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Okay, so you want to sell your car. Where do you start? And is it better to sell your car on your own through newspapers and the Internet, or trade it in at the dealership?

We've all heard that selling your car privately will put more cash in your pocket because you can set the selling price higher than what the dealership would offer you on a trade-in. While that's true for the most part, it also boils down to convenience.

Do you really want to expend the time and money it takes for advertising, and invite complete strangers out to your home to see the car? Do you have the needed cash to fix and clean up the car to give it that almost-new look? And do you want to deal with the hassles of title transfer when the car is sold to someone you don't know?

We'll take a closer look at the question of trade-ins versus private sales in a moment. But first, let's look at how to determine your vehicle's value by using the Kelley Blue Book online.

Using Kelley Blue Book to Estimate Your Vehicle's Worth
Estimating the price of your vehicle using Kelley Blue Book (KBB) is essential to any successful car sale. Using the KBB valuation as a baseline, you are assured that you are neither overestimating nor underestimating your price point. Thus, you can accurately assess the estimated pricing for your used car to get a quick sale and to ensure you get the most money possible on the transaction.

When using KBB's free online vehicle valuation service, you will have to estimate the condition of the vehicle as excellent, good, or fair. Excellent is typically reserved for used cars 3 years old or less and means the car is in like-new condition. Most used cars fall under the good category, which means it may have some minor problems such as a scratch, slight wear on the fabric seats, or minor rusting. Fair means the car has more serious problems such as dents, rust, mechanical problems, excessive tire wear, or accident damage.

Kelley Blue Book has been the trusted source of information on used car pricing for over eight decades. Since a young, enterprising Les Kelley published his first Blue Book of Motor Car Values, millions of consumers and auto industry insiders have relied on his accurate valuations of used motor vehicles.

Assessing Your Vehicle's Private Sale Value
Let's say you decide to sell your car on Craigslist. Here's how to assess the private sale value of your vehicle using the KBB website:

1) Point your Web browser to www.kbb.com. Note the many features of the site: car reviews and news; new car comparisons; dealer price quotes; car incentives and rebates; motorcycle, personal watercraft, and snowmobile valuations; and car videos. Today, we will focus on used car valuations using a 1996 Chevy Cavalier as an example.

2) In the Used Car box, click Search by: > Year, Make & Model to go to the Used Car Blue Book Values page.

3) Under Select a Year, Make & Model, click the Select Year drop-down list and select 1996.

4) Click the Select Make drop-down list and select Cheverolet.

5) Click the Select Model drop-down list and select Cavalier.

6) Click the Go button.

7) Enter your zip code, then click Go to go to the Select Kelley Blue Book Value page.

8) Click the Go button to go to the Select Kelley Blue Book Value page.

9) Click Private Party Value to go to the Select a Trim page.

10) Click Cavalier Sedan 4D to go to the Select Equipment page.

11) In the Mileage field, enter 120,000.

12) At the bottom of the page, click the Continue button to go to the Select The Vehicle Condition page.

13) Select Good, then click the Continue button to go to the pricing page. Note the KBB pricing estimates depending on the car's condition: excellent, good, or fair.

Assessing Your Vehicle's Trade-In Value
Determining your trade-in value is tricker, because typically what happens is that the dealership will lowball the estimated trade-in price to give them a higher profit margin. Furthermore, dealerships will tell you they valuate trade-ins using the Kelley Black Book rather than the Blue Book. Confused yet?

The point you need to take home with you today is that the trade-off for a trade-in is mostly convenience. You won't get as much money in your pocket for that trade, but you'll enjoy a slightly lower monthly payment, ease of transaction compared to a private sale, and peace of mind that the vehicle title will be transferred expeditiously (as opposed to some horror stories of used car buyers who don't transfer the title into their name, and who gets the blame when the new owner who you don't know from adam gets speeding tickets? That's right you, because the car is technically still in your name!).

1) Point your Web browser to www.kbb.com.

2) In the Used Car box, click Search by: > Year, Make & Model to go to the Used Car Blue Book Values page.

3) Under Select a Year, Make & Model, click the Select Year drop-down list and select 1996.

4) Click the Select Make drop-down list and select Cheverolet.

5) Click the Select Model drop-down list and select Cavalier.

6 ) Click the Go button.

7) Enter your zip code, then click Go to go to the Select Kelley Blue Book Value page.

8) Click Trade-In Value to go to the Select a Trim page.

9) Click Cavalier Sedan 4D to go to the Select Equipment page.

10) In the Mileage field, enter 120,000.

11) At the bottom of the page, click the Continue button to go to the Select The Vehicle Condition page.

12) Select Good, then click the Continue button to go to the pricing page. Note the KBB pricing estimates depending on the car's condition: excellent, good, or fair.

Again, dealerships will lowball this estimate, sometimes by as much as half. They will typically shake their heads and tell you, "Well, the car has got some issues with it, and we're not sure we can even make much off of it." Then they'll tell you they're going by the Kelley Black Book rather than the Blue Book.

As salespeople, the job of the dealership is to make as much money off of you as possible. However, you can successfully negotiate the selling price of your trade-in if you ask them to pay you somewhere in between the Kelley Blue Book trade-in value and the price they're offering you for your used car.

In summary, pricing your vehicle for private sale or trade-in is the easy part. But when it comes down to which option you choose, it's simply a matter of slightly more money via private sale versus the ease and convenience of a trade-in.

Learn more about this author, Daniel J. Gansle.
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