KBB.com Makes Car Buying Easier with Guaranteed Trade-ins

KBB.com has created the Trade-in Marketplace. At its most basic, it allows a consumer to go to the site, plug in information about a car, and then come up with an offer for the car that can be used towards the purchase of their next vehicle or redeemed for cash.

The key element in the program is consumers have to be accurate with vehicle descriptions. Offers can be rescinded if a consumer claims a car was only driven to church on Sundays, for example, when it was actually used as a taxi.

An accurate description, though, generates a base trade-in amount for the car. Participating dealers in the Trade-In Marketplace network are required to honor all instant trade-in offers generated through the tool, provided that the vehicle is described accurately by the consumer.

KBB.com joins a growing field of places that allow consumers to sell or trade-in their used cars without going through the hassles of private sales or negotiating with dealers. A new competitor would be WeBuyAnyCar.com, which has moved over from the United Kingdom to offer consumers guaranteed trade-ins. CarMax for years has offered to buy consumers' cars but some have lamented its low trade-in values.

These guaranteed trade-in offers are seen as a way to generate used cars for dealerships to sell. Contrary to popular belief there's not a shortage of used cars but dealers want the competitive edge of having the best used cars for sale on their lots because used cars are a major profit center for new car dealers.

"Kelley Blue Book has partnered with AutoTrader.com's Trade-In Marketplace to provide consumers with an easy way to trade in or sell their current vehicles," said Justin Yaros, executive vice president of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "In addition to Kelley Blue Book's top-notch values, this new option provides consumers further peace of mind that they can get an actual offer online to trade in or sell their current cars quickly and easily. And best of all, that offer is backed 100% by AutoTrader.com."

Here's How KBB Trade In Marketplace Works

• Anyone looking to trade-in or sell a car can now visit Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com to get a free, instant trade-in offer backed by AutoTrader.com. For details, visit the Trade-In Marketplace.

• The seller will then provide information about the vehicle, including its year, make and model, major factory-installed options, additional upgrades, maintenance information and details about the car's condition, including any major repairs or accident damage.

• The Trade-In Marketplace from AutoTrader.com will calculate an instant trade-in offer using historical data from hundreds of thousands of vehicle transactions combined with up-to-the-minute supply and demand information.

• The seller will then print the offer certificate and take it to one of the local dealerships listed on the certificate honoring the offer. The dealer will verify that the information provided by the seller is correct.

• The seller can receive a check by redeeming the offer or can use the amount toward the purchase of another vehicle.

"Negotiating the value of their trade-in has long been a major pain point with consumers, and the Trade-In Marketplace helps alleviate that pain by giving them the certainty of an instant offer—backed by a check—from AutoTrader.com," said Brian Skutta, Trade-In Marketplace general manager at AutoTrader.com. "We're excited to partner with Kelley Blue Book to bring this revolutionary tool to the millions of shoppers on kbb.com."