Your options
You don't have to trade it in.
And you don't have to sell it yourself either. Here are the real alternatives to a dealer trade-in, and which one suits which situation.
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
Indicative 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.
The alternatives to trading in are: sell it privately yourself, sell to an instant online buyer, consign it to a licensed seller, take it to auction, or keep it. Instant buyers and auctions both land near wholesale, so they are really trade-ins by another name. The only options that reach retail value are selling it yourself or having someone sell it for you, and the difference between those two is who does the work and how they are paid.
Five alternatives
What else you can actually do.
Including the ones that are trade-ins wearing a different hat.
Instant online buyers
Services that give you a quick online quote and buy the car outright. Fast and genuinely convenient, but they are buying at wholesale for the same reason a dealer does, they have to resell it. Treat their number as another trade offer, not as a retail price.
Good if: You need it gone this week and want to avoid a dealership.
Not if: You want anything close to retail value.
Selling it privately yourself
List it on Carsales or Marketplace and do it all. This genuinely gets you closest to retail value. It also means the photos, the listing, every message, the no-shows, the lowballs, the test drives, the payment verification and the paperwork are all yours.
Good if: You have time, patience and no objection to strangers at your home.
Not if: You are time-poor, or you are buying a new car on a deadline.
Traditional consignment
A licensed seller sells the car for you and charges a fee, usually a flat amount or a percentage of the total sale price, payable on a successful sale. You keep ownership until it sells.
Good if: You want someone else to do the work and accept a fee for it.
Not if: The fee is charged on your car's whole value, including money you were always going to get.
Auction
Fast, and the price is whatever turns up on the day. Buyer and seller fees apply, and much of the room is bought by dealers, which puts you back near wholesale.
Good if: Unusual vehicles, or you want a definite sale date.
Not if: You want certainty about the number.
Keeping it
Not a joke. If your trade offer is poor and you do not urgently need to change cars, holding for a stronger market or a better-timed sale is a legitimate choice.
Good if: The offer is genuinely bad and there is no deadline.
Not if: You have already committed to a new car.
The option that sits between them
Every alternative above forces the same trade: convenience or value, pick one. Instant buyers and auctions give you speed at wholesale money. A private sale gives you retail money for a great deal of work. Consignment gives you retail money for a fee charged on your car's whole value.
TradeBeat is built to remove that choice. You get a dealer offer first, so you always know the floor. We then run the retail sale, and we are paid only from what we achieve above that floor, split 50/50. You get trade-in convenience with a share of the private sale upside, and if we fail to beat your number, you pay nothing.
The one thing to be careful about: make sure your benchmark is a standalone offer to buy your car, not a trade figure bundled into a new car deal. Bundled figures are frequently inflated and recovered from the discount on the car you are buying, which makes them impossible for anyone to beat. Here is how to spot one.
Common questions
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 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.
Before you trade it, TradeBeat it.
Get your dealer offer first. Then give us the chance to beat it. If we do not, you have lost nothing.