Sell your car at the fair
By Jenny
C. McCune • Bankrate.com
If you decide to sell
your car instead of trading it in, find out if there's a car fair
in your area.
Car fairs originated in New Zealand. At these open markets,
car sellers pay nominal fees to display used cars in a community lot,
usually a high-traffic spot where people will drive by, see the vehicles
and be tempted to stop and check them out.
In essence, the fair is a used-car lot staffed with
individual sellers rather than auto dealership sales staff. Some fairs
even have a mechanic on hand to check used cars for potential buyers.
The advantage for sellers is that the fair attracts
more possible buyers than is generally the case with a vehicle displayed
in a driveway. Selling at a fair also is usually quicker and easier,
although you still have to be present to show the auto and negotiate
with would-be buyers.
Buyers like fairs because they can peruse a number
of offerings instead of making various appointments to see separate
private-sale cars. And with competing vehicles lined up together,
it's easier to make side-by-side comparisons --
not necessarily good news for some sellers.
Car fairs have popped up nationwide, from the major
metropolises of Atlanta, San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul and
Miami to smaller, more rustic locales like Bozeman, Mont., population
36,000.
Bozeman's car fair is open every two weeks in the
parking lot of the local high school that fronts Main Street. Sellers
pay $15 the first time they put a car on the lot, $10 the second
time. After that, it's free. Sellers have to set the price and negotiate
with buyers.
Jenny C. McCune is a contributing
editor based in Montana.
-- Posted: Nov. 10, 2003
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