What would the world be like if we had to stay put in one location? The mere thought of that is scary. Mobility is a human necessity. And with that, comes the need to make use of cars. If you think owning a car is a luxury, you probably have never been to or lived in Nigeria. In Naija, not having a car makes mobility a nightmare. You’ll have to deal with a lot of hassles just to move from one location to another. Digital technology has created a market for people to sell cars online in Nigeria. Buyers can seat in the comfort of their homes and browse a variety of cars online until they find the ones they are interested in.
Car selling sites in Nigeria
A few years ago, one could hardly find a reliable online platform to sell cars, but today, there are a handful of car selling sites in Nigeria. Giving the dynamics of online transactions, one has to be careful in putting up their car for sale online. Let’s take a look at the 6 most popular car selling wesites in Nigeria and our reviews!
1.1. Naijauto.com
Naijauto.com needs no introduction. In just one year, it has grown to become the biggest car specialized website in the country. According to our latest statistics, Naijauto has 4 times more cars for sale than Cheki.com.ng and 7 times more car adverts than Olx.com.ng.
I once wonder why a young site could do such a thing and then found my answer when surfing their web. Unlike other sites whose focus is mostly car sellers to earn money, Naijauto is truly a customer-centric platform where everyone interested in cars can be educated with tips and news. That’s why car drivers and buyers naturally come to them for help, leading to a large number of car sellers as well.
Also, posting car adverts on Naijauto.com remains totally free till date, which attracts many used car sellers from all regions in the country.
1.2. Nairaland.com
Nairaland has been in existence for a very long time and deserves the second place in our list. The popular forum offers different topics and has a car selling section (Autos) where users can advertise their cars to interested buyers for free. But being a forum, it has a limited number of cars for sale and tracking a post causes much difficulty for users than on a car website. Car buyers, therefore, are discouraged from finding their desired car ads here and they usually turn to specialized car page for expert support.
If you post your car for sale in this forum, you may need to comment on your post every minute to make sure it remains on top; otherwise, new topics will take it place and your advert is nowhere to be seen on the first page.
1.3. Jiji.ng
In fact, Jijiis having most car listings (30K listings) but why we put Jiji.ng the third place? The number of car listings on Jiji is accumulated through years of operation while such a young site as Naijauto is already catching up with their 23 thousand adverts.
Furthermore, Jiji is not specialized in cars, so either buyers or sellers can hardly find support from car experts from this site. One more thing, although you can post ad on Jiji for free, free listings are limited to certain viewers only, which forces you to buy their premium services.
1.4. Cheki.com.ng
Cheki has built a reputation for itself as a car selling site in Nigeria by a number of car adverts and certain car tips. However, both these sections are limited in number and an important thing is that you have to pay when posting any car listing on Cheki. This site offers 2 pricing packages: ₦8,000 or ₦5,000 per month without any commitment of the result.
1.5. Olx.com.ng
The next name is Olx.com.ng. It’s also a platform for private car owners to sell their cars, but Olx is more like Jiji when serving other categories like mobile phones, furniture, jobs and even pets as well. Buyers and sellers don’t have the opportunity of consulting car expert for tips and advice. Moreover, there used to be some stories related to scam listings on this website, which scared the buyers out of the page for a while.
1.6. Cars45
Cars45 specializes in the sale of used cars in Nigeria. It acts exactly like a used car dealer, not a website for cars for sale by owner. Relatively new on the market, it has been able to get the attention of the masses through rigorous advertising of selling your car in 45 minutes. The fact is you sell your car to them, not to individual buyers. This is their procedure: you post your car info, they forward you to nearest center, you bring your car there for inspection and price negotiation. Once agreed, they send you money for the car. So, you can see they’re exactly a dealer whose purpose is to get profit over your car sale, that’s why selling car here will earn you less money than on other aforementioned websites.
Sell cars online in Nigeria – tips to get your car sold quickly
There are several tips when putting your car up for sale on car selling sites. To ensure that yours gets sold as fast as possible, follow the steps below:
- Provide full information
Buyers need all the information to help them make an informed decision. Don’t hoard details of your car; put it all out there. Assume you are talking to the buyer face to face, say all you have to say: How long have you used? Where did you buy it from? etc
- Upload high-quality pictures
Pictures speak more than a thousand words and buyers definitely judge your car condition through pics more than your descriptions. Use a camera with high resolution, then showcase different angles of the car for full disclosure.
- Be trustable
With so much scam happening online in Nigeria, people want to be sure that they are dealing with a genuine seller. To gain trust from potential buyers, become a registered or verified seller on the car website.
- Offer a test drive
A lot of people sell their car because it has become faulty. In order to avoid buying trouble with their money, buyers are more interested in patronizing sellers that offer a test drive. This grand gesture goes a long way to show that you are indeed genuine, so remember to include “Test drive available” in your listing description.
- Provide all legal documents
People buying stolen cars online is becoming rampant. Intelligent Nigerians ask to see every legal document associated with the car before they can make a commitment. Don’t wait for the seller to ask, mention all the documents you have in your car advert.
- Be reachable
The whole effort would be defeated if interested buyers are unable to reach you. They will immediately move to the next seller who they can contact right at that time.
So, if possible, provide 2 active phone numbers and a valid email address. Always have your phone with you as well.
- Be open to negotiations
You are sure to come across sellers who may underprice your car and point out many faults to reduce the price. While this might be annoying, you need to understand that buyer has the right to negotiate. Carry a thorough inspection of your car and be polite in your response. Simply ensure you tell the truth about the car condition and let them know the lowest price you can take.
- Offer discounts
If you want your car to be bought as soon as possible, you should consider giving interested buyers a very good discount. This might require you going below the planned price, but it’ll surely help you get money for your car faster.
Where to sell cars online for free?
There are various car selling websites that allow sellers to sell their cars online for free. Most of them have been reviewed in the first part of the article. Some of these sites include:
- Naijauto.com (unlimited free listings)
- Nairaland.com (unlimited postings)
- Jiji.com (free listings with limited views)
- Olx.com.ng (unlimited free listings)
- JumiaCar (unlimited free listings)
Car selling site we highly recommend?
Amongst these options, Naijauto.com is still the number-one car buying & selling website as we recommended before. In the part below, we specify reasons car sellers should choose Naijauto.com:
- Totally free
There’s no registration fee required to list your car for sale. You can post unlimited listings on this website as long as they are qualified.
To sell your car on Naijauto.com, follow this link and remember to sign up with your email or Facebook account to manage your adverts later: https://naijauto.com/sell-car
- Biggest reach to buyers
Naijauto.com has the highest traffic volume in comparison to other car websites in Nigeria (8.6 million visitors per year). Listing your car on it automatically makes your post visible to thousands of website user and also Facebook accounts. As far as we know, Naijauto Facebook pages gain more than 150K followers just after few months launched.
- Trusted site
People only upload their cars on sites they trust. In 2018 only, over 30,000 new sellers have registered on Naijauto.com to sell their cars, so you don’t need to worry when posting your car info here.
Conclusion
I think that’s all you need to know to sell cars online in Nigeria. Once you apply tips above, your car will surely be sold after few days of posting. Good luck!
