I have had a car on Carsales for several weeks now, and only get end of week enquiries wanting cash discounts or Tradeins?
Not a single legitimate request to even see the car.
Gumtree seems to have a lot more car ads these days, and I am thinking about using it.
This is not about the condition or asking price for the car, (it has been the lowest price), or the reputation of Gumtree, just asking for thoughts on the options.
Thoughts on Carsales vs Gumtree
GOFYS on 01/02/2017 - 10:16
Comments
What do you have to lose?
His car, steer clear of Gumtree.
I've sold two cars on Gumtree and my mate sold his last week. At the end of the day you are in control.
This, just be prepared to deal with the scammers in the early days and the idiots offering ridiculous low-ball offers.. It's the "price you pay" for advertising for free unfortunately.
There are genuine buyers out there too and the more eyeballs the better.
What sort of scams should I be watching out for when selling my car on Gumtree?
The typical one is someone offering to buy full price, no questions/inspection and then arranging someone else to pick up. Do some searching, you'll find it is very common.
I'll be listing my car on gumtree and with a sign on the side of the road when it gets through rego. It is oly worth around $3k so I'll probably only accept cash and meeting in person. There are also lots of the same model around, so I don't expect anyone would want to come from interstate to pick it up either, they would be able to get one locally.
As above, they usually "work on an oil rig" in the Southern Ocean hence why they can't come to inspect.
I think the game is that they do a Western Union transfer, but they're fully reversible, so they "transfer" you money, and then reverse the transfer immediately after (if not before). Then send you the confirmation of transfer.
Other one is the person in the Army serving in Afghanistan but coming back to Australia and looking to buy a car for when he gets back. As per the sham oil worker, offering to pay full price. Will be an advanced fee fraud, ie they will offer you full price but say they need to use a local 'agent' to receive the car on their behalf. They will ask if you can pay the agent fees of $500 + and they will just add it to the purchase price when they transfer money to your bank account. Sometimes they might even actually transfer $$ via paypal or something. Normally they would then chargeback the electronic transaction after you have paid their agent.
A couple of safeguards:
I am ex Army, if anybody tried the Army story i would say i was also ex-Army and ask what unit they were in. having to come up with an easily spotted BS dodgy cover story this might be enough to deter a blatant fraudster.
Anything involving you paying a fee to an agent is fraud, walk away, delete all records and stop answering any requests.
Anything that even mentions Western Union as a payment method is 99.99999% likely to be fraud, Run, dont walk away and ignore any further correspondence.
If they send you a text msg to your mobile,normally there is no number showing up in the msg,it will be a name where the number suppose to show up
@2ndeffort: lol I'm not army but for shit sakes, the last thing I'd be thinkin of between snipers and dodging IED's is buying a car off Gumtree.
What a joke lol.
@Al Kider: I had a mate spent most of his time in the sand pit sitting in a Command Post (CP) at HQ surfing the net waiting for something to happen between his regular routine of reporting etc. Not everyone that deploys is in the Infantry out on patrol. Even the Infantry guys get rotated when on ops, they use Skype to call their loved ones and because the main bulk are young adults there is plenty with laptops or video games. Young guys also love to talk about cars. It used to be a joke when I was in about the car park on the base when a deployment ended. A lot of the single guys would take their pay and allowances that had been stacking up whilst they were on ops and headed off to the HSV dealership down the road. We would have 5 or 6 new Clubsports in the carpark!!
Also, when you are 23, sitting in the pitch black on gun picquet at 4am freezing your cojones off somewhere in the middle of nowhere whispering to your mate next to you, cars, food, girls, footy etc used to be the main topics of conversation back in my day!
I am looking to buy some cars and I find Carsales a lot better website than gumtree. On Gumtree, people often don't enter valid information which is quite frustrating when searching. E.g. 0km when it has traveled 240000km, the number of different fuel options that you can only choose one of. If I was selling a car, however, I would put it on as many forums as possible to maximise the chances of selling it quickly.
Yes, I find this annoying too. So now I filter to only cars that have done >1000km. If they're not going to honestly enter the odometer reading, what else are they leaving out??
Last time we used Gumtree for selling a car (at the same time as Carsales) it will just full of low ballers and time wasters.
Completely agree, sometimes I think ppl on gumtree are bored and like to msg ppl that they are interested only because they have no one else to talk too.
I sold my last car on Gumtree and it was easy. I also sold tyres and wheels without issues. I have not used Carsales yet and I don't plan to do so. Gumtree is enough for me unless I were to sell a luxury car which I don't have.
I have had a car on Carsales for several weeks now, and only get end of week enquiries wanting cash discounts or Tradeins?
Does several weeks mean 3-4 weeks or 10-12 weeks. Unless you advertise the car with very low price it will take time to sell a car. Also it depends on the car.Eg VW diesel might not be the choice of car for used car buyers…
I would list mine on both Carsales and Gumtree. Saying that any car I have sold in the past has only been listed on Carsales and has sold relatively quickly.
I recently sold a car on Gumtree. I also had it listed on Carsales and Facebook. Facebook was the worst, would regularly get lowballers sending me PMs like:
'Hey Bra, ur car is sik, if u wud tak $4K I can buy tonit'
Obviously $4k was $2k less than I had it listed for. I actually had a couple of the FB dudes around and they tried to get me to drop further in person. In the end I sold it for $5K cash (literally a wad of $50 bills) from the Gumtree ad, guy came around with a mechanic, checked it out, we went on a test drive together then we signed the forms, I gave him a receipt and a current RWC, he handed over the $$ and i gave him the keys. I dont think I received a single enquiry from Carsales.
Offering 4k for a car listed 6k is not too bad in my opinion, but the deficiency in English Spelling and grammar is what I would watch out for haha
Sold my Merc on Car Sales, it was just so easy, sell price was $10K more than dealer offered on trade in too.
Sold a few cars. Got the best results on carsales.
Generally fairly common type cars (e.g. hatchbacks) should sell fairly quickly whereas more specialized expensive vehicles (modified 4WDs, luxury vehicles, sports cars) may take longer for the 'right buyer'. Certain vehicles may never reach their full potential online as some buyers simply won't purchase this way.At the end of the day, everyone sorts cars by price to find the cheapest car that meets their needs. If your car isn't on the top of the list then it will take time if it does sell.
Likewise most buyers won't value accessories.A question if you don't mind giving some of your advice.
For a buyer, which would be safer and less dodgy?
Car sales at least is a company, perhaps you have more of a chance if things go wrong after purchase?
I doubt there is anything in the way of warranty in the way of 2nd hand cars…
Carsales has been designed solely for use in advertising and selling vehicles, whereas Gumtree is more comparable to the old trading post where there's a section dedicated to motor vehicles among many other things.
You'll get more viewers advertising on a specialised site like CS, add to that the majority of people who visit the site have already made an active decision that they want to buy a car as opposed to the type of buyer who was looking for a set of jousting sticks but stumbled across a car ad and thought he might make an offer ;)
Having said that, it costs money to advertise on CS, personally if my car were worth less than $5k then I'd go to gumtree.
Jousting sticks?….They don't come up that often….what does he want for them?
Four Fifty!
Dreamin'
Jousting?
It's free to advertise on carsales with 15 photoes for cars under $5000
Wasn't aware of that, do they take a percentage of the sale price or anything like that?
I just tend to think that a vehicle up to $5000 is more likely to be sold in your local area, I may well be wrong, but I think it's far less likely that someone will pay to freight a vehicle of that value interstate or any long distance.
Hell, if you can advertise on CS for free do both!
No.they need different price range cars to make up a bigger selection.no one will spend $68 for advertisement for a 3k or 4k car.
old trading post. man, back in the day, there fees were quite expensive until the online market killed them.
Carsales for higher priced vehicles, scumtree for older cars, and facebook groups can be surprisingly good for sales. eg "Cheap Cars Melbourne" fb group (if you're selling for under $5k or so) or various special interest FB groups for more niche cars.
Of course also depends on what car you have and your asking price too. If you're asking top dollar for a fairly boring fleet car, forget about it.
So if I'm looking for a 10k fairly new drive probably carsales then?
I guess FB would get better value for money if I could find one?
Have advertised on carsales and gumtree for my last 3 cars, all sold on gumtree. Hardly any enquiries through carsales, tons through gumtree sure you have to deal with ppl willing to pay 50% off your list price. But there are genuine ppl looking on gumtree
And,price gone up again,it cost $68 for regular listing on CS now.
paid $60 in 2012Regular listings for cars under $5,000 are free
Sold my car on Gumtree no problems. I just made sure I got cash (was 89 x $50 notes), a receipt and the buyers details (ie driver's licence).
Surprised no one's mentioned carsguide. I sold two cars by putting ads in both carsales and carsguide… Plenty of enquiries from each.
I sold a ute and a motorbike last year, advertised on carsales/bikesales and gumtree.
Only legitimate interest I received was from the gumtree ads… even got a scammer through carsales ("I am currently on deployment/oil rig" type thing).
Its free why not. Put as much info as you can though
This is a big help. Many people are turned off by a bad listing.
Take proper pictures. At least all four sides, from the corners is good. Add a couple of interior shots, front seats, dash, back seats and boot and engine. Make sure they are not blurry or too dark. Move the car to an open area for the photos, don't try and squeeze them in from the carport space. Clean your junk out of it and from behind.
Describe it fairly and accurately. List faults if necessary so the buyer doesn't get surprises when they turn up for a test drive. List extra features not found on standard models.
Space it out well and try to use good spelling and punctuation.
A little extra effort on your part will increase the number of potential buyers.
Sold my car on Gumtree in 6 weeks. It's definitely better than Carsales. Do cash only deals, write up a contract and get buyer to sign it, take copy of their licence and the transfer papers.
I appear to have the opposite experience to most on here - after listing on Gumtree and various Facebook groups yielded no serious offers, I turned to Carsales. Within the first day I had a serious buyer who eventually bought the car. I did only have the one enquiry from Carsales though, so read into that what you will. (It was a relatively standard Corolla that was priced well within market, so maybe I was just unlucky.)
I've found car sales to be very successful for me - Used it many times.
Do you have a link to your ad we could look at ? Perhaps we can give some feedback and infer why you are not getting any genuine enquiries.
Clear Photos and Description - very important!
Used carsales 3 years ago with my current car. Easy to contact users and arrange the test drive, negotiated a price, did the relevant car history and finance checks and then had an independent RACQ assessment to make sure the car was in top condition. Could not be happier with the process and would recommend it. Carsales makes it easier to find exactly what you are looking for and users provide more information about the vehicle in general than they would on gumtree.
I was thinking weather carsales would be safer for a buyer. So the racq assement mean you get what you buy and no some dodgy covered up kms or bad engine?
Pretty much, they run a full report and basically test the whole car and can tell you how the engine is running and everything really.
Sweet thanks.
I sold my car for near asking price today in Carsales. I did have 2 no shows book to visit though. I think the information you can share presents better than Gumtree. I'd prefer to shop Carsales first.
Did you look at cars guide? I was really surprised it is free to advertise there too. Let ads (mostly dealers) but looks great compared to Gumtree
I've listed about 5 items on Gumtree and each experience was an utter waste of time. Full of people making "cash today" offers for a small fraction of the price you are after, and also people who do come to the party yet go quiet on you when it comes time to pay/collect.
Stick with Carsales.
I sold my car on gumtree, it was an easy and awesome experience. I would highly recommend you try it out.
I sold my car on Gumtree. There are the idiots who take 'ONO' to mean 'at least 50% off' - I told them they could have two wheels and a door for that price.
I sold it for almost what I was asking for in three days. Wade through the morons and you'll likely be able to sell yours easily.
As a seller it's just way better to sell on Carsales.
You will lose at least 50% of prospective buyers if you only use Gumtree.
The trustworthy mother of 3 looking for her kids first car who has never bought a car before is not going on Gumtree to meet up with 'Ramiz' to see if a gumtree car really exists and she doesn't get robbed.
Used to work in the car industry. Wouldn't be 100% against gumtree but carsales is the better choice. Both will work, but you will get way more serious buyers on carsales.
I find this rather racist really.
Sorry you feel that way. It's the way it is ultimately.
Let me tell you my experience as others are telling theirs.
I had Toyota Camry Manual car and wanted to sell it. I placed an ad on carsales and spent $65. After 4 weeks no response.
I then place an ad on gumtree, sold my car in 3 weeks.There were few enquiries from carsales but same like yours, not legitimate. So if you ask me, I would suggest place your ad on gumtree & also on facebook pages. As it is free + many people on gumtree & facebook looks for bargain…so you have a good chance of selling there.
Good luck!!!
I sold a ~$10k Statesman - had it on Carsales, only got oil rig scammers. Put it on Gumtree as well, it was gone in a week for the same price.
Dunno why people even bother responding to oil rig scammers?
Took me nearly 2 weeks to successfully sell my 10 yrs old car through facebook groups. I didn't waste money on carsales and hassle free from not using Gumtree.
Got $7k for that one.I advertised on Carsales, Carsguide, and Gumtree. Only Gumtree got responses and ultimately made the sale. Yes, you will have scammers contacting you through Gumtree. They're amusing. Play along and see how long you can mess with them. Ask them how 'sakawa' is working out for them. Maybe they need to pay their witch doctor another chicken.
Posted my bike on gumtree and paid to post on bikesales (company of carsales). Ended up selling through gumtree. You get the occasional low ballers but there are legitimate people out there.
If you want to use Gumtree:
1. Inflate the price about 20% to absorb haggling.
2. Set a minimum offer price (though you'll still get messages offering less).
3. Be prepared for messages like "Is the item still available", and then no answer when you say "yes".
3a Messages in your ad like "if you're reading this, it's still available" only encourage this.
4. Have a folder with your ad-text and images ready, so you can re-post it easily when it expires or goes off the first few pages.
5. Don't give the car away until money has cleared. Don't believe screen-shots of bank transfers, etc.
6. Don't accept paypal.
What's wrong PayPal?
Scammers will buy things, pay with paypal, pickup locally and then claim you never showed up.
I will be listing a car for sale in the next week or so. Is there any problem with putting the VIN in the listing? I'm leaning towards listing it so buyers can check the PPSR if they want.
Good question. I'd like to know too!
Why don't you just make an add on gumtree that refers to your carsales advert?
If it's not selling it's either that the price is wrong or your ad is crap. Try adjusting the price. I've always sold cars on Carsales within a month. Gumtree is full of dreamers
I have come across the buyers who start the conversation in a pathetic way but fortunately, the end result was fruitful. How can you decide if the buyers are serious about the product based on the first interaction? Perhaps it's the time for you to upskill your marketing knowledge. The way you present the details of your car matters a lot irrespective of Gumtree or Carsales. I would suggest you to fine tune your Ad to attract more genuine buyers.
- Always upload the high-resolution picture of your car.
- Make sure you mention the keyword "Accident-Free" if applicable.
- Make sure you offer them the logbook of the car.
- Upload tidy photos of interiors preferably daylight photos.
- Mention the actual/reasonable reason for selling the car.
- Upload the clear picture of tires and Stepney.
- Keep the negotiable price.
- Keep editing the post so that your car gets added in the recent list.
- Offer conditional one month warranty if you are confident about the car.
- Lastly, don't lose hope. Keep responding to buyers, be patience, you will nail it.
Good luck mate ;)
Cheers,
SowndarPoint 9 is really not very good advice. How can a private seller offer a warranty? Even if they could, think about the implications of this? What if somebody went out and damaged their car and claimed that it was a warranty issue? Would you have the expertise to prove that it wasn't? Shonky advice
Mate, That's the reason I have put up a word "Conditional" warranty!
There is no reason to have a picture of tyres, and I've got no idea what Stepney is…
You definitely don't want to be offering a warranty.
Stepney - Spare tire!
Posted my car on gumtree Sunday morning. About L inch time I got a low baller, just didn't respond to them. Today I got an enquiry, asked for an inspection, showed up, had a look, took it for a quick drive, offered an amount I was happy with ($300 off) and had cash. The car is gone, I have cash. Worked for me.
Whats the asking price?
Had $3300 on it, was keen for the price to start with a 3. Lowballer offered $2500.
Not bad.sold my last car for $2500,was asking for $3000,someone came with $2500 cash in hand,I could have waited and maybe get a couple more hundred,but could be a lot longer.
@028: Yeah, I considered listing the car a bit higher, but would have had to spend a few more hours giving it a full polish and repairing a few other little things. Would probably have accepted $2700-$2800 after a couple of weeks.
So my journey is as follows:
Never sold anything on Gumtree before, but have sold two cars in the past via eBay. Thought I'd give this a go to avoid eBay fees.
- Sunday 19th, afternoon, posted ad. Within an hour(!) got a text message asking if the car was still available. Actually, the text message was, and I quote
is ur ca r stil avail?here is my gmail account [address removed] to reply to wit prce n condtion.
Tempting as it was to send an email to him and enjoy playing with a spamming scum artist for a while, I decided to let it go to the keeper. - Weds 22nd ie today, got a lowball offer. Basically half what we were asking for. Responded with our actual minimum and got a 'thanks' back so suspect that's that.
Will see how this goes. If I don't sell the car via Gumtree will consider going back to eBay or possibly carsales.com.au
Listed a second car for the heck of it. In less than 2 hours got a text message My dad will like to know if your Car is still available for sale ? if yes email him on [removed] with the final price thanks. Impressive.
reply with txt advising the price is now double.
Heh. Should have tried that. I was asking for less than half what it was worth as I couldn't be bothered fixing the few things needed for a RWC here in Vic, but was still getting lowball offers and tire kickers. Pulled the ad, spent less than $500 fixing the car, and have now put it on carsales for more than double what I was originally asking on Gumtree. I'm in no hurry as am happy to keep the car as a 'spare', so will see how long it takes to sell.
@PlasticSpaceman: so it took three months to sell. It was actually faster than that really - I had it listed for an over inflated price intentionally as we were still using it. Dropped the price once we didn't need it, and sold within the week. For much more than Gumtree. So, at least for me, Carsales was far more effective. Got more enquiries via Gumtree, but got more serious enquiries via Carsales.
- Sunday 19th, afternoon, posted ad. Within an hour(!) got a text message asking if the car was still available. Actually, the text message was, and I quote
Go for Gumtree if you are looking at selling a entry to mid level car (under $25k). If more, then go Carsales.
I have always bought my second hand cars through Gumtree, no issues. Local sellers have always looked after me. Will use it again.
The more exposure you have to your sale the better. What do you have to lose?