, Carmart Nigeria is here to help you with fast sales of your car to anyone in any part of Nigeria. Our online marketplace is vast and credible, with users from all over Nigeria. You can buy or sell your car on www.carmart.ng.