🚗 How do garages set their trade-in prices?

📊 How this price is actually calculated Contrary to what many people think, a garage doesn’t “guess” a price.

It is based on several very concrete factors:

1. The current market price The garage looks at how similar vehicles are listed on platforms like AutoScout24.

👉 This is the foundation of everything.

2. Their margin A professional needs to cover:

• fixed costs (rent, staff, marketing)

• resale risk

• potential negotiation with the future buyer

👉 In practice, this often represents between 15% and 25% of the selling price.

3. Preparation costs Before reselling a vehicle, a garage often needs to:

• carry out a service

• prepare the vehicle (cleaning, detailing)

• repair certain defects

• provide a warranty

👉 These costs are directly included in the offer.

4. The risk factor A garage never knows:

• how long the vehicle will stay in stock

• at what price it will actually sell

👉 This uncertainty lowers the trade-in price.

🔎 Concrete example

Let’s take a simple case:

• Estimated selling price: CHF 20,000

• Garage margin: -20%

• Costs: -CHF 1,000

👉 Proposed trade-in price: around CHF 15,000 to 16,000

⚠️ Why prices vary from one garage to another

For the same vehicle, you may receive several different offers.

This is completely normal.

Each garage has its own strategy:

• some aim for higher margins

• others want to sell quickly

• some export vehicles

• others sell locally

👉 Result: sometimes significant price differences

✔️ How to get the best price

The best way to optimize your trade-in price is simple:

• don’t rely on just one offer

• compare several garages

• provide as much information as possible about the vehicle

👉 The more confident a garage is, the higher the offer

🧠 Key takeaway

A trade-in price lower than the market price is not a bad offer.

👉 It’s simply how the automotive market works.

The real difference comes from:

👉 the number of offers you receive

🔄 Need a real valuation?

If you want to know the true value of your vehicle:

👉 compare multiple garage offers at once

👉 and get a valuation based on the current market

Visit: www.sellyourcars.ch