Jeffrey had a black Subaru Forester to sell and a number he didn't like. Carvana had given him an offer. A couple of dealers had quoted trade-in money. All of them felt low, because they were — that's how those offers work.
On Saturday night, he heard about the event. A public lot, staffed all weekend, buyers who drove there specifically to buy a car from a real person. It seemed like a safer bet than another week of strangers and lowballs, so he registered online that night.
Sunday morning he pulled in for check-in. Our team met him at the car and started writing up his window sticker — price, mileage, his phone number. Before it was on the glass, a family walking the lot stopped at the Forester. They looked it over, asked for a test drive, and bought it on the spot.
Four minutes. The car never made it to its parking spot.
And the number that actually matters: Jeffrey sold for about $4,000 more than Carvana's offer — and more than any dealer had quoted him on a trade-in.
