Selling your car in the Netherlands without Marktplaats

Why many expats sell without Marktplaats

Marktplaats works well for many Dutch sellers, and it is a reasonable choice. For someone who does not read Dutch comfortably, it asks a lot. The site is in Dutch, and most messages from buyers arrive in Dutch as well.

There is also the practical side. A private advertisement means arranging viewings, test drives and payment yourself, often at your own front door, and the registration remains yours until the buyer has transferred it. When you are working full time or preparing a move, that is often the part people want to avoid.

Other car sites and Gaspedaal

Marktplaats is one of several places where used cars are advertised in the Netherlands. There are dedicated car sites where a private seller can also list a car, usually by entering the number plate and adding photographs and a description.

Gaspedaal is a search site for used cars. When we looked at it, Gaspedaal collected listings from other Dutch car sites and did not take advertisements of its own, so to appear there a private seller listed the car on one of the sites it collects from. Check the current conditions on each site before you choose, because they change.

Whichever site you choose, the work after the advertisement is the same as on Marktplaats. You answer the messages, you show the car and you check the payment yourself. A different site changes who sees your car, and the rest of the private sale stays with you.

Leaving the car with a dealer on consignment

Some dealers will sell a car on consignment (verkoop in consignatie, what this meansverkoop in consignatieAn arrangement in which a dealer offers your car for sale on your behalf. The car stays yours, and in your name, until the dealer finds a buyer.). The car stands at the dealer, the dealer advertises it and shows it to buyers, and when it sells you receive the agreed amount minus the dealer's commission.

The important detail is ownership. On consignment the car remains yours, and it stays registered in your name until the buyer transfers it. You remain the registered keeper (kentekenhouder, what this meanskentekenhouderThe person in whose name the car is registered at the RDW. The road tax, the insurance duty and any fines follow this person until the car is transferred.), so the road tax and the insurance keep running while the car waits for a buyer. Agree in writing how long the arrangement lasts, what the commission is, who pays for any preparation, and what happens if the car does not sell.

Selling to a car buyer or a dealer

The shortest route without an advertisement is to sell the car to a business outright. A car buyer or a dealer names an amount. When you agree, the business buys the car and moves it out of your name. There are no viewings at your home and no strangers on test drives. Our guide to using a car buyer explains how to check that a buyer is reliable, and the comparison of a private sale or a dealer sets the routes side by side.

On sellcar.nl, the offer starts with your number plate and everything is in English. You request it here, and it stays valid while you think it over. When you accept, we come to you for free, wherever in the Netherlands the car is, take care of the RDW transfer during that visit and pay you as the car changes hands.

Selling to a colleague, neighbour or friend

Many cars change hands without any advertisement at all, through a colleague, a neighbour or a group of people from the same company or country. That is a private sale, and the RDW rules for a sale between two private people apply in full. The buyer must have a Dutch address and carry out the transfer, after which the vrijwaringsbewijs comes to you.

A sale to someone you know still deserves the same care as a sale to a stranger. Write down what was agreed, check that the money has arrived in your own account, and do not let the car go before it has been transferred. Our guide to the RDW transfer covers the steps.

Choosing the route that fits your situation

Start with the date by which the car must be out of your name, and with the time you can give to the sale. If time is short or the car must be out of your name by a fixed date, a direct sale to a business is usually the simplest choice. If you have time and want to set the price yourself, an advertisement on a car site gives you that control, as long as you are comfortable dealing with buyers in Dutch.

Anyone leaving the country should read selling before you leave first, because the date you deregister from your municipality (gemeente) limits which buyers you can still sell to.

What you need

• The registration card (kentekencard) and the complete registration code
• Photographs of the car, inside and out
• The exact mileage and the date of the next APK
• A written agreement, if you leave the car on consignment
• Your insurance policy, to see when you can end it
• The proof of transfer (vrijwaringsbewijs) after the sale