The Ultimate Way to Sell Your Beloved Car – Simultaneous Appraisal & Bidding Method

About three years ago, my husband was driving a Mercedes-Benz SLK350. Then, in 2015, he purchased a Boxster GTS, and the way he sold the SLK at that time was really effective. Today, I’d like to share that method with you.

Usually, people have individual appraisers come one by one and negotiate separately with each company, but scheduling each appointment is a real hassle. Also, the first company often pushes hard to close the deal, dragging negotiations out, and most people end up giving in and selling at that point.
Even if the second or third company comes along, you have to negotiate each time to get a good price, which takes a lot of time and effort. So, the method my husband tried back then was “requesting simultaneous appraisals from six companies through a bulk appraisal site, then deciding by bidding on the spot.”

Key Points of the Simultaneous Appraisal & Bidding Method

With that in mind, here’s a summary of the flow and key points of this ultimate selling method for anyone planning to sell their car in the future.

① Apply for a bulk appraisal online

You can use any site, but for example, there’s Rakuten’s bulk car appraisal site. Apply through a bulk appraisal site like that.

② Inform them in advance that appraisals will be simultaneous and decided by bidding

Most bulk appraisal forms have a remarks section, so write something like “This time, all companies will come simultaneously at the same time for appraisal, and the buyer will be decided on the spot by bidding. Please only contact me if you agree to these conditions.”

It’s also good to clearly state the following conditions and rules:

・Specify the exact date and time.
・Any delay over ○ minutes will be invalid.
・If prices are not submitted by ○:○, the appraisal is invalid.
・No individual negotiations if arriving earlier than the specified time.
・Have them write their offer on the back of their business card and submit all at once; the highest bidder wins.

③ Make sure all companies come for appraisal at the same date and time

Once you submit the bulk appraisal form, you’ll likely get a flood of calls from dealers immediately, so be sure to clearly communicate the following:

・Start on time without waiting for latecomers(Some companies may be significantly late, so waiting will delay the process).
・Set a strict deadline for price submission on the day(If the headquarters can’t provide a price within 10 minutes, that offer is invalid. Sometimes the appraiser on site has to call headquarters, and waiting too long means missing the bidding.).
・Some dealers may try to sneak in early to get an advantage; politely decline any such requests.

④ On the day, once all prices are ready, have them write their offers on the back of their business cards and collect them

On the day, since each dealer usually arrives by car, you’ll likely see a line of cars parked in front of your home (laughs). First, the appraisers check the car, conduct their appraisal, then call their headquarters to get the final price(the on-site appraiser doesn’t have the authority to set the price).
Once all prices are in, since this is not an auction, collect the offers written on the back of their business cards.

⑤ Review the amounts on the business cards and decide to sell to the highest bidder

Look at all the amounts on the back of the business cards, announce the name of the highest bidder, and send the others home(it might feel a bit harsh, but that’s how it goes). Firmly decline any further negotiations.

The Price Difference from Bidding Was Over 350,000 Yen!

As a result of using this method, the difference between the lowest and highest offer was over 350,000 yen. According to my husband:

This is the best method we’ve tried so far. It eliminates tedious price negotiations and saves time. Dealers seem used to simultaneous appraisals like this, so feel free to give it a try.

It seems the selling price can vary quite a bit depending on how you do it. If you’re considering selling your car, I hope you’ll give this a shot.

[Update 9/1/2021]

Later, when selling a BMW, the difference was about 1,000,000 yen. The rarer the car or grade, the more effective this method is, so I highly recommend it.

BMWを複数業者で同時買取査定したら100万円以上の差が出た！