cobra_mark

Sadly time to part with the WRX, but not sure the best place to advertise my bugeye wagon, Pistonheads, Ebay, Autotrader. Any advice welcome.

v7sti

I've done quite good with piston heads tbh eBay I don't rate just get silly offers for a dog and packet of crisps in part ex etc

AndyBaker

If i was buying I would look on here first then on piston heads if that helps. Andy

cobra_mark

Thanks Andy, think I need membership to advertise here so Pistonheads it will have to be.

type-rob

The membership is like £2 or something here pal

LuckyWelshchap

+1 (of sorts).

I've never flogged anything on there but looking at the ads it's clear that a) there's a lot of timewasters; but more importantly b) everyone expects a bargain.

On the basis that yours is a good one it would appear as pricey compared to others advertised, and as v7's said, you'd get clowns asking questions, messaging you etc.

Put it on a site where knowledgeable people look and at least you'll know that any interest is genuine.

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

I advertised my bug wagon on pistonheads earlier in the year, and all i got was one pissed up call from someone in a pub, total waste of money.

I sold through here in the end.

slash920

Gumtree is very good too. Sold a few for the family lately on there inc my immaculate zs 180 for almost double book price.

type-rob

I used pistonheads before too, got a lot of interest, mainly from people with no ********* apparently.

Regardless, I eventually got a call from someone wanting to pay what I wanted for it, but he sounded like a moron and he was blatantly going to thrash it, so I kept it.

Regrets? None.

cobra_mark

Thanks for the advice, will pay the membership fee and put it on here as soon as. I would rather someone gets it who really wants this type of car. Do you think I should sell my winter tyre/wheel set separately though?

LuckyWelshchap

Give a prospective buyer the option.

Eg. a discount off whatever you would want for them if an acceptable offer is made for the car.

It might induce a better offer.

On the other hand, mine came 'all inclusive' which, while I hadn't given Winter kit a thought, did make the car's price very reasonable in my view.

cobra_mark

Thanks, will plan out the add to make that point :-)

LuckyWelshchap

Np, and GLWTS.

cobra_mark

Car up on our board, not sure I pitched the price right though it seems a slow market.

May pull the tyres out of the sale and concentrate on the car.

Any tips?

S555 MKR

iTrader: (8)

Hi there,

Couple of quick truth's that may help you from someone who has run his own car sales business for 10 years. First of all, you are better taking off your, car enthusiasts / emotional head and putting on your good business sense one. Don't over estimate the value of your car, be realistic, search out the market for reasonably local similar examples to gauge your competition. I am not saying give your car away or make it the cheapest available, but ensure its an attainable price to ask, otherwise you are just wasting time and money. If you cant do this, then I would suggest your not ready to sell your car! Also you HAVE to consider that price is by far the biggest deciding factor from buyers, PERIOD, its definitely not the only factor but its the biggest. I will say on more specialist cars this maybe has a slightly reduced factor as you do tend to get a more 'intelligent' buyers who will hopefully account for other important factors which will benefit your sale.

You also cant have too much exposure - Yes some avenues are more productive then others, however you only need to sell the car once to one person, and that person can come from anywhere to be honest. As such get it on as many free sites as you can, gumtree, forums, facebook etc, this all helps spread the word and gets your car infront of potential buyers. People complain about 'timewasters' and 'messers', you have to accept these as an inevitable fact, deal with them and ensure you answer each call as if that person is the one who is going to buy the car. Its not easy selling a car and it can me damm right frustrating and hard work, however it is quite easy to loose a sale simply because you didn't deal with someone friendly and in a good manner and have the answers to their questions. To think there is a magic way to post an add, only have serious friendly buyers that contact you, and sell the car for the asking price within a week is unfortunately unrealistic (It does happen, but rarely!).

Ensure your advert has as much detail as possible and always include info such as exact model, year, mileage, MOT, Tax, service history, number of owners, HPI status and condition both mechanical and bodywork wise as a bare minimum. Again so many people complain about time waster calls yet so many people put hardly any info in the advert which provokes questions!

Take your time and ensure your pictures are smart, detailed and cover the majority of the car. The pictures are essentially your shop window, they are what entice a buyer in. make sure the car is the main subject, don't take a pic from too far away but likewise ensure you fit the whole car within the picture and not take sections of it. Try to take around midday when the light is good to get the best results. Ensure you include some on inside as well as outside.

Don't get disheartened, you may well have a few calls and even some people that turn up to view and maybe test the car. If they don't buy it doesn't mean there is a problem with the car or you made a bad job of selling it to them. Remember a car is the second largest purchase for most people, many of us want time to consider and think. Likewise maybe the car just isn't for them, or they have found something that is a deal breaker for them, that dosnt mean you will have the same issue with other buyers so stay positive, this will help with your manner and tact when dealing with potential buyers.

In actual media recommendations, Auto Trader is by far the market leader when it comes to exposure. I sell around 90% of my stock through that media. That said it is much less effective I have found with performance japan cars, as such I would suggest your first 2 paid adverts are piston heads and ebay. They have had more success for me even though their circulation is less then AT (ebay is actually second to AT). If they don't work (along with your free ads) don't simply renew them right away, try another media Ie. auto trader at that point. Also do a review, check the market again (it does change week by week at times), check your competition and ensure your advert is detailed and the pictures are good. If you do renew the advert I always suggest try different pictures or simply change the main pic. This can provoke new interest and also dosn't make it appear as if 'its that car again he cant sell'.

Only condensed a few pointers, I could ramble on for a few books worth! hopefully they will be of help

GLWTS

Andy