Selling your car and getting close to retail value is something every car owner wants, but it can be a lot more challenging than it seems.

1. Selling Your Car Privately

Selling your car and getting close to retail value is something every car owner wants, but it can be a lot more challenging than it seems. The easiest way to reach retail value is by selling your car privately. 

However, private sales require time and work, including listing your car, advertising, handling inquiries, and negotiating with buyers. While this route often offers the best price, all that extra effort is why many people opt to sell to a dealership instead. 

This is where understanding wholesale value, reconditioning costs, resale value, and retail value comes in handy.

2. Defining Resale Value, Retail Value, and Wholesale Value

A lot of people expect to sell their car at retail value—the price you see when walking through a dealership lot or when you Google your car online. Retail value reflects what a dealer charges after they’ve invested time and money into prepping the car for sale. It’s the price that includes costs like advertising, reconditioning, and inspections.

But if you’re selling to a dealership, you won’t typically get retail value because dealers need to account for these costs. Instead, you'll often receive wholesale value, which is lower than retail value. 

Wholesale value is what a dealer pays for a car when they purchase it from a manufacturer, for a car at an auction, or when buying a used car from you or other sellers. It’s the price dealers can afford to pay, leaving enough margin to cover their costs and make a profit.

After they’ve purchased a car from you for wholesale value, dealers then sell the car for the resale value—what your car is worth based on its condition, mileage, and demand. 

3. Why Dealers Can’t Offer Full Retail Price

As mentioned, many car owners expect dealerships to match the retail prices they see online or at other dealers, but dealers face costs that private sellers don’t. 

For example, before putting a car up for sale, a dealer must invest in reconditioning—a process that involves inspecting, cleaning, and repairing any issues to get the car sale-ready. This process can take anywhere from 7 to 10 days, during which the dealer needs to cover labor and parts costs. 

Plus, a dealer might hold onto a car for up to 90 days before it sells, meaning they take on significant financial risk because car values depreciate in this time. 

4. Why Dealerships Offer Convenience

While you might not get the full retail price at a dealership, you do gain convenience. Dealerships handle the paperwork, inspections, and reconditioning, saving you a ton of time and energy. 

You also avoid the stress of negotiating with private buyers or dealing with scammers.

5. Using The Lasso to Maximize Your Price

Selling your car privately is the best way to get retail value, but it requires a lot of work. A convenient, hassle-free alternative is using The Lasso where you can get multiple offers from dealerships. And remember, more offers equals more money.