When selling your car privately... help me how.

[lux.sh]

Ok, I have a car to sell. Its honda prelude, so mostly young buyers. Anywhere from 16~27.

I never sold a car to someone before, so im a bit nervous to meet these people since I don't know what to say.
I don't want to sound like a lame salesman and bullshit around, nor a mean shady guy.

I know im going to choke when they want to lower the price, since me being a nice guy and all, I really don't know how to say "No".

help me out guys. What are you supposed to say? Should I dress to impress?

[hotsand5]

I would dress normally since you are dealing with a younger crowd. Jeans and a polo should suffice. I wouldn't try to pitch it too heavy to them, as they may be buying it privately because they are sick of salesmen at the dealerships. I would just point out the main features of the car....tell them that your car is pretty rare and holds its value, how fun and reliable the car is, etc...basically why they would want that car. Were you thourough with maintenence? Do you have any reciepts, proof? When it comes to price, did you look at kbb.com and see what the car is selling for private vs. trade in vs dealer price? I would always price just under what the dealership is selling the car for, and then have room to negotiate up to the private value. It seems like human nature to feel good about getting "a good deal". Say you are asking $15k (dealer price) and private is $13k...if the guy asks you what you can do with the price, then I'd go down in $500 increments, but hesitate while doing so. Don't seem too eager. Feel them out, are they really excited about the car? Did they ask a lot of questions about the car before comming to see it (then are not really hot about the car, but interested), or do they just call and ask to see the car (really want the car and found what they like). For those kind of buyers, I'd play a bit of hard ball. Say that you already put out a great price, and maybe show them ad's of others like yours on dealer lots w/ same prices, but now they know where the car comes from and how you took care of it. Then say, ok, I can lower it 500 if you want to do it today. They'll usually bite then. If they don't seem too excited, then I'd ask them what is a fair price after telling what you are selling the car for (and I'd inflate the price by maybe $500) You might start at 15,500, they say 13k. You keep w/ the 500 increments until you basically hit in between and you end up at $14,250....not too bad when you were originally going to price the car at $15k.

I know that everything is not going to work this way, and the numbers were just an example of how things might play out. The best thing to do is just feel out the buyer and see how excited he is about the car. Sorry for it being so long, but I did take a negotiation class in college.....that was a lot of fun!! Good luck and let us know how it went. By the way, those were great cars, if you have one of the last generations made.

[flush01]

Originally Posted by hotsand5

I would dress normally since you are dealing with a younger crowd. Jeans and a polo should suffice. I wouldn't try to pitch it too heavy to them, as they may be buying it privately because they are sick of salesmen at the dealerships. I would just point out the main features of the car....tell them that your car is pretty rare and holds its value, how fun and reliable the car is, etc...basically why they would want that car. Were you thourough with maintenence? Do you have any reciepts, proof? When it comes to price, did you look at kbb.com and see what the car is selling for private vs. trade in vs dealer price? I would always price just under what the dealership is selling the car for, and then have room to negotiate up to the private value. It seems like human nature to feel good about getting "a good deal". Say you are asking $15k (dealer price) and private is $13k...if the guy asks you what you can do with the price, then I'd go down in $500 increments, but hesitate while doing so. Don't seem too eager. Feel them out, are they really excited about the car? Did they ask a lot of questions about the car before comming to see it (then are not really hot about the car, but interested), or do they just call and ask to see the car (really want the car and found what they like). For those kind of buyers, I'd play a bit of hard ball. Say that you already put out a great price, and maybe show them ad's of others like yours on dealer lots w/ same prices, but now they know where the car comes from and how you took care of it. Then say, ok, I can lower it 500 if you want to do it today. They'll usually bite then. If they don't seem too excited, then I'd ask them what is a fair price after telling what you are selling the car for (and I'd inflate the price by maybe $500) You might start at 15,500, they say 13k. You keep w/ the 500 increments until you basically hit in between and you end up at $14,250....not too bad when you were originally going to price the car at $15k.

I know that everything is not going to work this way, and the numbers were just an example of how things might play out. The best thing to do is just feel out the buyer and see how excited he is about the car. Sorry for it being so long, but I did take a negotiation class in college.....that was a lot of fun!! Good luck and let us know how it went. By the way, those were great cars, if you have one of the last generations made.

he knows whats up

[just4kickz]

uhh from the pics u have of your prelude... dont "dress to impress"... i think if your doing a private buy and your target is the youth... you wanna dress in a way that makes them feel comfortable... so maybe like casual wear...

i don't know much about private selling though but obviously you wanna highlight the good stuff about your car when you speak to the person... i might let them test drive it... but in an empty parking lot... lol people are hella shady these days

[akhbhaat]

Personally, I wouldn't make it a hassle on yourself. Sell the car as you would if you were a wholesaler. No need to do anything special in terms of dressing up or what have you. Just be casual and friendly. You don't really need to sell them the car (outside of pointing out why your PARTICULAR car is a better buy than other, similar examples) - the vast majority of used cars buyers know what they want from the start.

Set a very reasonable selling price from the start, so there's no real negotiation process to deal with. If they don't like the price, tough. If the price is genuinely fair, somebody will pay it.

One more thing: if they want to test drive the car (as they probably should, if they're smart), you should ride along with them. If they refuse, then you don't want to sell it to them. Any time I go to check out a used car on a private party sale, I have no qualms about allowing the owner to ride along with me.

[DLJJ3399]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

Ok, I have a car to sell. Its honda prelude, so mostly young buyers. Anywhere from 16~27.

I never sold a car to someone before, so im a bit nervous to meet these people since I don't know what to say.
I don't want to sound like a lame salesman and bullshit around, nor a mean shady guy.

I know im going to choke when they want to lower the price, since me being a nice guy and all, I really don't know how to say "No".

help me out guys. What are you supposed to say? Should I dress to impress?

Lux, I'll help you sell your car! It's easy... And being nice has nothing to do with it.