Dealership vs. Private vs. Online: Which is the Best Way to Sell or Trade Your Car?

In this day and age, when the time comes to trade or sell your old car, you have more options than ever. You can sell it in-person on the private market, take to the internet to sell it with an online retailer, or simply drive down to your local dealership. So, which one is best?

The folks at our Ford dealership near Niceville, FL are experts in the latter option, so we’ve decided to compare it with the other two and see which one comes out on top. Read on to discover which may work best for you.

Selling or Trading at the Dealership vs. Private Market

For decades, the dealership and private market were the only two options, so we’ll start with this comparison. Here are the pros and cons of going to your local car dealership instead of selling a car yourself.

Ease

One of the biggest advantages of going to a dealership is that you can almost always sell or trade it in for a quick profit, be it cold hard cash or credit toward a down payment on a new car. Unless your old vehicle is pretty much totaled, we’ll probably take it, and all you have to do is hand over the keys and title.

Selling a car yourself is another story—you have to clean the car up, take thorough photos, write a description, then find somewhere to advertise it (usually somewhere like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or a local classified ad).

After that, you may have to wait around for days or weeks while you answer phone calls and messages about the condition of the vehicle and your “real lowest price.” When you finally get a serious buyer, you’ll have to meet them, let them test drive the car, and potentially haggle with them again in person.

Then, assuming they don’t back out of the deal, you finally sell the car. We’re getting exhausted just writing about it.

Profit

On the flip side of the coin, many folks believe that selling privately is the best way to maximize the amount of money that you get out of a vehicle. There’s a lot of truth to this—even experts like Kelley Blue Book assign a higher value to cars sold on the private market.

This is because when you sell the car yourself, you cut out the middleman, which means that all the money goes to you. Even if you have an older car with high mileage, there’s always someone out there looking for a beater, so it’s likely you’ll get more out of it than if you traded it in at a dealership.

However, be forewarned that it may take you some time to find the “sweet spot” price that attracts buyers. After a few weeks of unsuccessfully trying to sell a car, some folks even end up dropping the asking price below what a dealership would give you.

Safety

When you sell to a stranger, the top priority is always to make sure you’re doing so safely. Even in the current age of technology, there are still a lot of grifters out there, so you’ll need to be sure to do the legwork to properly vet any would-be buyers.

If you find a buyer who you think is serious, we recommend that you don’t meet them where you live or work, and you always have another person with you to witness the deal. It’s also a good idea to use an escrow service like PayPal, and not apps like Venmo or Cash App, because they’re rife with scammers.

Selling or Trading at the Dealership vs. Online Retailers

When we mention online car retailers, we’re talking about businesses like Carvana and CarMax. These places are a dime a dozen nowadays, and while they present some distinct perks, they may not be the right call for everyone.

Selection

Almost everyone lives within a half hour drive of at least a few dealerships. Major online retailers also often have brick and mortar buildings, and even offer pickup in some locations, so finding a place to sell to is fairly easy either way.

It’s a different story if you’re trading in, though.

Some dealerships like ours operate in a vast network, so they may have thousands of new and used cars to choose from. However, the online retailers have an advantage in terms of selection because they have a massive inventory that a single dealership can’t compete with. This allows you to pick from tens of thousands of cars when you sell online.

On the flip side, online retailers generally don’t carry new vehicles, so if you want a new car, you can only get it through the dealership (or order it from the manufacturer).

One more point to consider: if you’re shopping for a used car, you can inspect it and test drive it at a dealership, but if you get one from an online retailer, you’ll most likely have to buy it sight unseen without a test drive, then go through the return process if you don’t like it.

Profit

Both dealerships and online retailers use similar market research to determine what they’re able to pay you for your car, so you’re likely to get roughly the same amount from either one.

But, again, it’s a whole new ballgame if you’re trading in for another vehicle. Dealerships often offer special promotions, and sometimes even loyalty bonuses if you’ve done business with them before, while businesses like Carvana don’t.

Negotiation

Businesses like Carvana are famous for their policy of prices being non-negotiable, and this includes their quotes on what they’ll buy your car for. Some people prefer this because they don’t like the whole haggling process, but in reality, you may lose out on a good chunk of change if you don’t negotiate a little.

Dealerships tend to have more control over their inventory, which gives them more room to negotiate prices with you.

Sell Your Car in Crestview, FL

If you’re looking for a place in the Panhandle to sell or trade your old ride, Step One Crestview is located right down the road from Destin, FL, and we have competitive offers when you sell to us, even if you choose not to buy at our dealership.

If you’re interested in getting the most money out of your car without any extra headaches, fill out our online appraisal tool. You can also contact us directly online or reach us over the phone at (850) 367-7358. We look forward to hearing from you!