What price should I sell my car for? This is the worst part about selling anything — setting the price.
Every dollar helps, but you don’t want to charge too much and look foolish, or worse, not even sell your car. But you don’t want to get taken advantage of either.
Let’s start with an easy number. How much money do you want to make? A lot, right?
Pick a number that feels realistic but also helpful. Now, keep in mind that in most cases this number is higher than what is realistic in the marketplace (but it’s ok to dream big).
A good question to ask yourself is, “I know it’s not as much as I want to make, but if I could pocket $_,___ from this sale, I would walk away happy.”
Now let’s consider some other numbers before coming back to his one.
You can use an online estimate tool to get an idea based on model, trim, age, and mileage. There are plenty of these tools online, and most are similar with their pros and cons.
Many factors play into this estimated value, which you can read about in our Green Light post.
As of writing this, the market is at an unprecedented high. We’re seeing some newer SUV and truck models selling for more than they were initially worth new.
These models are in such high demand that there are waiting lists for the new models. Because of the lack of supply, many buyers are willing to pay more for a similar model used model.
But, as new car production continues to tick back up, used cars will be in lower demand and fetch lower prices.
Carmigo is an auction platform that is designed to bring a network of dealerships to you instead of requiring you to shop your car from lot to lot.
Because an auction requires each new offer to be higher than the last, attracting more bids means attracting more money. And a lower starting price attracts more bids.
Consider auctioning your car, and setting the initial price lower than you would if you were selling it privately. Because of the persuasive factors involved in auctions (which you can read about here), buyers are also more likely to bid on listings that already have lots of bids, so setting the price low can actually trigger a higher sale price.
Now that we’ve considered your car’s value, the market trends, and the initial offering price, you have a better idea of what you can realistically expect to sell your car for.
Let us know when you’re ready to start a bidding war on your car and try to get you to that “dream big” number.