I am happy to have found a buyer for my A4, and my research of actual sales (via eBay) says the price is right in line with real market -- i.e. actual sales. However, it makes no sense to me how places like Edmunds.com get away with inflating prices so much. According to edmunds, my car is worth somewhere between 13.5k in trade or 18k new...and yet, it sold for well below that.

Just where does edmunds get its data, and are they in alliance with the dealers or something? Where, other than eBay, can someone get a TRUE value for a car?

 

ebay usually sells cars about 1500-3k less then going through auto trader or bagainnews in my state

 

I believe it. The flip side, at least for me in Texas, is that AutoTrader ads stir up very little interest. I have had my ad in that rag for 2 weeks without even a single email or phonecall. That endless wait has its own cost. At least with eBay you get people actively negotiating with you.

 

this is true i live in a great area i have sold many cars.. about 10 to be exact everyone sold in the first two weeks or less except for my camaro because i was looking for a good home.. turned a few people down only to have the dip shitt who bought ti blow it up 2 months later call me and try and get moeny out of me..

 

Worth is really meaningless. Something can be worth 10k but if someone will only pay 8k, what is it really worth. Kbb and edmunds can be incorrect because sometimes the wrong value is used. Usually there are two prices, a dealer price and a private party price. The dealer price will always be more due to inspections/repair/cost of running dealership. In many cases, you get some sort of guarantee from a dealer, whereas a private party, once the papers are signed it becomes your problem. Also a dealer usually takes care of all the paper work. A private party sale usually results in a trip to the dmv.

 

All very good points. Thanks for the input.

In my case, I was offering a car with a transferrable Audi Assured warranty, which is better than an extended warranty, and not even available to a dealer after 50k miles, but I was surprised how little weight people seemed to assign to that. If I were buying, the peace of mind would be golden. You can't even get an extended warranty as comprehensive as Audi Assured...

 

My Taurus SHO sold on ebay for $1800, but it was appraised at that value. To get that I had to have 4.5 pages of description. I knew that car extremely well, and since I had such a through description I sold it at the appraised price.

 

I got my car for nearly exactly 2000 less than its kkb price for private party sales off of ebay.. they are sometimes accurate. it really depends on how much the owner wants the car, or the prices that the dealer paid. also the area, sometimes care are worth more in specific areas.

 

KBB and sites similar to it are simply a guideline.
Demand vs. supply dictates price.

In my business, an electronic component with a book value of $1.00 is lucky to sell for $0.60 if 25 brokers have a ton of stock.

That same part is easy to move for $1.75 if someone needs it to finish their latest line of cell phones and you're the only game in town.

All KBB-like services do is take an overview and set a hypothetical pricepoint.
If you asked me the market price for the part above, I would tell you $0.80 - $1.20 based on previous sales.
Can you buy it for $0.60, probably. Can you sell it for $1.75, maybe.

It all depends on demand and supply.
.
.

 

Before I picked my A4 up I checked out a book at Barnes and Noble that listed price just like NADA - can't remember the name - and it listed wholesale(auction), private, retail - mine listed for $5100 wholesale - I got it for $5300 on ebay from a guy 30 miles from me - I did test drive the car before I purchased it. The car was in mint and had all service records. Great for me bad for him. Edmunds has always been fair I thought - KBB is a joke and NADA can't be trusted. Look at dealers around your area that are selling somthing similar. If they are selling for 10k - you can maybe get 8k if your lucky. If an Audi dealer is selling for 20k - you might get 15-16k. If you find the right person who really wants your car then you can get close to "book" otherwise you will always end up taking less.

Retail price = mint condition being sold at an Audi dealer
Private = avg condition being sold at a small local dealer
Trade in = A little below what you should be able to sell the car for

Car's are not investments they are money pits