The following tips are designed to promote smooth transactions, avoiding unnecessary wasted costs, confusion, and inconveniences for both buyers and sellers, and a "win-win" for all parties, where the buyer ends up with a good value and the seller sells for a fair price.

Before you bring your car to sign in:

1. Check your title. If there is an "and" or a "/" between your name and other names on the title, bring the other co-owner(s) or a DMV power of attorney to sell the car. 

 
2. The statistics show that 3 out of 4 cars usually sell here in the first 40 days. 70 to 90% sell in some months and most have sold in the first month, but other car sales and past performance is never a guarantee that you will sell. 

 
3. The critical factors for sales success have been the condition and the price. These two factors should be in line on day 1 to have a good chance of selling within your initial contract period at Buggy Bank. These are not times to gamble or temp fate by waiting to long to finally find the market for your car. 

 
4. Don't fall into the trap of letting your needs or the payoff of a loan determine your initial price or lowering your price or paying make needed repairs when it becomes obvious that it is detracting from the sale. Ask for help on this when you sign up. That's what we're here for.

 

Do's:

1. Make sure your battery is healthy, the vehicle is clean and emptied of personal belongings, and there is adequate fuel for test drives.

 
2. The majority of sales happen well within the first contract period, but to stay on track be sure to call in every 3 to 4 days to get an "Activity Analysis" to see if you should "hang tight", adjust the price, change the advertising, or make a repair. 

 
3. Be responsive, have an answering machine and check it frequently. There are other vehicles on display to the buyer if you are not available.

 
4. If you are uncomfortable with any buyer's approach or don't know how to handle a given situation, please don't hesitate to call us for assistance to understand and learn what some of your options may be.

 
5. You can find a fair price for your vehicle. As part of the $100 setup of you car in our system, we can review and help you interpret local and regional sales statistics that might apply. Most of you can find some of the stats we use on the internet and walk into our office with them in some cases. The problem is understanding the context in which they can be used or not used to determine a good price for your car when selling to the public at large. How to interpolate. That's where we can assist in getting you off to a good start with a great price. 

 
6. If you want to risk a higher price, just know that most of the interest buyers have is in the first few days when a new car hits our lot. If there hasn't been enough interest initially then within the week be sure to get your price reduced to an attractive level (to the buyer's market), that is of course, assuming you really need to sell within 30 days. To find out what the interest has been, call to check your logged activity and ask for an "Activity Analysis" and an appointment to get assistance by a visit or phone conference with one of our sales assistance analysts. 

 
7. In order for the new owner to register a new vehicle, it must have been smogged within the past 90 days. Normally it would be to your advantage to smog it early on so you can advertise "smogged and ready to go." Otherwise, when you get an acceptable offer, have the buyer get a cashier's check while a service smogs your vehicle. Then make an appointment to meet at Buggy Bank where we'll assist you both with the DMV paperwork.

 
8. Know where your title or "pink slip" is so you are ready when the opportunity to sell presents itself. If jointly owned ("AND" or "/" between your names), then you both must sign. If you have a lien-holder, call in advance now and ask them for the most convenient and secure way for you and the buyer to complete the sale. 

 

 
1. We assist with a starting price, not a guaranteed selling price. It may turn out to be a high price, but don't leave it high if there is no interest within the first week. Call in, check your activity, and let us work with you to make the necessary adjustments to give your car its best chance to sell. Otherwise, after your initial contract period, you may have to renew for another month or pay for extra days. Remember you are ultimately responsible to sell your car. We are here to assist you as much as we possibly can. If you don't have the time to call us or answer our calls your car may well sit there with a price or condition that is not attracting any buyers. 

 
2. Try not to be upset or indicate your extreme displeasure with a "low-ball" offer. Tell the buyer "if that is your best offer you may later accept it, but you want to see if there are higher offers while you still have time on the lot". There are some who "low-ball" so that you will explain why it has the value you place on it. Once they understand the value they may actually buy it for your asking price. Still others feel the need for some token negotiation to save face with their family or friends. 

 
3. Long stays with low activity (no key checkouts, test drives, etc.) can hinder sales. Other problems are dead batteries when vehicles just sit there (usually with a high price or in a condition unattractive to buyers), plus having to pay for more insurance, registration, etc., are other problems you can avoid by moving your sale right along. 

 
4. Poor condition. Normally you can allow for the cost of poor condition in your advertising or you can negotiate it, but as time moves on and it becomes obvious that buyers are turned off by it, or just don't want to deal with it, you may have to fix it yourself. Sometimes it may be fair to move your price up to cover the repair. Ask us for suggestions if the symptoms point to this in any activity analysis you request or we offer. 

 
5. High pricing. Getting too greedy can result in no sale or a very long time to sell. Also, it rarely matters how much you have put into a vehicle or how much you owe to a financial lien-holder or how much a good friend says it may be worth. We all value the extra goodies we have invested and hate to give up our cars at any price. To base your pricing decisions on this criteria is to invite a high degree of failure to sell in any reasonable length of time. When you get reasonable offers that aren't quite what you expected, don't shoot yourself in the foot by nitpicking over small amounts. Its only human to overprice so if you come down a little you are probably closer to a fair price. Choosing a recommended market value is the best defense against any unnecessary losses.