You’ve probably seen the signs on the side of the road, or maybe there’s a place down the street that will purchase any car that you might have.  If you’re thinking about selling your car, you may want to stay away from places like this, because you’re soon going to find out that you may get nothing in return.

While many places are legit, I wanted to give you a few pointers that you should be aware of when you’re thinking about selling your car to a place that is willing to buy in.  No, I’m not talking about a trade in, but rather a buy out of cold, hard cash.

#1 Trust your gut

The first thing that you’re going to want to do is research the company.  Check with the BBB, as well as research the dealership name online.  You’ll be surprised at what you can find online by doing a simple search.  If you get a fairly bad vibe about the company, you may want to steer clear!

#2 Know the value

There really isn’t a good reason to sell your car to a company, but rather, you should take the initiative to sell it yourself because you’re going to get a lot more money compared to selling to a company.  One of the main reasons is because you’re going to find out that these companies won’t give you top dollar for your car.

Make sure that you check out sites such as KBB to know what your car is worth.  If the company is willing to give you a number close to what it is worth, then go for it!  If the number is far off, you may want to simply go with selling it yourself.

#3 Get a cashier’s check or cash

Never settle for a regular check or an IOU.  Again, this is important if you’re going to do the dealing on the Internet.  Make sure that you get your money in the form of a cashier’s check or even cash.  You’re going to find that you will want to use an escrow service as well to make the process a little easier.

When selling your car off to another company that specializes in buying cars, you will also have to keep in mind that they are in it for the money as well.  Since they can’t really give the KBB value, you will have to understand that they will have to dip under it a little bit and that’s understanding.

Before you set out to sell, highly consider selling it yourself.  It really isn’t that hard!  By doing it that way, you can also get the most for your money as well.