Trade-in
- Sale price
- €12,750
- Net proceeds
- €12,750
- Time to sell
- Same day
- Effort
- Low: one appointment
- Risk
- Low
Net proceeds per route
Compare trading in, an auction and a private sale on what you actually keep after costs.
Enter the value and your costs
What a private buyer can reasonably pay.
Cleaning, small fixes, photos. Often €50 to €250.
Only if you renew the APK before selling. An APK costs €19 to €70 plus repairs.
Insurance, road tax and depreciation.
What do you keep per route?
Auction or dealer bid
- Sale price
- €13,900
- Running costs while selling (1 week)
- −€38
- Net proceeds
- €13,862
- Time to sell
- about 1 week
- Effort
- Low: photos and self-inspection
- Risk
- Low: payment via escrow
Private saleHighest net
- Sale price
- €15,000
- Preparing the car
- −€150
- Buyer negotiation (avg. 3%)
- −€450
- Running costs while selling (4 weeks)
- −€150
- Net proceeds
- €14,250
- Time to sell
- about 4 weeks
- Effort
- High: ad, viewings, test drives
- Risk
- Medium: you handle payment and fraud risk
Our take
Selling privately should bring in €388 more than an auction, but takes about 3 weeks longer and the most work: roughly €129 per extra week. If you have the time and don’t mind viewings and test drives, sell privately. If you want a quick, low-risk sale, an auction is the best balance. Trading in costs you €1,112 compared with an auction: that is the price of convenience.
Which costs do you have when you sell your car?
Most costs of selling a car are small, but they add up. This is the usual split between seller and buyer:
| Cost | Seller | Buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation and listing on Sell Your Car | free | free |
| Cleaning and preparing the car | €50–250 (estimate) | – |
| APK if it expires soon (optional) | €19–70 + repairs | – |
| Ownership transfer at the RDW | – | €13.10 |
| Pre-purchase inspection | – | €150–350 |
| Insurance | stops with the indemnity certificate | from the transfer |
| Road tax | refunded pro rata | starts at the transfer |
How do we calculate net proceeds?
We start from the private-sale value: what a private buyer can reasonably pay. Work it out for free with the car valuation.
- Trade-in: the private value minus 15% (at least €1,100). The dealer prices in cleaning, repairs, warranty and margin. The car is gone the same day.
- Auction or dealer bid: the private value minus 7.5% (at least €600), because buyers bid against each other. Allow about a week until the car is gone.
- Private sale: the full private value, minus preparation, an optional APK, on average 3% for the buyer’s haggling and about four weeks of monthly costs.
Monthly costs are what keeps running while the car is in your name: insurance, road tax and depreciation. The more your car costs per month, the faster a quick sale pays for itself.
When does trading in make sense?
Trading in makes sense when you are buying from the same dealer and have no time for viewings, when your car has defects you would rather not explain yourself, or when its value is low. Since 1 January 2026 a dealer may not pay cash for amounts of €3,000 or more, so you get paid by bank transfer. That limit does not apply between private persons.
How do you limit the risk of a private sale?
- Hand over the car, keys and registration card only when the money is in your account.
- Transfer the car together with the buyer and keep the indemnity certificate (vrijwaringsbewijs): you need it to cancel your insurance. Read transferring ownership.
- Be honest about known defects. In a private sale you may exclude warranty, but you may not conceal defects you know about.
Frequently asked questions
How much more does a private sale bring than a trade-in?
In our model the trade-in price is 15% below the private value, with a minimum of €1,100. After preparation, haggling and a month of running costs, about €1,500 of that remains on a €15,000 car. An auction usually lands in between, without the work of selling yourself.
What do you mean by monthly costs during the sale?
As long as the car is in your name you pay insurance and road tax, and the value keeps dropping. We count those costs for the time each route takes: nothing for a trade-in, about a week for an auction and about four weeks for a private sale.
Should I renew the APK before selling my car?
You don’t have to. If the APK expires within two months, buyers deduct the test and possible repairs from their offer. An APK costs €19 to €70 plus any repairs. Enter those costs to see whether renewing pays off for a private sale.
Can a car dealer pay me cash?
Not for amounts of €3,000 or more. Since 1 January 2026 traders, including car dealers, may not accept or pay cash from that amount, not even in instalments. That limit does not apply between private persons.