Benefits of selling your car online

The Internet is gearing up to be the next shopping mall of the future, where everything from gadgets and clothing are sold and purchased at great speeds. Even the automotive industry has leveraged this online trend. Today, tons of car advertisements and listings are posted online from users hopeful to sell their car.

Which begs the question- what are the benefits of selling your car online as opposed to simply selling it in a car lot using the old forms of media and the proverbial word of mouth? Carmudi Philippines has listed the advantages of enticing your next buyers in the complex world of the Internet.

Advantages for the seller

Reaches millions

You can tap a large number of people who may want to buy the car you are selling if you put an advertisement on the Internet. The Philippines currently has more than 38 million Internet users and growing, according to the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP).

Filipinos are also shifting from traditional media (radio, TV, newspapers) to new media (mobile, Internet). In 2011, a report from Nielsen Southeast Asia revealed that Filipinos spend an average of 21.5 hours (almost a day) online out of a week.

The real challenge of promoting the vehicle you are selling is in clearing out the online clutter. You can do this by going after car enthusiast communities on social networking sites or posting on online car classifieds such as Carmudi.

Less costly

Getting an ad (usually a few inches in size) in one of your local newspapers or magazines will cost you thousands of pesos. And they can also be just a black and white photo of your vehicle, and most of the time just in text format. This inability to provide more information on what you are selling can easily deter your buyers.

Compare this to posting your advertisement online, which can go from basically free to a few hundred pesos. You can also post the pictures of the important car parts such as the engine, its front grille, rear, interior and dashboard.

Traceable leads, customer retention

One of the best reasons why you should sell your car online is because of its potential leads. Some of the online advertising platforms, like Carmudi, have features which can help you track the amount of people who have signaled interest in your vehicle. This could be anything from the number of people who viewed your post, those who have contacted you (either via e-mail or phone) or other ways that tell you the behavior of your possible buyers.

On the content driven Internet, people are also looking for the most useful and updated resources. Carmudi is also promoting its content (mostly about cars and motorcycles) across multiple channels which entices potential car buyers who are a hair's breadth away from buying a car. We try to answer some of the most important questions car buyers may have such as the car model’s reliability, fuel efficiency and reviews from automotive experts.

Advantages for the buyer

Establishing a base price

Because of this huge shift from advertising offline to online, there is now a wide selection of almost anything on the market. For car buyers, this means not only more car models. They will also have more options to choose from in terms of budget and the condition of the car they are looking for.

Many car buyers have bought over-valued used cars simply because they had less units to compare it with. With online car advertisements ranging from hundreds to even thousands in a country just for one car model, buyers now have an idea of the ideal price of a second hand car based on its equipment, year built and overall condition. Establishing a base price can also be to your advantage when bargaining for the right price of a used car a private seller is peddling online.

Performing car research

Buying online also allows you to research the car model or vehicle, especially if you are unfamiliar with it. This is for you to grasp how well the automotive product you want will fit into your lifestyle. There is tons of information available online that provides necessary data from car specifications to reviews from current and previous owners of the car model.

One of the most important aspects you will need to know when buying a car is the common issues or problems the car series has been known for. It could be anything from noise in the passenger cabin to slower acceleration or overall reliability.

Carmudi Certified

When buying your car online, be careful of scammers. Carmudi advises that the transaction be performed directly, upon the agreement of both parties. Do not send money, especially via money transfer if you have a shadow of a doubt that the seller is not legitimate. Check if the product page or listing you are viewing has the “Carmudi Certified” logo which tells you we have checked the legitimacy of the establishment or person selling the car.