This article was contributed by reader Regina and edited by KUKU. The referral linked in this post belongs to the contributor. This article was also published on "Meika Gonglue."

I’m based in Houston, Texas, and was getting ready to move back home. In October 2021, I decided to sell the car I had owned for nearly two years. After comparing several ways to sell a car, I ended up happily selling it through shift.com. The overall experience was quite good, so I’m sharing it here for reference. Feel free to use my referral link:

After entering Shift through the link, choose Sell or Trade in the upper-left corner of the page to start the transaction.

Here’s a quick overview of my car-selling process:

Vehicle Information

  • Make: Honda
  • Country of origin: Japan
  • Model: Accord Sport
  • Year: 2015
  • Body style: Sedan

Background

I bought my car in March 2020, right before the pandemic outbreak, from a student who was about to return home. I was the third owner. During the pandemic I didn’t drive much at all—mostly just grocery runs and shopping trips—and in less than two years I only put a little over 6,000 miles on it. I took very good care of it. The only issue was that someone lightly scraped the right front door and left rear door in a parking lot. On kbb, the from private party, good condition estimate was 16,000. When it came time to sell, I mainly compared 3 options:

  • Sell to a dealer
  • Sell to a private party
  • Sell to a website/platform (such as carmax, shift, or carvana)

Selling to a dealer

I looked online and also asked a few friends around me. It seemed that dealers generally offer the lowest prices, so I ruled out this option.

Selling to a private party

My main concern was that the car was relatively expensive, so I would have to schedule appointments each time, and during the pandemic it also felt less safe. On top of that, I’d have to negotiate pricing over and over, which could push the selling price down. Potential buyers would also want inspections and ask me to provide a carfax report. I’m pretty lazy and wanted to avoid the hassle, so in the end I chose to sell to a website instead.

Selling to a website

I mainly looked at three platforms with relatively good reviews: carmaxs, shift, and carvana.

  • Carmax quoted 18,200. I drove the car there, they inspected it thoroughly, pointed out all kinds of issues, and then lowered the offer to 16,000, so I passed.
  • Carvana quoted 15,500. I didn’t even consider it and passed right away.
  • Shift quoted 17,500, so I scheduled an appointment for a Shift representative to inspect the car. The appointment was for 10 a.m. On the day of the inspection, I was still eating breakfast at home when I got a call saying the person had already arrived downstairs. When I went down, I saw a staff member in uniform waiting with an iPad. He then started inspecting the car all around, and it was obvious he was professionally trained.

After that, things were pretty straightforward. They deducted a few hundred dollars based on the scratches, and said that if I signed that same day, there would also be a 200-dollar bonus. The official website did indeed mention this first-time $200 bonus:

You need to meet the following requirements:

  • Two sets of keys - two sets of keys
  • The valid driver’s license of the car owner - a valid driver’s license for the owner
  • The signed title and current registration - signed title and current registration
  • A loan or lease payoff statement, if you have one - if there is a loan, you need to provide that information as well

After thinking it over, I signed. The final amount was 16,800 + 200 dollar bonus + 100 dollar Amazon gift card (refer bonus). For the 100-dollar Amazon gift card, you only need to provide the information of a friend who has bought or sold a car on Shift before (name + email) (you can also do it by clicking the link in this article).

The entire selling process took just one hour. Specifically:

  • The rep inspected the car and deducted some amount based on the scratches
  • I signed the contract on the iPad, as well as the title and the dmv form
  • I received a link by email to set up the payment method (enter Checking account information, ACH). Overall, it was very convenient and secure. The official website explains it as follows:
  • After the rep drove the car away, it would go through a further inspection to check for any safety issues. They cannot sell unsafe cars, and almost all cars pass their inspection.
  • After they take the car, if everything checks out within 1 to 2 days, they will arrange payment. I signed and entered my bank information that day, and received the money 3 business days later. The deposit information is shown below:
  • After selling the car, I also received the Amazon gift card reward very quickly

Shift Car-Selling Link

After entering Shift through the link, choose Sell or Trade in the upper-left corner of the page to start the transaction.