What are the reasons that a private seller of a luxury/exotic automobile succeed or fail?
The answers are really quite simple yet baffling.
Too often a private seller gets caught up in an array of emotional thoughts that cloud the reality of what it takes to sell their car. They believe they have a luxury/exotic car that the world will come beating at their door or phone or email to buy. The fact is, they just don't know the industry and how to capitalize on it.
Selling your luxury/exotic car privately is no different than what a Dealer does on a daily basis with the exception that you are doing it once and now. So why do so many people waste their time and money on useless dead-end car selling techniques? The answer is very simple, THEY DO NOT KNOW ANY BETTER!
Here are some of the most obvious mistakes a private seller of a luxury/exotic car makes (and ones you must avoid).
1. Placing the car for sale on an Internet site that does not specialize or focus their attention in luxury/exotic cars. Simply choosing a well known named Internet company who do not cater to luxury/exotic cars but instead will list any and every car make and model available lessen your chances of success by at least 75%.
2. Not establishing a realistic budget in advance of selling the car. If a new private seller does not plan ahead with a budget to sell their car they will be caught in a tangled web of financial uncertainty of what to do without deciding how much to do it with. This is sure fire killer to ultimately selling your car at a loss and doing so in a time period much longer than you expected or wanted.
3. Not Understanding that selling your car has two primary factors. The first is that you have a new temporary business. The second is that it is a numbers game. Both of these factors will contribute your success or failure to sell your car. Here is what I mean.
Selling your car is no different than your local dealer selling their cars, albeit on a much smaller scale. Both of your goals are to sell a car. They have to do it daily and you are doing it once now. So, the business side is obvious and the same - sell the car. Now, combine that with factor two that it is a numbers game. In order for the dealer to sell cars they need the number of buyers to walk into their showroom and have as many people as possible hopefully drive out with a car. That is why they have a big advertising budget. You are no different. You also need the buyers as they do. However, you do not have a showroom and you do not have deep pockets for an ongoing massive advertising campaign. Therefore you have to budget your advertising dollars (as stated above) more strategically to reach out to the right buyers to gain the advantage of the numbers of qualified buyers to sell your car. Since this is a temporary business for you, unlike a dealer, it is imperative that you make two very important business decisions.
1. How much will my advertising budget be?
2. What is the best way to reach out to the number of qualified buyers?
So, have you decided on an advertising budget? Have you discovered the best resources to find the number of qualified buyers, and by qualified I mean people who are serious buyers, not just tire kickers?
Obviously I am asking you these questions in order for you to understand the realities of having your own short term business of selling your car so you can make intelligent decisions and ultimately sell your car in a shorter period of time and at the best price.
Additional Mistakes:
1. Not being available (All the time)to communicate with potential buyers. Or in other words -Hiding in plain sight. It is absolutely astounding that so many first time sellers do not make themselves easily available to prospective buyers. They list their cell phone yet they rarely answer on the first call. They list their email address yet they rarely check it or respond promptly. They think that by not responding promptly they are showing that they are not eager to sell the car. On the contrary, an interested buyer is eager to want information and will quickly lose interest if there is a slow response and ultimately buy another car. In essence if you snooze you lose.
2. Not pricing the cat properly. We have seen all too often a car for sale by a private seller that is either way too high or well under priced. If you do not do your homework on pricing you are pricing your car out of the market. Quality research will result in a faster sale at the right price. The longer it takes to sell your car the more it depreciates on a daily basis.
3. Poorly written descriptions and selling points.
All too often a private seller believes that simply writing the basic details of the vehicle will be enough to get a person interested in the car. The details and specifics are important, however they are not enough. A prospective buyer literally needs to be overwhelmed by what they read. It is the exciting car ad that truly catches their attention that will in turn make the prospect want to respond.
4. Getting emotionally involved with the car. If selling your car is your goal, then separate the emotion from the reality. The more you are emotionally attached to your car, the less likely you will make the right decisions on how to sell it. Remember, selling your car is a temporary business.
5. Being a poor negotiator or too greedy. If you are not comfortable negotiating with someone you will probably end up selling your car at a price lower than what you really could have gotten. Conversely, if you are too greedy, you will not sell your car at all. Either learn the skills necessary to negotiate or rely on a professional to do it for you.
All of the points discussed above are the sure fire reasons that first time luxury/exotic car sellers succeed in failing to sell their car. Overcoming these issues is not as difficult as they may seem. You can do it on your own or hire an expert to help you.
We wish you the best in selling your luxury/exotic car.
