Am I doing something wrong with this ad?

[rainagain]

I've put my Punto on Gumtree last week and added it to ebay this week. So far I've not even had the "£200 cash and a broken ps3 2nite m8 I know what it's worth".

 

Here's the ebay ad:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/04-FIAT-PUNTO-ELEGANZA-16V-Silver-80-000-miles-MOT-till-August-service-history-/191821400192?hash=item2ca9724880:g:FhAAAOSwh-1W3YOM

 

I'm assuming the price is too much? I thought it was all right considering it was top of the range model, with 80,000 miles and a service history. Should I reduce it or is there something wrong with my ad?

 

Would anyone on here be interested in it? 

[willswitchengage]

I think you're not getting many questions/responses as there is sufficient info in the ad.

 

I sold my motorbike last year for about the same money following an advert with a decent description and good pictures like that - people know what they're getting, they're now just interested in getting their money's worth, i.e. haggling. No questions about its condition, just offers. I can't comment or how it's priced but don't panic too much; it has sufficient information and good pictures for the above average punter, I assume you may just have the price a hundred too high or something.

 

Perfect car for someone's 17 year old daughter imho but I have no idea what the market is doing nowadays. Very few of my friends (I'm 25) drive or even bother to learn nowadays. 

 

^The MOT expiry is in the ad, but for the advanced punter I'd always put a comment about its advisories.

[spartacus]

As can be seen elsewhere on the site, I'm an e-bay advert Nazi.

Yours looks OK to me, I haven't studied then hard but the price looks about right, the pictures could be a bit better but I'm being picky. Although the advert does tell you the main details I think you could pad it out a bit, pretend your describing the car with no pictures on the ad, almost like a mini road test.

Maybe watch a few of the others and see how quickly they move. The only real downside I see to your car is the colour but that's obviously a personal thing.

[Slartibartfast]

The price doesn't seem unreasonable considering the condition it's in

[trigger]

I think the problem is that it's a Punto, stick a Fiesta badge on the boot and it would have flown out by now.

[Bren]

It's £800 too much for the gumtree/ebay mouthbreathers.

 

I was thinking of moving my A6 on, but the thought of putting it on ebay has changed my mind.

[garbaldy]

Is a 1400cc not a bit costly insurance wise as a yutes first car?

Plus I still think it's to early in the year for selling cars I find it's still a bit stagnant just now.

[carlo]

It's a good ad with the essentials there, no bullshit and in my view decent pictures.  Problem I think as Trigger says is the fact it's a Punto.

 

May be better in Autotrader as it's a straight car.

[xtriple]

FIAT. Shame as it looks like a nice car and the advert (to me) reads well and from a careful owner. Stick with it, there's always someone looking for a 'proper' car and once they have looked at all the crap, they'll ring you. First they have to see the 'bargains'!

[Angry Sheep]

Market certainly seems a bit stagnant right now. It's strong money for one of these, I reckon – but arguably worth it because of the miles and condition.

 

I'd take £100 off if you're desperate to sell, otherwise hang on and wait until the right buyer comes along. There's nothing wrong with the ad IMO.

[tapir]

Is it worth pulling it through an MOT to sell with full 12 months? I suspect you will find it much easier to sell then.

[Cavcraft]

Simple: it's the start price. It's (probably) worth that but it's Ebay and people like bidding. I'd suggest you either start it at 99p and put a reserve on it, or advertise it on AutoTrader for the price you want and see what happens.

[cort16]

Put "She was selling her Fiat but you'll never guess what happened she they turned the key" in the advert title.

 

You have to put her as lads will click bait it hoping to steal a view of some up skirt shot.

[strangeangel]

Simple: it's the start price. It's (probably) worth that but it's Ebay and people like bidding. I'd suggest you either start it at 99p and put a reserve on it, or advertise it on AutoTrader for the price you want and see what happens.

 

Have to say I prefer fixed price with best offer. I've only my own experience to go on, which is that I've had less mongtard no show buyers that way.

 

Other than that the ad looks good, although you may have violated eBay rules by washing the car and actually getting all of it in the pictures   Price might be a little on the high side IMO though, purely because - as stated above - it's not a Fester. Looks a tidy little car that would do someone a good turn.

[djimbob]

Price too high, in Scotland (no offence), not really personal enough for my likes, but a good enough advert.

 

Drop the price to sell I'm afraid

[Station]

I think it would sell if it was an auction. I've started everything on 99p and they always sell, people love an auction.

[hauserplenty]

Two lucky dips please*.

 

 

*I would, but...&c.

 

WOTS UR BESTEST 4 CASH M8 KOLEKT 2NITE

innit.

[beko1987]

violated eBay rules by washing the car and actually getting all of it in the pictures

I agree

 

 

thatll do it

[rainagain]

Thanks for the replies, I've updated the advert to show it passed the last MOT with no advisories.

 

I'm not in a massive hurry to sell it, although I have already bought its replacement.  

[rainagain]

I did look at Autotrader but they wanted over thirty quid for two weeks, which could eat into how much I eventually get for it quite quickly

 

I'm not keen on ebay auctions as I've had the usual seller not turning up, due to his favourite pet squirrel choking on his heart medicine, etc.

[rainagain]

 The only real downside I see to your car is the colour but that's obviously a personal thing.

 lol I agree I don't like silver cars either, but guess what colour the one I've bought to replace it is....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that's right silver 

[egg]

I think it is a fair price. 

 

I think it depends on your local car market - I live in a coastal town in Kent - the market is therefore small - lots of places take time to travel - I might well get £800 for my Fusion locally to the right 'older buyer', although Shitters would laugh me out of town at that price!

[hairymel]

the blurb looks a bit too much like its cut and pasted from a manufacturers catalogue, but more of a turn off for me is what appears to be tyre black on the tyres(obviously)

 

tyre dressing=bald tyres and evidence of a general turd polishing exercise in my experience   

[rainagain]

 

tyre dressing=bald tyres and evidence of a general turd polishing exercise in my experience   

 

Not something I own (tyre dressing or bald tyres), the front tyres are Vredestein that are only a couple of months old, this might be why they look so black?

[Aston Martin]

OI iKl guvU £40 nd a vaype rigg

[Dave_Q]

Autotrader is only 10-15 quid for cars <£1000.

[For Fiats Sake]

I work in retail and this time of year is rubbish, people just aren't spending.  Half terms and upcoming Bank Holidays people keep their brass in pocket.

I'd add the taxation and insurance group to the advert as people might think it's expensive compared to a 1242cc Fiat.

Not much you can do about your location apart from offering to deliver/meet for test drives half way.

 

Most of all a bit of patience is required, when I've put a car on Auto trader it's taken a week or two, you only need one buyer though!

 

Just a thought, have you tried advertising on Fiat Forum? it's free!

[colino]

While I would have all of the pictures of the car (nobody really wants to see your house/fence/other transport, it's a distraction) it is a good advert for a decent car.  Definitely one for AT, but your biggest problem is that there is so much competition.  There's a lot of them around and you need the wide exposure to probably end up selling it to someone half a mile away.

[Alexg]

The ad itself is Ok for this level of car. Shopping at the sub £1000 mark can be a rather depressing mix of bewildering spelling, drunken photography and shit cars so this isn't a bad effort. I'd probably flower things up a tad as there's no real excitement or enthusiasm in the ad.

 

So, Has it been reliable? If it has say so. Does it drive well? Then say so. If things work well on a car - no knocking/good clutch/switchgear fully operational - I wouldn't let a buyer make up their own mind about it simply by the fact you've not said that it's faulty; so say so. Has your car been in a smash, is it a write off? No, so again say so. Tons of these things are badly thrown together salvage jobs. People shopping for sub £1k cars will be bored of looking at utter garbage, so give them the confidence to travel to you.

 

The car looks in good shape in the pictures, especially for a 12 year old Punto. Most of these are dented to buggery and yours looks straight and clean. Assuming that it is, say so! If it's better than 80% of other Puntos out there describe it as 'excellent condition with a few age related marks', not just 'age related marks'.

 

Perhaps also think about the kind of person this car will appeal to and the features on your Punto that will benefit them. For example, this seems a sensible first car for a young lady, so perhaps mention the fact it has CitySteering and the benefit to them of buying a car with this extra.

 

If you only listed it last week I'd not panic just yet. I don't think it looks cheap, which is one reason why the phone hasn't been ringing, but that's not necessarily a problem if you're happy to wait for the right buyer. It's satisfying to get loads of enquiries, but if they're all drongos offering £250 what's the point? If the £800 mark is your goal then you should stick with a classified listing. There are cheaper ones out there and most will be bidding blind so an auction will yield far less than your target. Get some reasons to buy your car in the Ad as I've mentioned. You don't need to go overboard but if you want all the chips for it, which I think £900 is, it helps to ring the bell a bit and justify your price tag. Patience is required and the first guy to see it will usually know exactly what he's after and 9/10 times will buy it in my experience.

[Barry Cade]

 Problem with this I think is that it's a very late old model,and a 5 door. Punto's seem to sell well up here and fetch decent money, but this is on the cusp of a Grande Punto which people who don't know are probably more drawn to. I think you should just be patient, it's a good clean well spec'd honest car- just needs the right person. Maybe tarrget the older market and pop an ad in the Dunfermline Press or summat.