Selling your car can be a great way to make some extra money and can usually be a straightforward transaction, but it’s a little more complicated if you’re selling to a buyer who lives abroad. If you do find someone happy to meet your price or pay more in a bidding war, this might be something that you’re willing to do, but make sure you have thought of the following before you agree to the sale.

Shipping Costs

The buyer might be happy to fly over and look at the car in person before they finalize the sale, but you’ll still have to ship the vehicle to them in their home country. This can be costly, so make sure that you speak to them about this and come to some agreement over the shipping expenses. They might be happy to pay for all of these or meet you halfway, but they should be making some contribution. Alternatively, factor shipping costs into your asking price. You’ll also need to find a shipping company that is happy to deal with car shipping across borders, and you can find one using Shiply.

Assisting With Paperwork

When you sell your car, you need to make sure all the paperwork is in order and that the vehicle is registered with the new owner. The same is true when you’re selling to a foreign buyer, but there might be a little more paperwork involved. Check with the DMV to see what the exact steps you need to take are and how long you can expect these checks and forms to take to be processed. Ask the buyer to let you know what else they might need, if anything, from you to process the sale in their country, too. You should make sure that all of this is completed before you ship the car to its new owner.

Financial Transactions

When buying a car second-hand, a lot of people do like to pay cash. This could still be an option, but if you would prefer to use a bank transfer or PayPal, you will need to set this up. Check with your bank if you will be charged any transaction fees on a payment abroad before going ahead with the sale, so you are prepared. You should also make sure that you have received payment for the car before it has been shipped or ask for some kind of deposit from the buyer, with them making the payment in full once you can confirm that their car is on the way to them.

If you have decided to sell your car, you might prefer to find a buyer that is local to you, as this process can be less complicated. However, if you aren’t getting any takers, opening your search across borders could be worthwhile. Just be prepared for the additional steps that you will need to take when you do sell to a foreign customer and ensure that these are all carried out properly.