How it works
Your offer is the benchmark. Our job is to beat it.
Six steps from the offer in your hand to the money in your account. You do the first one.
Get a genuine offer to buy your car
Go to a dealer, or a recognised vehicle buyer, and get a written offer to purchase your car. Ask for a standalone offer, one that is not tied to buying another car from them. This is the single most important step, and the reason is worth understanding.
A trade figure bundled into a new car deal is frequently inflated, with the extra taken back out of the discount on the car you are buying. That inflated number is not a real market value and nobody can beat it. A standalone purchase offer is real money the dealer will actually hand over, which makes it a benchmark worth measuring against.
How dealers inflate trade-in figures →Send us the car and the offer
Registration, make, model, year, kilometres, condition, photos, your offer, and whether there is finance owing. It takes about five minutes and costs nothing.
Be honest about condition, it helps us give you a realistic number rather than an optimistic one you will be disappointed by later. Damage, service gaps and modifications all matter, and we would rather know now.
We assess it and tell you the truth
We look at what genuinely comparable vehicles are listed and selling for in your market right now, weigh your car's specification, condition, history and kilometres, and come back with a realistic range.
Sometimes that answer is "take the trade-in". If your offer is already strong, if the car needs too much work to present at retail, or if you need to be out of it next week, we will say so. We would rather decline a car than take one on and disappoint you.
You approve the terms in writing
Before anything begins you agree three things: your benchmark figure, the split of anything above it, and the maximum time we have to sell it.
Your benchmark is protected, it is the floor, and the only thing we are ever paid from is what we achieve above it. If we do not beat it, there is no fee and you keep your car. The maximum window is 6 weeks, after which you are free to walk away.
We sell it
Professional photography, a properly written listing across the major marketplaces, every enquiry answered, every time-waster filtered out, inspections and test drives supervised by us with verified buyers, and the negotiation handled on your behalf.
Your car stays with you. We arrange every inspection at a time and place that suits you, never your home unless you want that, and we are present for every one. You never negotiate with a buyer, never take a lowball call, and never meet anyone you would rather not.
You get paid
Funds are verified before the car goes anywhere. If there is finance owing, the payout figure is obtained and the financier paid directly, and we confirm the vehicle is clear on the PPSR. Your benchmark is paid to you in full, plus your 50% share of everything above it.
All the paperwork, the transfer, the disclosures, the handover, is ours to complete correctly. You sign what you need to sign and the money arrives.
Being straight with you
What you are actually risking.
Every service like this has a catch. Here is ours, stated plainly rather than buried in the terms.
Your dealer offer may expire
Dealer offers usually last days, not weeks. If we take 2 to 4 weeks to sell your car and it does not beat your benchmark, that original offer may no longer be on the table, and the dealer may re-value the car.
That is the real cost of giving us a go, and it is why we only take on cars we genuinely believe we can beat the offer on. If we do not think we can, we tell you to trade it in.
What we never do is promise you a result we cannot guarantee. We are asking for the chance to beat your number, not promising that we will.
Common questions
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.
What if I still owe money on the car?
That is very common and it is not a problem. We obtain the payout figure from your financier, confirm the vehicle is clear on the PPSR before settlement, and pay the financier directly out of the sale proceeds. You receive the balance.
Handling encumbered vehicles properly is one of the most common reasons private sales collapse, so it is worth having someone do it for you. More on selling a car with finance owing.
How do you decide what my car is worth?
We look at what comparable vehicles are actually listed and selling for in your market right now, not a generic online valuation, and we weigh your car's specification, condition, kilometres, service history and how quickly you need it gone.
Then we give you a realistic range and tell you whether we think we can beat your offer. We would rather decline a car than take one on and disappoint you.
Is TradeBeat a car dealer?
We are not a dealership buying your car to resell it at a margin, which is the whole point, a dealer's profit comes out of what they pay you, and ours only comes from beating what you were already offered. Our interests point the same direction as yours.
Selling a vehicle on an owner's behalf is a licensed activity in Queensland, so the work is carried out under the appropriate licence and a written agreement that sets out your benchmark, the split and the maximum listing window before anything begins.
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.