Selling a car on Craigslist Seattle may seem like an easy and lucrative way to make some quick cash, but there are numerous factors you need to keep in mind if you want to be successful and avoid scams. For instance, you’ll need to understand how the market works and what prices people in your area are willing to pay, as well as how to avoid common scams when meeting up with strangers. Before selling your car, make sure you know what you’re doing by reading this step-by-step guide on selling a car on Craigslist Seattle.
When To List Your Car
It’s best to list your car after you’ve cleaned it, so potential buyers can see that it is in good condition. Put yourself in their shoes: If they can’t tell how nice of shape your car is in, they might be wary about purchasing it. They won’t know that something as simple as an oil change or new tires could make all of the difference. The best time to list your car on Craigslist Seattle is when you’re looking for an excuse not to drive it anymore.
How To Prepare Before Listing
We’ve all seen them: those cheap cars that get listed for sale at stupidly low prices. If you aren’t careful, you could fall into one of two traps when selling your car, truck or SUV. The first is undervaluing your vehicle; it might seem like getting $1,500 for a car is great, but chances are there are at least ten other vehicles being sold in your area right now that will sell for more money—and they won’t take six months or longer to sell. Your second option is overpricing your vehicle; sure, some people think they can charge whatever they want and still find buyers. But if you set an asking price of $2,000 for a 2001 Honda Civic with 250,000 miles on it and no mechanical issues (which you can easily find), don’t be surprised if nobody bites. To make sure you don’t end up with a lemon sitting in your driveway for months (or years) before someone buys it, here are three things to consider before listing your car on Craigslist Seattle
Pricing Your Vehicle
Selling your car yourself is a great way to keep money in your pocket. But, it does take some work and preparation. Many people are hesitant to list their vehicle because they don’t know how much it’s worth or where to even begin looking for that information. The first step of selling anything is knowing how much you can get for it; whether you do that research yourself or hire an appraiser is up to you, but get ready: There are a lot of factors that go into determining value.
Listing Your Vehicle
When listing your vehicle for sale, Craigslist offers three options: free, pay and w4m. The first two are fairly self-explanatory; free allows you to list your car without paying any sort of fee or commission (the way it should be). However, there is one caveat: free listings have limited visibility. Craigslist defaults free listings only to those in your local area. If you want more views and clicks — or simply live far away from those who would buy your car — then consider paying to list with Craigslist Pro. For $10 per month, you can list an unlimited number of vehicles under both free and pay categories.
After The Sale Is Finalized
The cash you make from selling your car is yours to keep. If someone has agreed to buy your car, Craigslist will send them instructions via email on how to deposit funds into an escrow account. (This happens behind-the-scenes, so you don’t have any input.) After that, it’ll take up to 3 business days for your money transfer to be finalized. The buyer will receive instructions via email as well and they’ll need these three things 1) The title of your vehicle; 2) A Bill of Sale; and 3) An odometer reading. Craigslist recommends taking pictures of all three documents and sending them along with a short note about who owns what vehicle in case there are any questions later on down the line. Once everything is finalized, Craigslist will release your funds through PayPal or direct deposit.