Common truck sale problems – and what helps

LAST PRICE?! The tiresome question when selling a truck

Anyone who has ever set out to sell a commercial vehicle knows the tedious problem and the question about the “last price”. So what can you do? Here are four concrete ways to avoid “last price” enquiries or to answer them:

1. Quote a fixed price on your sales page or advert instead of using “negotiable” or “price on request”. This can stop potential buyers from asking for a discount or a lower price.
2. Be clear and precise when describing the condition and specification of the truck. If potential buyers know the condition and the equipment, they can judge for themselves whether the price is reasonable.
3. Explain in a friendly and professional way that you are not willing to negotiate on price. You can put this politely and professionally, for example: “Our price is fixed and we are not willing to negotiate. We are happy, however, to answer any questions you may have about the condition and specification of the truck.”
4. Point potential buyers to comparable trucks in similar condition and with similar equipment that have sold at similar prices. This helps buyers put the price in context and keeps them from asking for a lower one.

It is important to stay friendly and professional when answering “last price” enquiries, because that is what keeps potential buyers from losing interest in your truck.

TRUCK BUYERS WHO NEVER TURN UP

There are several ways to work out whether a potential buyer is genuinely interested in buying:

1. Ask specific questions: ask the potential buyer about their requirements and what they are looking for in a vehicle. A serious buyer will usually answer readily and give you detailed replies.
2. Arrange a viewing: a buyer who is genuinely interested in your truck will normally arrange a viewing in order to inspect the vehicle in person and take a test drive. A buyer who will not commit to a viewing may not be seriously interested in buying.
3. Look at the contact history: check whether the potential buyer has already been in touch several times and whether they have asked questions about the vehicle. A serious buyer usually asks a number of questions and may also put a starting offer on the table.
4. Check the buyer's purchase history: if you are selling on an online platform, you can usually look at the buyer's profile and view their purchase history. If the buyer has already bought several commercial vehicles, that is a good sign that they are serious about buying.

It is worth noting that none of these methods offers a hundred percent guarantee that a buyer really intends to buy. If you combine several of them, however, you can minimise the risk of wasted time and disappointment.

FINDING THE RIGHT BUYER

Without the right network, finding the right buyer is not that easy. But there are several routes:

1. Use online platforms: there are various online marketplaces where you can advertise your truck, among them mobile.de, truckscout24.de and autoscout24.de.
2. Advertising on social media can work as well, at least in some cases: use Facebook or Instagram to offer your truck and reach potential buyers.
3. Talk to a dealer: some truck dealers also buy used vehicles outright. Contact these dealers to find out whether they are interested in your vehicle.
4. A fourth option is online auctions: here the vehicle is put up for sale and sold to the highest bidder online.

KNOW WHAT YOUR TRUCK IS WORTH

There are several ways to find out what your truck is worth:

1. Online valuation tools: general valuation tools built for cars will not get you far here – they do not reflect commercial vehicles with their bodies, axle configurations and mileages. Websites such as mobile.de or autoscout24.de do let you look up comparable or identical vehicles, but the search is limited to a handful of details: make, model, mileage, year of manufacture and condition, for example. That is typically not enough to produce a sound estimate. A valuation that specialises in commercial vehicles is a different matter – truckoo's free truck valuation, for example.
2. Truck dealers: you can also go to a specialist dealer and ask for an appraisal of your truck. A dealer can judge the condition of your truck better than an online tool and can give you a more accurate figure.
3. Appraisers: an independent appraiser (Gutachter, a publicly certified vehicle expert) assesses the condition of your vehicle and determines its value as at a given valuation date. That is the evidence a tax office, a court, a bank or an insurer will ask for. The market price you can actually achieve, by contrast, is set by current demand in the trade – so an appraisal and a market price answer two different questions.

Bear in mind that the value of your truck depends on a number of factors, such as age, mileage, condition and specification. It can therefore be worth obtaining several appraisals in order to arrive at a realistic asking price for your vehicle.

More guides

Selling on a sound legal footing · Documents for selling a truck · VAT on truck sales · free truck valuation · Sell a truck