Trade-Ins:
Using the Internet to Sell Your Old Car
Thinking about your options for disposing
of your existing car is an important step, especially
after you decide to buy a new car. After all, the value
of your current car may be in the eye of the beholder,
but that value has an effect on your buying power.
Fortunately, the Internet opens a world
of options to help you maximize the price you get for
your car when you dispose of it. Whether you want to
sell, trade, donate, or even junk your car, making sure
that you get the best value from your automobile is
worthwhile.
In this chapter, we show you how to surf
the Internet to find dozens of disposal options —
and the right one that meets your budget and your tax
needs. We drive you around the Web and make pit stops
at some of the most innovative disposal opportunities
available — ones that you need to know about to
maximize the value of your trade-in.
We also show you where to find the best
online classified advertising, tell you why Internet
auctions may prove the right way for you to find the
right buyer, and explore alternative disposal options,
including barter sites that enable you to trade your
car for something else and bona fide charity organizations
that offer tax receipts for your old clunker.
Determining How
Much Your Car Is Worth
REMEMBER
How much is your car worth? Now, that's a good question
— and one that you need to answer before you can
think of selling or otherwise disposing of your used
car online! Of course, the value of a car fluctuates
because of several variables, some of them within your
control and some that are out of your control, as the
following paragraphs explain. All those variables are
worth taking into account as you price your car.
For starters, the way you've maintained
your car during the time you've owned it is important.
Although the caveat "let the buyer beware"
is never more true than when buying a used car, keep
in mind that the better you've maintained your car,
the more it's worth. The same is true of low mileage.
A high-mileage car is simply worth less than one with
a smaller number on its odometer. Finally, how you drive
a car can affect its value. Although auto technicians
can do miraculous repair work these days, a repaired
car is still not as desirable as a never-been-wrecked
vehicle.
The variables you have little or no control
over include what options the car has (power windows,
automatic transmission, and so on), what model year
the car is, and what type of car you have. We wish we
could tell you that you can use the Internet to turn
a 1978 Chevette into a 2000 Corvette (what a difference
two letters makes!), but that just isn't so.
The Bible of used cars is the Kelley Blue
Book. You can buy the book itself through an online
bookstore, such as Amazon.com,
Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com,
or you can go directly to the Kelley Blue Book Web site
(at www.kbb.com) to
check out a wealth of information about every car model
imaginable. You can use the information that you find
online as a base to figure out what your car may be
worth.
Edmunds.com (at www.edmunds.com)
is a similar service that bases its information on a
popular line of books. The Web site does a nice job
with its valuation of all used car models, offering
detailed evaluations and both trade-in and market prices.
A car's trade-in price - what a dealer is likely to
give you for the car if you trade it in for a newer
model - is lower than its market price. A car's market
price is lingo for the price at which a dealer expects
to sell the car to an individual.
CarPrices.com (at www.carprices.com)
is another great place to find out how much your car
is worth. Click the Used Cars button on the home page
of this Web site to access a section that enables you
to check a trade-in's value by make and model. This
site offers both a wholesale and retail value for the
car of your choice.
Taking an Online Tour
of Your Disposal Options
Time spent on the Internet is time well
spent if you figure out from your online forays how
to get the best value out of your existing car. Your
choices vary, and you can make your decision easier
by thoroughly exploring your online options. If you
can discover what kind of market exists for your car,
you can tap into it effectively. Some cars are much
prized in the used-car market. Others are perfect only
for the junkyard — but worth a tax deduction if
you donate them to a worthwhile charity. All you need
is the knowledge of where to find these resources, and
that's what we show you in the followin sections.
Online newspaper classifieds
Most newspapers across North America and
elsewhere contain classified advertisements. Many newspapers,
in fact, rely on the income that classified ads generate
to support their news-gathering activities.
As newspapers struggle to find their place
in the Internet era, many of them find posting their
classified sections online useful. This practice enables
you, as a vehicle seller, to consult various classified
sections online to compare what other sellers are asking
for cars similar to yours. You can also use the Internet
to place your ad.
TIPS!
Two key Web sites are worth bookmarking to provide you
with direct access to most newspapers in the world.
Bourque Newswatch (at www.bourque.com)
provides direct access to hundreds of American and Canadian
newspapers from one easy-to-navigate home page. OnlineNewspapers.com
(at www.onlinenewspapers.com)
is a more complex Web site full of listings for major
newspapers from around the world.
These two URLs alone plug you into almost
every key newspaper that you can find on the Internet.
And in these newspapers, you can find tens of thousands
of newspaper classified ads for cars online.
Here's an example: From the Bourque Web site, we recently
accessed the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (at www.arclerngaz.com)
to consult its classified ads - just click the Classified
Ads button. There, we easily found the automotive page
by clicking the Automotive link, and typing the word
Chevrolet into its simple-to-use search engine. In an
instant, we received details about hundreds of Chevrolets
for sale, including model, year of manufacture, features,
and asking price. This method is a terrific way to find
out what others are asking for cars similar to yours.
Next, we consulted the paper's Info &
E-mail page (just click the Info & E-mail button),
which gave us all the information we needed to submit
our own classified ad. This section of the site even
enables you to use an online form to submit the ad directly
to the paper's Classifieds department. Many other newspapers,
from The Miami Herald (at www.herald.com)
to the Toronto Star (at www.thestar.com),
work along similar lines.
TIP!
Given the incredible reach of the Internet, visiting
several newspapers online within your geographical area
to compare both car prices and ad costs is always worthwhile.
By finding out what prices people are asking for cars
similar to yours, you can make sure that you get a fair
price for your old jalopy. And by comparing ad prices,
you can make sure that you're not paying too much to
place an ad.
Online-only classifieds
A number of independent online used car Web sites have
recently set up shop as e-commerce operations. They
thrive exclusively online and are well worth considering
as a potential place to list your car for sale because
they contain many more listings than newspaper classifieds
do, and they reach a larger number of prospective buyers.
AutoTrader.com (at www.autotrader.com)
is one such place. This Web site bills itself as the
worlds largest selection of used cars with "more
than 1.5 million listings, updated daily".
What we love about AutoTrader.com is that it enables
you to list your car for sale for free. Obtaining that
free listing is a simple six-step process:
Select Your Make, Select Your Model, Enter the Year
and Price, Enter the Description, Enhance Your Listing,
and Enter Your Personal Information. After your entry
is satisfactory to you, submit it and wait for a buyer.
(You can modify or remove your listing at any time.)
America Online (at www.aol.com)
offers its own classifieds: ClassifiedsPlus. Users benefit
from access to the world's biggest online community.
You can access the classifieds section directly off
the main AOL home page by clicking the Classifieds link.
From there, AOL prompts you to follow a Place Your Ad
link to the Place an Ad page. From there, click the
Vehicles link; this takes you to a page from which you
can choose categories ranging from motorcycles to RVs
to parts. The drawback here is that when you click the
Used Cars link, you're sent to AutoTrader.com. Still,
the combination of an AOL-AutoTrader linkup is a powerful
siren call for your ad placement.
Trader Online (at www.traderonline.com)
is another great classifieds Web site. As a supplement
to the Trader newspapers that you can buy at news-stands,
Trader Online offers for sale cars, trucks, boats, RVs,
and more— just about any mode of motorized travel
you can think of. To sell your car for free, click the
Autos tab (or whichever of the others best describes
the vehicle you have for sale) and then click the FREE
classified listing link. This site also offers a link
to the Kelley Blue Book site so that you can determine
a fair price for your car.
AutoWeb.com (at www.autoweb.com),
in affiliation with UsedCar.com (at www.usedcar.com),
charges a monthly fee and promises that your ad is going
to "reach three million potential car buyers a
month." A bonus is that your AutoWeb listing is
also posted on Yahoo!'s classifieds page (at automobiles.classifieds.yahoo.com)
for additional exposure.
WorldWideWheels.com (at www.heels.com
on the Web) bills itself as the "most comprehensive
automobile site on the Net." You can place used
car ads here, with or without a photo, for free, and
the listing process takes just one or two seconds. All
you do is click the Place a Free Ad link, click the
ad form link, and fill in the requested information.
You must renew the process every three weeks, however,
to ensure that the listing continues; this requirement
helps Web operators keep track of which cars are still
for sale.
CarShoppers.com (at www.carshoppers.com)
also offers free classified ads with photos. You must
be a member of this site to use it, but membership is
free.
AutoNetUSA.com (at www.autonetusa.com)
is another interesting Web site. It promises the buyer
"a faster, easier way of shopping for a new or
used vehicle." And anything that enables a buyer
to find your car more easily is well worth taking a
look at.
CarPrices.com (at www.carprices.com)
is also open to members, and its membership is free.
During our recent visit, new members were enticed to
sign up with an offer of free long-distance telephone
service. This Web site offers a simple-to-use ad placement
form for the seller, and buyers can enjoy the ease of
searching for specific used cars.
On a much smaller scale, the Automotive Database Web
site (at www.vaxxine.com/adbase/)
lists both vehicles for sale and vehicles that people
want. Users not only can browse, but also can post ads
in both sections. The listing for each particular car
is rudimentary, and interested parties contact the seller
directly through e-mail. Although not the vastest archive
of vehicles, this site's user-friendliness is attractive.
REMEMBER!
Online classifieds offer you a great way to get your
car out into the open marketplace. But that open marketplace
is highly competitive and contains many, many listings
from just about everywhere. Consider the key selling
points of your particular car and use them in your ad
to highlight why a buyer wants to choose your car instead
of someone else's similar offering.
TIP!
Because many locations offer free ad placements, you
may want to try posting your ad at several sites to
ensure maximum exposure. AutoTrader.com, WorldWideWheels.com,
and CarPrices.com are good choices.
Online auctions
Some of the most popular e-commerce operations
on the Internet are auction sites. Operations such as
eBay.com (www.ebay.com),
Bid.com (www.Bid.com),
and a host of others attract millions of loyal users.
Some observers think that online auctions may one day
replace classifieds as the medium of choice for the
majority in selling and buying between individuals.
You can find many different types of auctions online:
- Regular auctions, or English auctions, are the most
popular. Generally, buyers bid on an item until the
auction ends, and the item sells to the highest bidder
at the end of the auction. If a seller lists an item
with a minimum reserve price, this ensures that the
product doesn't sell for less than a buyer's lowest
sale price. Using a reserve bid ensures that you, as
a seller, don't need to sell at a price below your comfort
level.
- Dutch auctions, on the other hand, are a little trickier.
In Dutch auctions, two or more identical items are put
up for bid; all winning bidders pay an identical price,
which is the lowest successful bid. This form of auction
doesn't really suit the sale of your car online, as
only one successful bidder can buy your car.
- Some online sites hold other forms of auctions. Lycos,
for example, offers Quick Win auctions. In such an auction,
the first bidder to meet your asking price buys the
item.
Most online auction houses require that
you register as a member or user. Generally, membership
is free, and you must agree to a binding agreement with
respect to terms of use.
We suggest that you start out at eBay, which is possibly
the world's biggest and best-known Internet auction
site. This Web site attracts millions of users and offers
a vast array of products for auction at any given time
of the day. The eBay site boasts a new automotive section,
too — one of the slickest we've seen. During a
recent visit, the site (at www.ebaymotors.com)
featured an auction for Queen Wilhelmina's rare 1946
Daimler limousine. But don't worry if your car is slightly
less glitzy. At eBay, you can find room for every kind
of car imaginable. (Remember also to check out eBay's
tips on how to sell online by clicking the How to sell
button.)
CityAuction's Web site (at www.Utrade.com) also displays
a lot of effervescence. Buyers and sellers meet here
to exchange everything from Barbie dolls to BMWs. This
site also enables sellers to sign up for FairMatch,
a daily e-mail notification service that keeps you up
to speed about prospective buyers.
A number of lesser-known auction sites
ply their trade exclusively online, and one of these
may well prove perfect for your needs:
- AuctionAddict.com (at www.auctionadctict.com)
is an independent Web site that generates a fair amount
of action. It thinks of itself as "a huge Internet
swap meet" and makes listings available to anyone
who registers for a free site membership. The service
is free to the buyer, although the site charges a small
commission to the seller — but only if the product
sells at auction. Whether you're selling a convertible,
coupe, hatchback, street rod, or racing vehicle, a buyer
may well be lurking at this site just waiting for your
auction to begin.
- ReverseAuction.com (at www.ra-vehicles.com)
presents an intriguing pitch and charges no bidding
or buying fees. It offers "online bidding in reverse
for old and new cars.., our prices drop instead of rise,
and you can watch this process live on your screen."
This site specializes in auctioning antique and classic
cars, such as classic Chevrolets and Corvettes. The
site collects fees from the seller and is open to members
only, although registration is available to everyone
except minors.
In their quest to be all things to as
many people as possible, several top search engine portals
operate popular online auction sites:
- Yahoo! Auctions
(at auctions.yahoo.com)
are quite popular. Check out the Seller Guide to discover
the rules and what you need to know to register yourself
for a Yahoo! ID. Next, click the Automotive link on
the main page to access the auctions area, where we
recently noted that more than 2,500 car auctions were
underway during our one visit. A 1998 Porsche Carrera
had two bids, one topping $50,000, while a 1965 Thunderbird
had six bids, the highest at just $2,000.
- Lycos' auction site (at
auctions.lycos.com)
is one of the biggest in this category. Lycos offers
listings for everything from Beanie Babies to gold coins,
and the site auctions thousands of vehicles, too. The
Lycos auctions require both buyers and sellers to register.
- Amazon.com (at www.amazon.com)
is also in the auction game now. Best known as "Earth's
Biggest Bookstore," the online monolith is branching
out into the sale of a wide variety of goods. Click
the Auctions tab on the main page to visit its Auctions
page, and then click the Cars & Transportation link
to access a page of auctions for cars, parts, and automotive
paraphernalia. You need an Amazon.com account to list
your car for auction.
For more information about online auctions,
check out Internet Auctions For Dummies and CliffsNotes
Buying and Selling on eBay, both published by IDG
Books Worldwide, Inc.
Other online disposal options (If you can't get cash)
If you just can't seem to find a buyer
who's willing or able to pay cash for your old faithful,
you may want to consider other options for disposing
of your vehicle online. Two possibilities are to trade
— or barter — your car for something else,
or simply to donate it to charity, as the following
sections describe.
Trading your car for
something else by bartering
What are your options if you can't find
a buyer for your car with the cash to pay for it? Consider
trading it for something else, such as a canoe, a couch,
or even a drum set. Trade4lt.Net (at www.trade4it.net)
is "where one man's junk is another man's treasure."
This site is free to buyers, who can wheel and deal
and pitch you just about anything imaginable in exchange
for your car. Sellers — or those with items for
which they want to barter — can set up an account
for $9.95 per month to post an unlimited number of listings.
Expect the online barter market to explode
over the next year. Other sites, such as CarBarter.com
(www.carbarter.com), Barter.com (www.barter.com),
Barter.net (www.barter.net),
and Barter.ca(www.barter.ca.com),
aren't yet operational at the time of this writing.
But expect many of them to erupt online this year with
their own barter systems.
Donating your used
car on the Internet
Hauling that clunker to the local junkyard may end
up being the only option left in the life of your car.
But wait! Have you thought about donating it to a charitable
organization in exchange for a legal IRS tax deduction?
Vehicle Donation Processing Center, Inc.
(at www.donating-a-useci-car.com),
acts as a middleman for charities seeking vehicle donations.
This service covers many of America's largest urban
centers, and it isn't picky about whether the car actually
works. Its "main function is to provide a revenue
stream for charities in need of funding," which
happens if it can sell a car for more than the cost
of the towing. Visit the site's list of participating
charities, consult the categories of vehicles it's willing
to accept, and apply online. (Notice that the service
doesn't accept cars that are more than 15 years old.)
WARNING!
Although we demonstrate a wide variety of options open
to you online as a car seller in this chapter, you always
need to keep in mind whom the buyer is and how he intends
to pay you for your car. Never sell merely on the promise
of a vague future payment. In other words, make sure
that you receive your payment before you hand over the
ownership and the keys to your car. There are many scam
artists out there, and because of the anonymity a person
has through the Web, it's important to be cautious when
selling any item online
