We all know that shopping for a new car is fun; however, selling your old car is no fun at all. You need to take care of a lot of things, from setting the right price to avoiding possible scams. Plus, if you’ve never sold a car or anything valuable before, you may struggle with finding the right place to sell the car and communicating with potential buyers. Nevertheless, there are a few ways to make this process more effective and enjoyable. Want to sell your car with no stress? Follow our guide!
Where to sell your car?
You can go a number of ways about selling your old car, but not all of them are equally convenient and efficient. Experienced car sellers recommend selling cars and other things on websites like Jiji, which is a huge online marketplace designed so that Nigerians could trade with each other, avoiding large corporations and hassle. Jiji allows you to post ads for free, so you can successfully sell everything you don’t need, from your car to your old wedding dress – you’ll clear out your home and making some money in the process, what’s not to like?
Create the ad
For your car to be sold quickly, your ad needs to have two things: a description and photos. The description may seem like an easy part, but in fact it requires a lot of consideration from the owner. Generally the description in the ad should be accurate and detailed. Here are the things that should definitely be included into your ad:
- Reason for selling the car
- An honest history of possible accidents
- General condition of the vehicle and components
- Mileage
- Description of previously made modifications
- How many past owners the car had
- Your conditions for meeting with buyers
- Contact information
Above you’ll find a short guide into writing your first car selling ad. However, in order for your ad to reach out to large number of buyers and sell quickly, make sure your ad doesn’t have the following:
- Descriptions that are too general (for example, “Like new”) – it’s best to be as detailed as possible
- Grammar and spelling mistakes – nothing prevents you from taking a car ad seriously like an ad that is filled with mistakes even schoolchildren know not to make
- Omitting valuable information – if you do this, you risk either getting a lot of questions about the info you’ve missed, or potential buyers simply closing your ad due to lack of information
- Too much text – although your ad needs to be detailed and informative, writing too much is going to keep some people from even considering your ad. Keep it brief but clear, and everything will be fine.
Take some pictures
Before you move on to photographing your car for the ad, you need to realize one thing: photos are a key selling point for your ad. Low quality pictures are not going to sell your car, but well-made photos will have a huge impact on how quickly your car sells. When making pictures, make sure to include every part of the vehicle, from the exterior to the tires and from the engine to the trunk. Pay special attention to the interior, because it’s what often helps people decide if your car is worthy of their attention. Interior photos should include pictures of the dashboard, seats, carpeting, ceiling, and the car’s odometer.
There are a couple of tips for making your photos even more attractive to the viewers. First, try to take your photos when the sunlight isn’t too bright – early morning or afternoon will work great, making your car look even better than it does. Second, use a plain background for your photos – for instance, you can photograph your car in front of a wall or field. Third, if your car has any special features, make sure to highlight them with your photos: for example, if the car is equipped with a cool stereo system or has a sunroof, remember to include pictures of those details.
What happens next?
After your ad is ready and published, comes the most important step: responding to the calls and making the sale. If you’ve included your phone number, make sure you’re always easily accessible and can be reached with a single phone call. If you prefer communication by email, try to stay online and respond as quickly as you can, preferably in a few hours. When you’re talking over the phone or responding to the buyer’s email, use the conversation as another way of pitching your vehicle and emphasizing its best features. Always offer a test-drive to the potential buyer: if a buyer sees your car in person and drives it for a bit, it will be more difficult for him to say no. And remember: be honest but tough and don’t agree to the offer you don’t like!
