Risks and Benefits:

• Some people might not just be viewing your car, they might be taking note of all the other things around your home for a return visit.
• Is your Porsche comprehensively insured when on a test drive?
• How might you react when they’re “Just getting the feel of your gearbox” or using what was left of the clutch ?
• How politely do you ask them to slow down when they’re doing twice the speed limit?
• If you do make a sale and something major should go wrong with the car, you then have someone out there with not just your address but a grudge as well.

These are just a few initial things to pay consideration to, but there are many more:

• Can you organise a trade in, if not are you happy to wait for a buyer that must sell their car first?
• What if your buyer requires finance, many lenders won’t offer business or equipment finance (the predominant loan type) on vehicles purchased privately?
• Can you organise interstate freight and registration? We currently sell approximately 1 in 3 cars to interstate buyers.

For just one of these reasons alone, many buyers will not consider buying privately. It’s all just too hard.

Finally, these are the tough ones:

• Negotiating – Is it something you are very good at? A seasoned negotiator can often put thousands of dollars more back in your pocket.
• Peace Of Mind – Are you an ex-factory trained Porsche mechanic? If not, will a buyer be willing to pay you top dollar based on your opinion of your car? Buyers know there is absolutely no recourse from a private seller and thus will generally hold back a margin to account for the risk.
• If a sale is agreed, who ‘Jumps’ first, will the buyer be comfortable sending someone they have never met before 10’s or 100’s of thousands of dollars before collecting the car? If not, do you hand over the keys before their (hopefully genuine) bank cheque clears? There is an awkward toing and froing here that does not happen when transacting with a dealer.
• Your Time – What value do you place on it? How many cancelled weekend appointments are you prepared to endure, how many times do you want to hear “How long has it been for sale? Can I get it inspected? What’s the lowest price you’ll take?” Then you have to hope they’re not the same people that jump on Amazon and put 10 items in their Cart yet never proceed to the Checkout.