There are so many reasons for people to sell their cars. Maybe you’re ready to move on to a new one, with more features and more expensive. Or maybe your current car is constantly breaking down, and you simply don’t have the time to deal with it. Sometimes your car is too small for your whole family, which is why you need something bigger. Whatever the reason is, you cannot buy a new car without selling your old one. And this is where you have to pay extra attention, as it’s very easy to make some crucial mistakes while selling your car that can affect the whole deal. However, with the information you’ll see below your deal will be super smooth. Here are 5 most common mistakes while selling a car.
1. Setting a wrong price
No matter how much you know about the car market, it’s easy to make the mistake of pricing your car too high or too low. If your price is too high, buyers will look for a cheaper option instead of buying your car, and if your price is too low, people will be worried there is something wrong with your car. Before creating an ad for your car, explore the market – the best way to do it is to go to JiJi, a website with thousands of ads from real people. Look through the Cars section, and you’ll see the average prices on cars in Nigeria, which will help you set your own price. You can even see what cars are sold in each Nigerian city – check out used cars in Lagos, Abuja and Rivers. You can also search cars by their make: take a look at Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Mazda and BMW.
2. Skipping the preparation
As soon as you’ve chosen a price and are ready to publish an ad, there is still a lot you need to do in order to prepare for the sale. First you need to wash your car on the outside and clean out the interior. Not only will your car look great in photos, but you’ll also show the buyers that you care about your car, which will make them believe the car is in perfect condition. Take out the trash, vacuum the seats, and take your car to the car was or wash it yourself – it will only take a couple of hours, but the effect will not disappoint you.
3. Rushing with your ad
When you need to sell your car as soon as possible, you often risk publishing an ad with an inadequate price, a lame description and low quality photos. If you don’t want this to happen, spend some time working on your ad, and your sale will satisfy both you and the buyer. We’ve already talked about the price, but what about the description and the photos? Your description should be detailed, but not too long. Set a great catchy title to attract buyers, and then describe your car in a few sentences. Talk about the production year, mileage, MPG, engine type, condition, transmission and other characteristics that are important to the buyer. If you want, you can state the reason why you’re selling the car. Be honest and don’t hide any imperfections or problems. As for the photos, take them on a sunny day when your car is 100% clean, so that the car looks better than ever.
4. Selling to the first buyer
When you post your ad on a super popular website, like JiJi, you’ll get calls from dozens of potential buyers, so don’t settle for the first one. Talk to those buyers and choose the one you like the most. This is what’s great about selling your car online – you can always choose the best conditions. Keep in mind that JiJi can be used not only for a car, but also for buying a home, finding a job, adopting a dog and buying smartphones and tablets.
5. Being scammed
Here at JiJi we take scamming very seriously, so if you notice any illegal activity or suspect someone is trying to scam you, report this fact to the customer service and let us deal with it. Never give your personal details to a potential buyer. Try to accept payments only in cash. Take a double look at the paperwork. And remember – there is a high chance of happening upon a scammer on other websites, so if you want your trade to be safe and smooth, better buy and sell with JiJi!
