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What is the best way to sell your car?


rayhoop

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I'm selling my Zed (cant post it in the for sale section until my post count jumps up a little), and am wondering on your past experiences of selling cars.

 

What advertising platform has returned the best results?

 

I.e. Pistonheads, Autotrader, Gumtree, this forum, 'for sale' sign stuck inside your car window etc?

 

So far I've had 1 person contact me in response to my Pistonheads advert (it has been on there for 2 weeks?)

Nil from Autotrader (only been on since Sunday)

1 person contact me having seen my car in person on the street with the 'for sale' sign, and 2 other blokes pulling over to take a close look (only been advertised using this method since Monday morning)

 

 

What has worked best for you in the past?

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Hm - I was thinking that, but thought I had priced it fairly.

I was hoping it was simply that there are not as many people looking for Z's as other cars.. hence the wait.

 

No harm in trying. No rush either. 'll give it some time and see how it goes.

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I have been pretty successful with Ebay but they were all for cars that were less than £2k. I used very full adverts, lots of photos and complete honesty regarding any issues. I'm not sure that would necessarily mean it works equally well for more expensive stuff....it's a different sort of audience.

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Just sold my MX5 California on PH. I had the add on PH, Gumtree and local facebook forums. Had a little interest from the latter, none from Gumtree and only got interest from Ph once I dropped the price. Had 3 genuine enquries then and sold it to a chap in France who came over and picked it up this weekend. (apparently its worth three times the price over there)

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I had nvr been a fan of eBay..... But I've sold two cars lately through it both for very good money. I find an auction format works best but with a reserve.... Generates good interest then they bought them direct from me... Even when I was looking for my Z I was checking it all the time.... Although I bought mine from an ad on auto trader lol

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Sold mine on PH at a premium price, also it was on ebay and had a number of people ready to buy if the PH buyer dropped out.

 

Key is to write a really good, engaging advert, use pictures that are functional not pretty (although one pretty one is useful for getting attention), be honest in the advert and outline the things that need fixing up as well as the things that are great about it and make the purchase as easy as possible i.e. make yourself available for people to view as often as possible etc.

 

I also found that all the people interested in my Zed on PH and ebay looked at the build thread that I had on here, gave them a lot of confidence in what they were buying.

 

Autotrader I have found to be utterly useless and the advertising overpriced for anything I have every tried to sell.

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The past few cars I sold, I always made an effort to ask the buyer where they had seen the car advertised; despite having them on both PH and Autotrader, every single time the ad has been seen on the latter. Also strangely, when selling the BMW, I had no interest for the days it was advertised on the web, but on the day the Autotrader was published the phone didnt stop ringing from people who had seen it there. And I thought noone bothered with the paper version anymore...

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I have been pretty successful with Ebay but they were all for cars that were less than £2k. I used very full adverts, lots of photos and complete honesty regarding any issues. I'm not sure that would necessarily mean it works equally well for more expensive stuff....it's a different sort of audience.

 

Saying that, I sold my Dad's car (1995 Shogun Long Wheel Base) on Ebay in 2007. I had previously had it for sale on AutoTrader/PH etc... had zero interest at £1250. I was offered £500 for it by my neighbour. I put it on Ebay (with a very in depth and honest description) and after a bidding war involving 3 or 4 people it achieved £2150 and the guy was really happy when he picked it up. It was a one owner car, full service history etc.. It needed some work but I listed all the work required and the quotes I had been given for the jobs.

 

 

Sold mine on PH at a premium price, also it was on ebay and had a number of people ready to buy if the PH buyer dropped out.

 

Key is to write a really good, engaging advert, use pictures that are functional not pretty (although one pretty one is useful for getting attention), be honest in the advert and outline the things that need fixing up as well as the things that are great about it and make the purchase as easy as possible i.e. make yourself available for people to view as often as possible etc.

 

I also found that all the people interested in my Zed on PH and ebay looked at the build thread that I had on here, gave them a lot of confidence in what they were buying.

 

Autotrader I have found to be utterly useless and the advertising overpriced for anything I have every tried to sell.

 

I'd love to say I have a build thread! But other than keep it clean and serviced thoroughly, I've not modified anything or had to fix anything really (other than the Bose Hack). I was thinking of polybushing it and getting some nice wheels, but those plans are out of the window since we have twins on the way!

 

The write up on the car is key. I thought I had it nailed, but not sure if it is too long/boring etc...

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