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Unlike new cars, where manufacturers set the price before negotiation, used car prices are all over the lot - so to speak. If you want to sell a car online, then you need some guidance on how to set the price.

There are four major price services for used cars that you can use to gather information: Black Book, Kelley Blue Book, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Edmunds.com. We'll also discuss these options that can help you set your price to sell your car online.

• Black Book. The Black Book organization sells subscriptions, mostly to automotive industry companies and dealers for its books and online data. According to their website, Black Book survey personnel attend auctions around the country and classify vehicles based on their condition, mileage, selling price, equipment and trim levels. Once the prices for all the weekly auctions are added to the Black Book database, Black Book editors consider this week's auction values compared to the previous several weeks. After weighing several factors like what models were in demand, were any vehicles over represented and weather conditions during the auction, Black Book will set its weekly wholesale prices. Within ten days of an auction close, the prices will be reflected in Black Book's weekly guide.

Black Book pricing will give you trade-in value and dealer's retail price for three levels of car condition: clean, average and rough. It is an excellent way to see what the current market is paying for a vehicle similar to yours. That way, you can set a realistic price when you sell your car online.

• Kelley Blue Book. Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book has been a trusted source for pricing information on used vehicles. Since its online presence launched in 1995, consumers have been able to obtain pricing reports for free.

The Kelley organization collects data from auctions and new and used car dealers and provides trade-in, retail and private party values for each model. The Kelley Blue book provides values based on condition of the used car as excellent, good, fair or poor. However, on retail prices on the website, it only provides one level - excellent. With its reports available for free online, it is an ideal place to help you determine the price point to sell your car online.

• NADA Used Car Guide. Published by the National Automobile Dealers Association, this guide goes to dealers as part of their NADA membership. However, individuals can check NADA prices at its website. NADA assumes that all trade-ins and cars being sold are in very clean condition, therefore their prices tend to be higher than the other publications. Be sure to take this into consideration if your vehicle is not in the best condition. However, NADA Used Car Guide does serve as an excellent reference for setting your price in order to sell a car online.
• Edmunds.com is the newest entrant onto the used car pricing guide market. Edmunds collects data from auctions and new and used car dealerships. They aim to establish a 'true market value' to represent what used cars are actually selling for. The Edmunds website also gives a 'private party' value for used cars sold in individual transactions. Essentially, Edmunds' dealer retail prices are lower than Kelley Blue Book and NADA because they represent actual transaction prices and not dealer asking prices.

If you can, it is very helpful to check more than one of these resources to help you determine your opening price. Another helpful tip when you sell your car online is to check on completed items at your preferred auction site to see what similar cars have sold for. A good rule of thumb is to remember that lower starting prices attract more buyers and generally result in a higher final price. To protect yourself, you may want to consider setting a reserve price for your auction in order to ensure you get your minimum acceptable price.

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