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Auto Classifieds are a great way to sell your car. But you have a choice now to sell online, offline or a combination of both.
Let me just give you a few quick pros and cons that should jog a decision.
The Advantages of Online Auto Classifieds
- wide coverage
- nice pictures possible
- more space for description
- usually can be found from a search engine
- run it till you sell more common
Disadvantages:
- search means customer usually searching for that exact car or near
- depends on traffic of site as too whether your ad is seen
- lower trust from internet based advertising
- Misses non-internet people
The Advantages of Offline Auto Classifieds
- higher trust factor
- picks up online and offline buyers
- no computer knowledge or site technology to interfere with the buying process
Disadvantages
-pictures expensive
-less room for description
-may miss online only buyers.
You may be able to think of a few more. Now some facts. The 6 cars I sold last year, were all advertised in online AND offline auto classifieds, were sold for the price I wanted.3 from online classifieds and 3 from offline.
So from this statistic, my answer would seem to spread your message across both classifieds.
Well that's it for now. Just wanted to give you some food for thought.
Graeme Sprigge is an automotive writer. His website http://www.sellmycarforcash.com has numerous auto articles. For an article on how to write a classified ad, read http://www.sellmycarforcash.com/sell-my-car-articles/how-to-write-car-classifieds-ad.html
Hi, everyone.
Just want to let you know that I am adding a car detailing section to http://www.sellmycarforcash.com
You should detail your car before you sell it. Selling your car without detailing can cost you money.
There are a lot of little tricks you can do, for instance, if you car mats are dirty, you can wash them with warm soapy water and remove all the dirt. Dry them and then spray with a silicone spray. This will give your mats a new feel.
There's a lot to know about this and I'm slowly building the pages, so be patient.
As always if you want to see something included in the site you can email me.
My main site now is http://www.sellmycarforcash.com.
At the moment The 90 Minute Car Salesman is where I am 'giving away' my book.
But I think this is shortly going to end. At some random moment in the near future, I will start selling it again for what it's worth.
Where else can you learn how to get more for your car when you sell it.
My book covers every single area from research to negotiation.
Well, that's all for today. Please visit my other site and get in touch. Join my newsletter or send me an email.
P.S I am thinking of putting a really funny car story section on my site. So if you have an interesting car story send it in. It can be funny, shrewd, serious whatever you want. Best ones I will put on the site and people can vote for them or write in about them.
The thing I like about this idea is that we can all learn from each other. Different viewpoints and experiences. It's very educational.
Now that's really it.
Bye for now.
Just want to let you know that I am adding a car detailing section to http://www.sellmycarforcash.com
You should detail your car before you sell it. Selling your car without detailing can cost you money.
There are a lot of little tricks you can do, for instance, if you car mats are dirty, you can wash them with warm soapy water and remove all the dirt. Dry them and then spray with a silicone spray. This will give your mats a new feel.
There's a lot to know about this and I'm slowly building the pages, so be patient.
As always if you want to see something included in the site you can email me.
My main site now is http://www.sellmycarforcash.com.
At the moment The 90 Minute Car Salesman is where I am 'giving away' my book.
But I think this is shortly going to end. At some random moment in the near future, I will start selling it again for what it's worth.
Where else can you learn how to get more for your car when you sell it.
My book covers every single area from research to negotiation.
Well, that's all for today. Please visit my other site and get in touch. Join my newsletter or send me an email.
P.S I am thinking of putting a really funny car story section on my site. So if you have an interesting car story send it in. It can be funny, shrewd, serious whatever you want. Best ones I will put on the site and people can vote for them or write in about them.
The thing I like about this idea is that we can all learn from each other. Different viewpoints and experiences. It's very educational.
Now that's really it.
Bye for now.
Car Classifieds| Auto Classifieds | How To Write A Killer Car Classifieds Ad.
I wrote this article primarily for release to an article site but I am including it here because it's relevant.
Graeme Sprigge
How to Write a Car Classifieds Ad - Part 2
In part 1 of this series I talked about some key points when advertising your car in classifieds. To get the most out of this final article in the series, I suggest you read Part 1 first.
Now, I promised I was going to give you a sample advertisement. So here goes.
The way I,m going to do it is to give you the ad first. See if you can work out why each element has been included and why? You should be able to do this if you have read and understood part 1.
*** 00 Ford Contour***
V6 2.5l,only 30k,1 female owner
n/smok,all pwr opt,auto,dual air,
exc cond,must see,must sell
$5100 call xxx-xxxx-xxxx
Now that looks harmless enough doesn't it. A classified ad usually doesn't have the punch that a full page ad can have or a TV ad.
But this is not a problem. Why? Because you are only really competing with other ads in a similar format. The only people putting better ads in than you are dealers and people looking at classifieds don't want to buy from a dealer.
So in that little space is where you need to shine.
Ok, so let's break it down.
The first line you have the little stars and it's in bold. That's your attention grabber.
It's not huge but remember you only need to make it stand out in relation to other ads.
It also has the make, model and don't forget the year - if you leave this out you are costing yourself inquiries.
Now the next section V6 2.5l gives more specific info about the car. It's the V6 2.5l engine version. More car identifying. It's important to identify the car fully.
The next part - only 30k - states that it is low kilometres. Cars generally wear out faster the more they are driven. So this is a good selling point.
1 female owner - female drivers are statistically less hard on their vehicles than males. Good selling point so mention it. (For security reasons if you do this it is a good idea to have the car viewed off your property in a public place with a male to help you sell it)
Non-smoker - shows not just that you don't smoke but that you are aware of the cleanliness factor in your car and hints that you most likely have kept it clean, without stating it.
All pwr options - more identifying data - has to be mentioned because it ads extra value. And the same goes for dual air - this adds the safety dimension.
Exc Condition - you basically have to make a statement of condition. A car in excellent condition has not been in an accident, has no rust, clean title and has had no bodywork. The paint looks new and interior is very clean. As well as being mechanically sound.
Must See and Must Sell - these little gems add a little bit of urgency. They work best in combination with this ad because the ad is for a pretty good car. If you were selling a wreck I wouldn't use them.
Now you must include the price in my opinion. I don't have the space to go into why fully. It has to do with buyer confidence. He doesn't want to have a price change done based on the sound of his voice or the way he dresses. It just takes one factor out of the buyer's confusion.
The last part is the call to action. Pretty simple. Instead of putting the phone number alone, add the word call in front of it. People actually respond to direct commands to do things. It's a principle of direct selling.
So that's it. I hope that has been helpful.
Happy Selling
Graeme Sprigge
I wrote this article primarily for release to an article site but I am including it here because it's relevant.
Graeme Sprigge
How to Write a Car Classifieds Ad - Part 2
In part 1 of this series I talked about some key points when advertising your car in classifieds. To get the most out of this final article in the series, I suggest you read Part 1 first.
Now, I promised I was going to give you a sample advertisement. So here goes.
The way I,m going to do it is to give you the ad first. See if you can work out why each element has been included and why? You should be able to do this if you have read and understood part 1.
*** 00 Ford Contour***
V6 2.5l,only 30k,1 female owner
n/smok,all pwr opt,auto,dual air,
exc cond,must see,must sell
$5100 call xxx-xxxx-xxxx
Now that looks harmless enough doesn't it. A classified ad usually doesn't have the punch that a full page ad can have or a TV ad.
But this is not a problem. Why? Because you are only really competing with other ads in a similar format. The only people putting better ads in than you are dealers and people looking at classifieds don't want to buy from a dealer.
So in that little space is where you need to shine.
Ok, so let's break it down.
The first line you have the little stars and it's in bold. That's your attention grabber.
It's not huge but remember you only need to make it stand out in relation to other ads.
It also has the make, model and don't forget the year - if you leave this out you are costing yourself inquiries.
Now the next section V6 2.5l gives more specific info about the car. It's the V6 2.5l engine version. More car identifying. It's important to identify the car fully.
The next part - only 30k - states that it is low kilometres. Cars generally wear out faster the more they are driven. So this is a good selling point.
1 female owner - female drivers are statistically less hard on their vehicles than males. Good selling point so mention it. (For security reasons if you do this it is a good idea to have the car viewed off your property in a public place with a male to help you sell it)
Non-smoker - shows not just that you don't smoke but that you are aware of the cleanliness factor in your car and hints that you most likely have kept it clean, without stating it.
All pwr options - more identifying data - has to be mentioned because it ads extra value. And the same goes for dual air - this adds the safety dimension.
Exc Condition - you basically have to make a statement of condition. A car in excellent condition has not been in an accident, has no rust, clean title and has had no bodywork. The paint looks new and interior is very clean. As well as being mechanically sound.
Must See and Must Sell - these little gems add a little bit of urgency. They work best in combination with this ad because the ad is for a pretty good car. If you were selling a wreck I wouldn't use them.
Now you must include the price in my opinion. I don't have the space to go into why fully. It has to do with buyer confidence. He doesn't want to have a price change done based on the sound of his voice or the way he dresses. It just takes one factor out of the buyer's confusion.
The last part is the call to action. Pretty simple. Instead of putting the phone number alone, add the word call in front of it. People actually respond to direct commands to do things. It's a principle of direct selling.
So that's it. I hope that has been helpful.
Happy Selling
Graeme Sprigge