Section 172. Use the Sell Your Vehicle Checklist

172. Use the "Sell Your Vehicle" Checklist

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

171 About Selling Cars and Vehicles

SEE ALSO

127 Determine Your Selling Price and Estimate Your Selling Fees

There's a lot you need to do before you list your car on eBay, including determining its best selling price, copying down important information such as its mileage and VIN, and more.

To help you do all that, eBay has created an eBay Motors seller's checklist. In this task, you learn how to use the checklist to prepare for selling your vehicle.

1.	Download and Print the Checklist Go to http://pages.ebay.com/motors/sell/Sell_Your_Vehicle_Checklist.pdf and print the checklist. Note that to view the checklist, you must have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download and use for free from www.adobe.com. As you go through the rest of the steps in this task, you'll copy information onto your printed checklist.
2.	List Vehicle Information Part 1 of the checklist covers basic vehicle information. First write down your car's vehicle identification number ( VIN ) . You can usually find it on the driver's side of the front windshield of your car, on the driver's side doorjamb, or on your car's registration. Then write down the vehicle's year, make, model, mileage, type of transmission, warranty, and similar information, as required by the checklist. Make notes of the vehicle's equipment, such as whether it has leather seats, air conditioning, and so on. KEY TERM Vehicle identification number (VIN) A unique identification number assigned to every vehicle that can be used to track information about the vehicle, such as whether it has been stolen or involved in an accident .
3.	Take Pictures of Your Vehicle Your auction page should include a variety of photos of your vehiclethe Photo Checklist in the Vehicle Information section advises which views to use. Take photos of your car with a digital camera. (For help taking and handling digital photos, turn to 74 Import Photos from a Digital Camera and 138 About Digital Pictures and eBay .) 172. Use the "Sell Your Vehicle" Checklist
4.	Write Down the Vehicle Description Part 2 of the checklist covers common questions you might be asked about the vehicle, such as whether you are the original owner or know the ownership history, whether you've made modifications to the vehicle, whether you have maintenance records, whether you have a warranty, and whether it is transferable. You'll also be prompted to cover any cosmetic or other problems with the vehicle; any specializations you've made to it; and information about the terms of the sale, such as whether you have a specific time frame, whether you'll accept escrow payments, and whether the title is available. Keep in mind that Part 2 of the checklist only includes check boxes; it assumes that you are collecting the paperwork or evidence to support the answers to the questions. So be sure to keep the paperwork near at hand. NOTE You must have your vehicle's title if you want to sell it. If you don't have the title, get it from your state's Department of Motor Vehicles. If you're making car payments, your bank or other lender might have the title. You'll have to pay off the loan before you get the title. And for a list of every state's Department of Motor Vehicles, go to http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/help/basics/dmv.html. Also note whether you need to gather any extra paperwork to sell the car, such as getting a smog inspection.
5.	Determine a Selling Price Part 3 of the checklist covers the vehicle pricing. When you sell your vehicle, you can set a reserve price , so that if that price isn't met in the bidding, you won't have to sell your car at a cost less than you think it is worth. You can also sell your car using eBay's Buy It Now feature. For both approaches, though, you must determine a selling price. The best way to do that is to check the estimated value of your car at two car sites: Edmund's at www.edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book at www.kbb.com.

KEY TERM

Reserve price A secret price you set for the item you're selling; if the bids don't reach that price, you don't sell the item.