A private sale reliably beats a trade-in, and the gap is the work. Most of that work happens before the listing goes up.
Have the paperwork before you have the photographs
Registration document, service history, insurance status, any transfer or road-tax paperwork your country requires, and the outstanding finance position if there is any. A buyer's first serious question is whether you can actually transfer ownership, and "I'll check" is where private sales die. If there is finance outstanding, say so in the listing — it is normal, it is solvable, and discovering it at the kerb wastes an afternoon for both of you.
Price against the market, not against what you paid
Search your own model, year and rough mileage, and look at what comparable cars are listed at. Then remember that listed is not sold. Price at the middle of the range if you want it gone this month and at the top if you are willing to wait a season; those are different decisions and you should make one on purpose.
Put the number in the listing. A car advertised as "price on request" is filtered out by everyone searching within a budget, which is everyone.
Photograph it like an inspection, not an advertisement
Clean it first — an hour of cleaning is the highest-return hour in the whole sale. Then shoot all four corners in daylight, the interior from both front doors, the boot, the odometer showing the reading you claimed, and the tyres. Then photograph the damage: the kerbed alloy, the stone chip, the worn driver's bolster. A buyer who sees the flaws in the listing arrives expecting them; a buyer who finds them in person starts renegotiating, and they are right to.
The test drive is the part to plan
Meet somewhere public and busy in daylight. Check the buyer holds a valid licence and that your insurance covers the drive before anybody moves. Go with them. Agree the route first. None of this is unfriendly and a serious buyer expects all of it — the ones it puts off were never going to complete.
Take payment in a form that has cleared before the vehicle leaves. Cash in a bank branch, or a transfer you have watched land in your own account. Not a screenshot.
Your number does not have to be in the advertisement
Selling a car means fielding a lot of contact, and a phone number in a public listing stays reachable long after the car is gone. On this site the number is never on the page: it is released to the buyer, and theirs to you, only when you both confirm the deal — and either of you can withdraw it again.
List it in Vehicles › Cars & Trucks, or start a new listing.