Agreed. Having sold several cars in NYS this is the typical situation with selling a car.
- Post on craigslist for a few hundred under KBB and few thousand more than what you're willing to sell for
- Get several calls and appointments in the evenings for a solid week
- Within two weeks someone offers you $1k less than what you posted on CL for but still $1k more than your lowest point
- Collect payment from buyer, give them the signed title, and a piece of paper saying how much they paid for the car.
In this situation there are literally two pieces of paper. The bill of sale that you can write on any old computer paper and the title that came with the car. Signing up for this service may be even more work than just selling the car yourself.
1) Appointments for a week is a lot of time sunk. Easily worth a few hundred bucks to Valley people who think of their lives by the hourly rate. Especially when buyers drag out the process by not showing, having trouble finding a location, or trying to "negotiate" past an agreed-upon price when picking the car up.
2) Very cheap, economical cars (like old Civics/Accords) and very specific enthusiast's cars are extremely frustrating to sell. With economy cars buyer expectations seem to be higher than is realistic (did you really expect your $2500 car to have flawless paint?) and with enthusiast cars many buyers aren't serious. Tire-kickers, thrill-seekers, and picky people who "just want to try this one out, but really were looking for another color and options package or extra rare year xxxx" abound.
3) Loans and paperwork differ by state, but at least here in Colorado the paperwork is trivial and loans are painful. I've never gone to a bank, paid off the car, and had the title available in a timely manner, which leaves both parties with frustrating hanging obligations even after the sale is made.
I lived with someone for a few years who bought and sold several cars a month and I still pay him a few hundred bucks to broker the deal each time I want a car gone - I actually find the sales process quite enjoyable as it involves meeting a lot of people from a lot of backgrounds, but the time sink and general flakiness gets old fast.
It's not even about the hourly rate. E.g. my schedule is such that I am rarely at home before it's dark at the evening on weekdays, and in the morning I have no time to spare. So I have to either reorganize my schedule (major hassle) or deal with a massive amount of buyers on weekend, instead of relaxing or going out somewhere. I'd gladly part with 5% to avoid that, and since I'm bad at haggling, I might even profit from that.
- Post on craigslist for a few hundred under KBB and few thousand more than what you're willing to sell for
- Get several calls and appointments in the evenings for a solid week
- Within two weeks someone offers you $1k less than what you posted on CL for but still $1k more than your lowest point
- Collect payment from buyer, give them the signed title, and a piece of paper saying how much they paid for the car.
In this situation there are literally two pieces of paper. The bill of sale that you can write on any old computer paper and the title that came with the car. Signing up for this service may be even more work than just selling the car yourself.