Digital car-selling platforms have revolutionized the auto buying landscape for the past couple of years. In fact, research says the global online automotive market will reach $515.6 billion by 2027. Additionally, 95 percent of car buyers start their car search journey online, with 65 percent taking over three weeks to research online. Amid so many digital platforms dealing in used and new cars. Online car sellers may have difficulty deciding where to reach buyers and how to shortlist marketplaces and start their online selling journey. You would need a proper analysis of marketplaces, how car buyers view those channels, and what type of responses they get: all these factors would affect your ultimate online car-selling decisions.
This blog will run you through everything you need to know about digital car selling websites and marketplaces. So, let’s dive in!
What is an Online Car Selling Platform?
An online car selling platforms USA is a website where you can purchase and sell automobiles. It is essentially a digital marketplace where buyers can browse different vehicles, check them out virtually, compare their prices and features, etc. Automobile retailers – including both independent sellers and dealerships. They can list their vehicles on these platforms to reach a much wider audience compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
Such platforms offer a lot of convenience to both buyers and sellers. For the former, the car buying journey is simplified significantly; the entire research part can be done online from the comfort of one’s couch. Also, plenty of online car sales sites platform provide easy finance options. So, people don’t have to jump to other websites to search for those. Apart from that, some even have the option for customers to trade in their older vehicles for additional discounts on their purchases, similar to traditional dealerships.
As for sellers, the most significant advantage of online retail is better reach; businesses can find a larger relevant audience on the web compared to traditional (offline) retailing. Also, digital car listings are more straightforward and more cost-effective, because you don’t need to maintain your inventory to showcase at all times physically. All you need are high-quality images and videos, and you’re set!
Top 14 Online Car Selling Sites
In today’s digital age, selling your car online has become a convenient and popular option. To fulfill your needs of reaching a wide audience, and making a fast and easy transaction, sellers can utilize the best place to sell car online free. We have mentioned some top options considering factors like user-friendliness, reach, features, and potential downsides to help you find the best site to sell car.
1) Cars. com: Cars.com was established in 1998. They offer a convenient way for sellers and buyers to make a vehicle transaction. Cars.com offers a massive selection of cars over 2 million from a wide range of sources including dealerships and private sellers. Additionally, Cars.com does not charge any fees from their consumers offering a test drive and a transaction in selling vehicles.
2) Carvana Co.: Carvana. Co is based in Tempe, Arizona for an online used car retailer. It is a fast-growing online used car selling platforms in USA which is known for its multi-story glass tower vehicle vending machines. Carvana was the youngest company, which was added to the list of 2021 Fortune 500.
3) Peddle: Peddle purchases vehicles directly from individuals. They offer a great deal to the sellers and do not charge any pickup fees. However, the Peddle does not offer to trade a vehicle directly to the consumers. Therefore, they purchase old, damaged, and nonworking cars as well.
4) CarMax: CarMax deals in used car retailer that allows consumers to purchase or sell their vehicle in person at the company’s location, on their app, or on their best website to sell car by owner. They also offer car warranties and services for financing.
5) Copart: Copart organizes an online auction that allows dealers and individuals to sell or purchase vehicles. They purchase vehicles in any condition, whether the vehicle is damaged or in good condition.
6) CarGurus: CaraGurus is an online marketplace, that allows individuals and dealers to sell their cars. Additionally, cars listed on their site, the company does not own them. Therefore, they connect sellers, and local dealers to the consumers. CarGurus also provides a financial tool, which allows users to compare used car pricing and get pre-qualified, in terms of when they are looking to purchase a new car.
7) Vroom: Vrooms owns a leading automotive finance company and operates UACC (United Auto Credit Corporation). They offer an online car buying site that specializes in low-mileage, pre-owned cars similar to the certified pre-owned vehicles. Vroom inspects vehicles with several checks to ensure they are safe and ready to sell to their consumers.
8) Autotrader: Autotrader allows users to sell certified used and new cars. They offer a free vehicle history report to make sure the vehicle history is clean. Additionally, they offer a free renewal of up to 1 year for the sellers if their vehicle does not find the potential buyer. They also offer sellers to add up to 30 photos of the vehicle from different angles.
9) Facebook Marketplace: If you want to reach your buyers independently and escape the extra cost of listings, the Facebook Marketplace is the right car selling platforms for you. It is, in fact, a one-stop solution for all online car sellers and dealers. With Facebook, you can create your inventory listings for free, engage buyers by posting about cars daily, boost your listings and land qualified leads, stay active in the car buying communities, and know buyers personally.
10) TrueCar: TrueCar is buyers’ favorite platform to research cars and vehicles. Online car buyers use it increasingly to search for market values of trending cars, recent transactions, differences between the offerings and MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price), etc. This makes TrueCar an excellent platform to delve deeper into buyers’ preferences and trends and get discovered. By tracking buyers’ searches, clicks, and reviews, you can find the shortcomings in your listing info and discover yourself in buyers’ comparison charts.
TrueCar is also a great platform to validate your existence. Buyers come to TrueCar to engage only with certified online car sellers. Listing here will not only help you secure buyers’ trust without hassles but also stay in the community.
11) Walmart CarSaver: Walmart CarSaver is an excellent platform if you want to go for a quick online car sales platforms while ensuring a seamless omnichannel experience without scaling up. The framework and policies of the platform allow car buyers to contact online car sellers directly and ask for a test drive. They can visit any Walmart CarSaver physical store and assess the car. Collaborating with Walmart also gives you numerous add-ons like allowing buyers to insure their vehicles, lease them, other financing options like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), lifetime access to servicing, etc.
You might find it hard to offer such incentives to buyers on an individual level otherwise. It is undoubtedly the seller-first platform.
12) Bring-A-Trailer: This is the best car selling platforms to sell your car online if you are dealing with rare, classic, or vintage vehicles. The platform thoroughly examines the car before listing it on its site, which is pretty much why it’s the favorite channel for all auto enthusiasts and leads to high-quality site traffic. Bring-a-trailer clientele makes the platform one of the most sorted and clean online car-selling marketplaces, translating into higher dollars for online car sellers.
The listing would cost you around $99, but audiences here are often willing to pay more to acquire those souped-up and antique cars.
13) Craigslist: In case you are not willing to scale up for paid listings, Craigslist can be the perfect solution for you. You might have heard some haunting stories about transactions on Craigslist. But, it is still a potential tool for selling cars online. The most significant benefit of Craigslist is that you can include as many visuals as you want on the VDPs without any cost, paving the way for increased sales. It is also an excellent platform for selling cars locally and online. Conversely, it is also one of the disadvantages since it is not a very efficient source to sell nationally and makes the car sales online process slower.
14) eBay Motors: eBay is the best platform to start your car selling online research. The listings on eBay help you conduct an in-depth search and analyze completed listings, seeing what gets sold and what doesn’t. Moreover, if you are trying to sell your car locally, this can be a reasonable option. Local listings on eBay are free, while the national ones charge between $60 and $125. However, one of the prominent disadvantages of eBay is that the bids are not binding. Meaning a car buyer can exit the process anytime for any reason, even after bidding for your car.
How To Sell a Car Online for the Best Price
Car selling platforms online is a convenient and efficient way to reach a wide audience. Sellers have an opportunity to boost their revenue. However, before listing your car online it is important to inspect your car thoroughly. So you can set the best description and decide the actual worth of the vehicle. We have mentioned some steps, a seller can take to get the best price for the car, when selling online:
1) Find the car’s actual worth: There are numerous platforms for sellers, that help sellers to find the worth of the car. Therefore, they ask for the VIN or the license number of the vehicle of the old car. Additionally, they confirm the model, color, operation condition, and mileage as well. Sellers also have to confirm detailed information about the vehicle’s history. Whether it has been done through an accident, any modifications are done from the aftermarket. They also conclude vehicle inspection, to check if there are any dents or scratches in the vehicle. After the completion of the car inspection, they set an ideal worth of the car.
2) Figure if you are selling or trading: Most car owners prefer to sell their cars directly to the consumer and earn respected revenue. However, few consumers also look to upgrade their vehicles and ask dealers or sellers to trade in with the new or upgraded vehicle. Trade-in allows consumers to get a heavy discount on their new purchases.
3) Disclose current loans or leases: Several car-buying companies purchase vehicles from owners who still have a car loan on them. Additionally, some consumers are looking to lease a car for some time. It is important to disclose the current loans and options available for lease to attract potential and interested buyers.
4) Provide photos of the vehicle: Buyers often visit to inspect the vehicle physically. However, some buyers prefer to purchase a vehicle online. Therefore, providing high-quality 360 car photography images of the car will help the best online car selling sites UK. It allows consumers to inspect the vehicle and come to a mutual decision on the final price. However, if the car’s condition does not meet, how does it look in the images you shared? It will be a deal break and lead to dissatisfaction of the buyer.
Factors to be Considered While Selling Cars Online or In Person
When selling your car on a private car selling platforms, the seller must ensure that the transaction is done safely. Additionally, we advise you to not share any personal details more than required with the car buyers. The process of selling a car can be tricky. However, to make your experience smooth and profitable we have mentioned some factors you can consider when selling a car online or in person:
Should we sell a car with a loan on it?
Sometimes car owners are not able to pay off their loans. Therefore, they decide to sell their car. However, can we sell a call with a loan on it, will lenders allow you to sell until you pay the loan? These kinds of general questions often occur on the original owners.
Therefore, the owners should inspect and compare the worth of the car and the balance loan on them. If they can make a profit, they can surely get rid of that vehicle. Additionally, they should check the requirements from the lenders before proceeding with the sale process.
Lender’s Requirements
Lenders like banks or any other financial institution. They have some requirements and policies in terms of owners selling their cars when they still owe money on the loan. Owners should consider consulting with the lenders before selling their vehicles. They can also ask dealerships to communicate with their lenders to make the process more convenient for you. Additionally, if you owe more money than the actual worth of the car. Dealerships will consider it as negative equity and will roll the debt into the loan of your upgraded vehicle. However, we do not recommend owners to trade this way. When they owe more money than the actual worth of cars.
Possible to sell a car without a title?
Often, it is not conceivable to sell a car without a title. Though, it depends on the state laws. However, you have to request a replacement title while going through the sale process. If you are willing to sell a classic, the bill of a sold vehicle is enough to prove the ownership.
Possible to sell a car around to the dealership?
Dealerships often purchase used cars to resell them. Additionally, owners can also opt for the trade-in option and can use the credit if want to purchase a new car.
However, we recommend to get the fair market value of the car before walking into the dealership.
Platforms to sell car parts
Scraped or junked car parts can be sold separately. Owners can earn some good cash from the vehicle’s valuable components like its battery, engine, and GPS.
1) Junkyards: Owners can sell the vehicle parts to Junkyards. However, you might not get a good price from them.
2) Scrap metal yards: They buy parts from scrap and sell the usable ones. Additionally, they also recycle valuable scrap material that can be used for other things.
3) Online listing things: car selling platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay offer some best possible deals for car parts.
4) Auto shops and stores: Local automobile shops and stores are also interested in purchasing vehicle parts for the local business.
Bonus tip:
Speaking of disclosing exterior and interior conditions. The best way to do it is to eliminate any surprise elements for car buyers and give them an accurate idea of the vehicle’s conditions. This is best done with car interior photography with a professional touch.
In other words, give online buyers the best car platform visuals by capturing every feature of a car in detail. You can watch rotating car videos and shoot cars with panning effects, including engines, stitching of car seats, the emblem on the wheels and deck, and so on.
The icing on the cake, you don’t need any fancy turntable studio to create high-impact car visuals. With the help of state-of-the-art AI. You can shoot and capture cars from the correct angles, with the right color and shadow effects, and apply turntable effects. Sounds interesting? Try for free using Spyne Darkroom to see these features in effect.
Conclusion
Hope this blog helps you find the best car selling platforms. If you still find it hard to choose, try to figure out your selling objective. Do you want to get rid of your car as fast as possible? Is it an old car you want to sell? Or do you want to get the best deal from your sale? This will help you figure out an answer. Another thing you need to remember – pricing and user experience are just some of the components of a car-buying journey. High-impact car images are equally important. In fact, most of these marketplaces come with numerous prerequisites for uploading vehicle images on their VDPs. Well, guess what? You can stand out in these marketplaces without any of the struggles of hiring a professional car photographer or image editor.
Spyne’s next-gen AI photography solutions offer marketplace-ready backgrounds and visual effects for channels like Walmart and eBay. You can apply custom backgrounds, process bulk images, and publish them online at lightning speed.
Want to know more? Reach out to us today!
