Oct 1, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern
Tech Minute: Selling A Car Online
By BRIAN COOLEY, CNET Editor At Large
SAN FRANCISCO (CNET) ―
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Sellers have a range of options of online sites to use when trying to find buyers - and the best price - for their cars.
CBS
When you want to sell your car you can always take it to a used car lot, or trade it in and probably leave a lot of money on the table -- but selling it online may get you the most money.
There are three basic choices when selling your car online. First is to post your car on
Craigslist in your local area. This is free and offers ample space for a description, a few photos and focuses on local buyers. On the down side, it's not tuned to selling cars any more than toasters, and Craigslist is pretty much unregulated so you may get a lot of non-serious lookers or even scammers contacting you, so don't use a home address or phone number.
eBay Motors is a very popular place to sell a car and not just for auction -- you can also set a fixed price, or accept offers. There are many car-specific tools you can use, a vibrant and large audience, plus "auction fever" by bidders may get your car sold for a higher price. On the down side, you pay sellers fees that eat into your profit so build that into your price. And eBay will attract sellers from all over the world, some of whom may want to send a shipper to get the car which can take time before you get rid of it.
MORE: Craigslist
MORE: eBay Motors
There are many sites that specialize in being automotive marketplaces.
Cars.com,
Vehix.com and
Autotrader.com are some well known examples. They typically charge a set fee for an ad that includes photos and other tools to support your ad.
MORE: Cars.com
MORE: Vehix.com
MORE: Autotrader.com
Once your car is sold, get paid. Most eBay sellers require a deposit right away via
Paypal. You can request that on any site, but it's more likely to appear to be OK with buyers on eBay. Don't take a personal check for payment, and even bank checks can be forged, so meet the buyer at a branch of their bank to get cash or at least verify their bank check is good. You can use an escrow service online that will be trustee for the transaction, just like when you buy or sell a house. Again, fees for this will eat into your profit.
MORE: Paypal
Finally, make sure you record the sale and remove your liability for the car with your state's Department of Motor Vehicles. They too are all online.
MORE: CNET Car Tech
MORE: Brian Cooley @ CNET.com
Brian Cooley joined CNET in 1995 to launch CNET Radio. Today as Editor at large, he offers commentary about technology on television and radio from the CNET p.o.v. as well as contributing videos to CNET Car Tech and CNET TV.
(© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.)
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