Craigslist has gained a reputation for its colorful variety of ads, from hot plates to hot dates. The free-to-browse, instant format makes it a popular choice for quick buying or selling, not the least of which are cars. Check these guidelines to selling your car on Craigslist for better odds of selling your car fast on the popular online marketplace.
Step-by-step guide to selling your car on Craigslist
Here’s how to sell on Craigslist in the popular Craigslist automobiles section.
Estimate your car’s fair market value
Research similar cars online, and use a variety of online car value tools with your car’s information to come to an average.
Gather your car’s paperwork
Make sure you have everything together, including the title, registration, and whatever maintenance records you may have. If you have a loan on your car, consider paying it off to have the title in hand.
Publish a clear and detailed Craigslist ad for your car
Be honest and accurate in describing the car and its condition. Include keywords that buyers might search for.
Be ready to meet potential buyers
Know up front that it might take a few meetings to find the right buyer. Try to meet in a public place away from your home, and bring a friend along.
Be prepared for price negotiations
Most potential buyers will try to negotiate. Don’t get insulted; it’s just how it works.
Close the deal and create a bill of sale
Have a bill of sale ready when you meet the right buyer. Ask the buyer to go together to a bank so you can witness the funds being prepared.
Inform your insurance and DMV
Make sure you’re no longer responsible for the car as soon as the new buyer takes ownership.
2019 Nissan Rogue
Tips on using Craigslist to sell cars
Here’s how to get the best results from your Craigslist ad and using social media for car selling.
Include photos
Include photos. Would-be buyers can and often do skip ads without photos altogether. Throw in a few with the ad and be ready to offer more to interested parties.
Include the year, make, model, and mileage
Include the car’s key details right in the headline. Craigslist is a sea of links, and putting that critical information not only makes your ad look more complete, it's more readily searchable for buyers.
Describe the car
Include the year, make and model in the text, too. Run down the primary details like odometer reading, engine size, major options and transmission. In the latter case, some buyers specifically want a manual or automatic gearbox and will ignore you unless this is indicated. Finally, spell everything correctly. If you advertise an “Infinity,” you will never get the attention of someone who types “Infiniti” in the search box.
Skip the life story
A person sells a car for a reason. It doesn’t mean full disclosure of drama is necessary. That kind of rambling keeps buyers from contacting sellers. Use your words instead to summarize recent maintenance or repairs. If the car needs or will need attention, say so. It’s the right thing to do, plus Craigslist buyers tend to accept that most private party used cars are less than showroom pristine.
Include multiple contacts
At minimum, you always have the built-in feature for anonymously receiving email responses to your ad. That will be a moot point as soon as you reply to an email, anyway. Include multiple ways for buyers to contact you, by email, text and phone. Sign up for a cloaking Google Voice number if you need. Check your spam folder often for legitimate parties’ messages that get misrouted. Answer inquiries as they come, or at least reply as soon as possible. Remember that buyers check out multiple ads. Don’t let their dollars go elsewhere.
Include keywords
When your car has a specific named feature, don’t skip it or give it a generic name. Instead of just mentioning it’s an all-wheel-drive Mercedes, include “4MATIC.” If that thing’s got a HEMI, say so. These are the kinds of keywords that get your post noticed, especially when folks search those terms.
Be reasonable
You’ve probably seen the Craigslist posts that resist negotiation or otherwise discourage contact before you even finish reading them. Having a firm price and establishing guidelines for contact might mean you lose a few potential buyers, but it isn’t all bad. You can’t be blamed for not wanting lowball offers phoned in after midnight. Just say so in a way that doesn’t turn off reasonable people with cash in hand. Avoiding unreasonable expectations is how to sell on Craigslist fast.
Set a fair price
Using Craigslist for selling your car fast comes with a tradeoff: you probably won’t get top dollar. Such is the price of quick turnaround. Just as we advise you do your homework selling your car by other means, consider an even more attractive price here. Be sure to check prices of other cars like yours when setting the bar.
2015 Ford F-150
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I be careful of when selling a car on Craigslist?
Scammers. The biggest risk listing a car on Craigslist is exposing yourself to scammers. If you want to learn how to sell on Craigslist safely, the keys are to minimize the amount of personal information you divulge and ensure the buyer is giving you good funds.
How do I not get scammed selling my car on Craigslist?
Here’s how to sell a car on Craigslist without getting scammed. First, when in contact with interested parties, protect your information. Use proxy email addresses and phone numbers that hide your real contact information. If a potential buyer wants to test drive your car, meet in a public place rather than your house, bring a friend, and make sure to see the potential buyer’s driver’s license. For a big sale like a car, use a secure form of payment. And finally, trust your instincts.
How do you sell on Craigslist for beginners?
Using the Craigslist sell car by owner feature can be intimidating for beginners, but it’s totally doable. Make sure you craft a good ad with good pictures and keywords that will reach the right potential buyers. Then, stay safe during the sales process by protecting your personal information.
Is it safe to give out VIN number on Craigslist?
A serious potential buyer will eventually expect you to disclose your car’s VIN, or vehicle identification number, so he or she can run vehicle history reports. However, you should delay this step as long as possible, since the VIN can potentially be used for fraudulent purposes. Consider paying for your own copies of your car’s vehicle history report and providing them on request, with your personal information obscured, to serious potential buyers.
What is the safest way to get paid when selling on Craigslist?
When you’re selling a car or another valuable item to a private party, cash and cashier’s checks are the two safest options. However, both can be counterfeited, and you’d be left with no recourse. Therefore, experts advise that you meet your buyer at a bank and watch the buyer withdraw cash or get a cashier’s check before you complete the sale. That way, you know the funds are good, and you’re in a safe place with much less risk of getting robbed.
Why does Craigslist charge $5 to post a car for sale?
If you’re wondering how to sell a car on Craigslist for free, those days are in the past. While you can still post on Craigslist for free on some sections of the site, a $5 fee went into effect in April of 2019. Though Craigslist didn’t comment on the new fee at the time, it’s a minor inconvenience to sellers that results in a more streamlined shopping experience with fewer irrelevant listings.
What is a red flag on Craigslist buying a car?
Whether you’re buying or selling a car on Craigslist, you want to be wary of other parties who aren’t willing to meet in person after establishing mutual interest in the transaction. Think about it. As a buyer, you wouldn’t buy a car if you weren’t allowed to see it, so as a seller, why should you trust a buyer who doesn’t want to look at it?
How do I accept a payment on Craigslist for a car?
If you’re selling a car on Craigslist for cash, you want to minimize the chances of getting counterfeit cash and of setting yourself up for robbery. Experts advise meeting in public to complete the deal and verifying the buyer’s funds, and a bank is the perfect place to do both.
