Don't trade your car in yet.
Your dealer has given you a price. We sell your car on the retail market, keep that price as your floor, and split everything above it with you. Nothing to pay if we don't beat the offer.
Brisbane · Cars of any value · No statutory warranty
01Get a written offer. That figure becomes your benchmark.
02We sell it at retail. Every buyer and inspection is ours.
03You take the difference. Your benchmark, plus 50% above it.
How much are you leaving on the table?
Tell us your car. We will show what a dealer pays, what it is really worth, and what you pocket.
Enter it and the figures below are worked from your car's actual offer instead of an average.
You pocket an extra
on top of the trade-in price, for no extra work
No statutory warranty. Sold on consignment for you, so the warranty discount dealers take off a trade offer never comes out of your price.
Get my free estimateIndicative only. A guide to the size of the gap, not a valuation, appraisal or offer. Your actual figures depend on your specific vehicle, its history and the market at the time. We give you a real assessment, free, before you commit to anything.
No statutory warranty
Dealers price statutory warranty risk into every trade offer, and on luxury and European cars it can run to thousands. We sell your car on consignment for you, and in Queensland that sale carries no statutory warranty. So that discount never comes out of your price. How it works
Selling a car gives you two bad options.
So most people take the easy one and quietly accept less.
Trade it in
Fast and easy. And expensive.
TradeBeat
Trade-in convenience. Private sale upside.
Sell it privately
More money. If you have the time.
Read the full trade-in vs private sale comparison →
Or see every alternative to trading in →
Been offered less than you expected? →
How the money works
Your trade offer is the floor, not the ceiling.
Whatever the dealer offered becomes the number we have to beat. You are guaranteed to do no worse than that figure through us, because if we cannot beat it you simply keep your car and pay nothing.
Everything we achieve above your benchmark is new value that would not have existed if you had traded the car in. That is the only thing we are ever paid from, which is why we only win when you win.
- No listing fees, no photography costs, no monthly charges
- No commission on the value of your car, only on the upside
- Nothing at all payable if we do not beat your number
Worked example
That is $3,000 more than trading in, for a car you would have handed over anyway. Illustrative example only, your result depends on your vehicle and the market at the time.
How it works
Six steps. You do the first one.
After that, the only thing left for you to do is get paid.
Get a dealer offer
Get a written, standalone offer to buy your car. That figure becomes your benchmark and your protection.
Send it to us
Your car's details, photos, kilometres and the offer. Takes about five minutes.
We assess it honestly
We tell you what we realistically think it will achieve, or that you should take the trade.
You approve the terms
Your benchmark, the split and the maximum listing window, agreed in writing before anything starts.
We sell it
Photography, advertising, every enquiry, inspection, test drive and negotiation. You hear nothing from buyers.
You get paid
Any finance is paid out, your benchmark is paid to you in full, and your share of the upside on top.
TradeBeat suits some people and not others.
We would rather tell you that now than waste your time.
This is probably for you if…
- You have a trade offer and suspect it is light
- It is a luxury or European car. Dealers knock those down for statutory warranty risk, and a consignment sale carries no statutory warranty
- You can wait a few weeks rather than a few days
- You do not want strangers at your home or driving your car
- You know a private sale would get more but you have no interest in doing it
Trading in is genuinely better if…
- You need to be out of the car this week
- Your trade figure is already strong for the market
- The car needs significant work to be retail-ready
- You are being given a genuinely exceptional deal to change over
Cars we sell
Where the gap is usually widest.
Some vehicles have a much larger spread between what a dealer will pay and what the retail market will pay. These are the ones worth testing.
The things people actually ask.
Including the awkward ones.
Can you beat my trade-in offer?
On the right car, usually. A trade-in offer is a wholesale price. The dealer has to recondition, warrant, advertise and finance the car before they make a cent, so the offer leaves room for all of that. Selling the same car to a private buyer at retail skips those costs, and that gap is where the extra comes from.
It is not every car. If your offer is already strong for the market, or the car needs real work, we will tell you before you commit. See how big the gap might be on yours.
What happens if you cannot beat my trade-in offer?
Then you have lost nothing but a little time. There is no fee, no listing cost and no obligation. You keep your car and you are free to go and trade it in.
We are upfront about the real risk: dealer offers usually have a short expiry, often a matter of days. If your offer lapses while we are selling, the dealer may re-value the car. We tell you this before you commit, not after, and we will decline the job outright if we do not think we can beat your number.
How much does TradeBeat cost?
Nothing up front, and nothing at all unless we beat your benchmark. When we do, the amount above your benchmark is split 50/50, you keep your full benchmark figure plus 50% of everything above it.
It is not a fee taken out of your car's value. It is a share of value that did not exist until we created it. If we create none, we are paid none.
How long does it take to sell?
Typically 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the vehicle and the time of year. We agree a maximum window of 6 weeks up front. If we have not sold by then you can walk away, with no fee.
If you need to be out of your car in days rather than weeks, a trade-in is genuinely the better option and we will say so.
Do I need to get a trade-in offer first?
It is the best way to use us, because your offer becomes the benchmark we have to beat, and it means you always know exactly what you are giving up. If you do not have one yet, get in touch anyway, we will talk you through getting a genuine offer.
One important thing: we benchmark against a standalone offer to buy your car, not a trade figure bundled into a new car deal. Dealers often inflate a trade-in and take it back out of the discount on the car you are buying, which makes the number look better than it really is. Here is how that works.
Do strangers come to my house or test drive my car?
No. Your car stays with you, and we handle every enquiry, inspection and test drive ourselves at an agreed location, never your home unless you specifically want that. Buyers are verified and licence-checked before anyone sits in your car, and we are present throughout. You never negotiate with a buyer and you never take a lowball call.
Right across Greater Brisbane
Selling a car in Brisbane? Got a trade-in offer from a Brisbane dealer? Here is how it works in your part of the city.
Before you trade it, TradeBeat it.
Get your dealer offer first. Then give us the chance to beat it. No statutory warranty on a consignment sale, so no warranty discount off your price. If we do not beat it, you have lost nothing.