Am I deluded about value?

[ss201]

Just as a matter of interest - as I'm in the market for an estate car - what sort of fuel consumption (realistically) do you get and what is the annual road tax on this car?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Sorry, that's ******.

To buyers of poncy motors maybe... (S211 and S212 excepted of course)

Joking aside, your cars sell because they're realistically priced and well-worded, the background landscape makes you look like a car dealer though, I've noticed that with your adverts. This is a pet hate of most buyers; car dealers masquerading as private sellers...

 

[oscarisapc]

Correct. Thanks.

 

[Will]

I tend to take pictures of the car in an open, neutral location - with good lighting and where you can photograph all angles of the car easily.

At least a clear, straight pic of front and rear end, both sides square on, boot/load compartment and under the bonnet - as well as the interior, de-cluttered of course

Clear and precise detail, without waffle and easy to find contact details.

It's all you need

 

[oscarisapc]

I got out of phase with my responses. The "correct" comment relates to the person who put in the link correctly. The fuel consumption shows 38.5 mpg over the last 29000 miles - according to the trip computer and the Tax is 137.50 for six months.

 

[gIzzE]

To buyers of poncy motors maybe... (S211 and S212 excepted of course)

Haha, maybe.

Joking aside, your cars sell because they're realistically priced and well-worded, the background landscape makes you look like a car dealer though, I've noticed that with your adverts. This is a pet hate of most buyers; car dealers masquerading as private sellers...

That can backfire too, with the X1 I could have sold it 10 times over until the buyer realised I was not a dealer and couldn't set up finance for them.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

That can backfire too, with the X1 I could have sold it 10 times over until the buyer realised I was not a dealer and couldn't set up finance for them.

Not like you to miss a trick, you'd have more than likely got a referral fee if you'd have passed them onto a finance provider.

 

[wemorgan]

If a car has a FSH then I like to see listed out all those service dates/mileages. Too many times have I read of FSH but been disappointed when reading the actual service book.

Good luck with the sale.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Have you considered advertising it on AutoTrader? Probably get more hits than EBay.
I think the site has default figures for performance and economy.
Also take a look through some of the ads for the same car and copy any of the sellers write ups that sound appealing and tweek them to your own taste.
Personally as has already been stated, I would leave out any reference to boy racers. Serious buyers with see from the performance details exactly what the car is capable of, without giving them undue concern about whether it may have been raced on occassion.

As a newbie to Mercedes and a C270 CDI saloon owner of only 5 months I can say with all honesty that I would have been interested myself if yours had been up for sale at the time. That said, I unfortunately had a part ex to trade in, so was limited to trade sellers.

Good luck with the sale

 

[Hi-Ho Silver]

Auto Trader brought me more potential buyers than Pistonheads. Same pics, description etc. If you factor in the costs for advertising, you'll get your price and you'll get what you're asking. Be prepared to meet lots of haggling and walking away as that's de rigeur for such things.

I was advised by my local MB dealership to find the 'poncy' local stately home they use to use as a background for selling their used cars, on the same websites I used.

If you are able to wait for the right buyer, one will find you. Don't feel pressured to sell to whoever comes along, because there are plenty of tire-kicking, test pilots out there who will take you and your car for a spin and then use the words "unfortunately in todays second hand/ used car market..... current economic crisis...." etc etc. It's codswallop! You're selling a car. If they don't want it for the price you're offering it, politely decline their offer and bid them good luck in finding another.

 

[sinewave]

The MOT is due up in Jan also.

I've always sold cars with a 12 month ticket, Peeps like that shyte!

It's only £35 for a new ticket, so get one done and amend the Ad.

Lose Fleabay and get it on Autotrader!

I'd never buy a Motor of Fleabay!

 

[Crespo]

First of all remove your add from Ebay because it is full of chancers and idiots and stick it on autotrader.
If the car is advertised fairly expect to see it gone within a week.

I have sold 4 cars within days on autotrader and had nothing but ridiculous offers and time wasters on eBay.

Looking at your car and description you should have little problem finding a buyer but ebay really is not your market place..

Sent from my GT-I9100 using MBClub UK

 

[martyz]

I'm looking for an E class estate at the moment. Probably a 320cdi.

I'm finding it hard work picking out the right spec (that I want) and looking at prices!!!

Surprised a "trader" wouldn't offer you the going rate! I do think it is worth hanging on as eventually that right person will come along.

Just as a matter of interest - as I'm in the market for an estate car - what sort of fuel consumption (realistically) do you get and what is the annual road tax on this car?

Two potential buyers here,fire those pm's off,might be as simple as that.

 

[EdmundIJones]

Two things that occur to me:
1. The price is right, put it up at £6150 as everyone knows they will offer or do a deal around £6000 as that's what this price is enticing, we all know it - everyone wants a deal as it makes them feel better about their purchase. If I see a car for £5999, I think I'll buy it for £5500 and so on.

2. The pictures I feel need to be somewhere better, a good quality photo is key as that's the first thing people see and as the old saying goes, "a picture tells a 1000 words". First impressions count. It's like selling a house, getting people in to see it is the hardest bit.

Also, rather controversially, people who complain about the hard economic times shouldn't be buying a Mercedes, they are not cheap to run, they are not cheap to buy and they are not cheap to maintain - everyone knows this, it's always been the way so don't get pressured into a sale. People who are serious, do their homework, know how much they should be paying and hence, are the people you are targeting.

 

[gIzzE]

One thing with pricing it at £6150 is you will miss out all those buyers who set their search to £6000 max, and if someone has a £5k budget they may put £6000 max in the search in case there is a car at £5450 or something that they may be able to haggle on.

If someone sees yours at £5990 they may get in touch, and that is half the battle.
Once they get in touch they may find some more if it is as perfect as you describe.

Be honest with yourself, if you are prepared to take £5500 for it, advertise it at £5500 and get it sold.
Explain to the buyer that it is described perfectly and you are not taking offers.
I have done this a few times and it works well, if priced right.



Also, have you got both an email address and a mobile tel number in your advert?

Many buyers like to make contact through a text or an email, they simply don't have the time or be bothered to call and listen to the 30 mins of sales babble, so will leave your car till last.

Every car I have sold has always been through someone emailing me first, in fact many of them the first time we have actually spoken is when arranging collection or meeting to see the car.

If an advert says emails or texts will be ignored I write that car off completely.

 

[John]

I'd never buy a motor from eBay either. Sure, others would but each to their own.

AT is still defacto for selling cars, despite the fact they cannot be in the slightest bit rsed to stamp out deliberately mis-priced adverts.

I sold my previous Saab, but only once it went on AT. I'd tried PH, Gumtree and a Saab forum as well as a few other places and got a couple of bites from the forum, but jack all else.

the other ran a full Star diagnosis on it (he found no faults) and then offered max £5250, saying that there were many cars just like mine being sold for far less

Ah that old chestnut. It was worth a punt as you might have agreed but as you rightly advised him - he's welcome to leave immediately and buy one of those instead, looking at it from your point of view.

 

[gIzzE]

To be fair though, I went to see a car locally the other night and it was nice.

51 plate S203 estate with 120k miles on it, in fair condition, drove will with good history.
He was asking £3000 for it.
It needed a service in 1000 miles, and had a 'light scratch', his words. It was light but ran over the rear passenger door, front door and slightly onto the wing, but I would have wanted to sort it and it would have cost me £300.

I mentioned that I was going to look at another one the next day that was 10k miles less, just had a £600 service with new tyres all round and he was asking a firm £2250.

I offered him £2500 as it would have saved me having to travel 2 hours to see this other one.
He basically told me to buy the other one, as he had someone else coming in a couple of days to look at his.

I got a call 3 days later offering his for £2500.
I explained that I had already gone and bought the other one.
"Oh" was the reply "I thought you were just saying that to get me to lower my price."

So sometimes they are genuine and making what they consider a very fair offer.

 

[NISFAN]

Nice enough ad....great pictures and not a trace of the word 'MINT' 10/10

I agree on using Autotrader....somehow I expect an ebay car to be a cut n' shut, don't know why, just do.

Regarding taking pictures in front of castles and exotic locations.....my take on this......if I see those types of pics in a for sale ad, I tend to think they were taken when the owner was still enthusiastic about the car, possibly taken some years ago, so not reflecting the car in it's current state. Sitting on the driveway/street in various practical poses (as you have shown) tells me these are specific 'sales' pics taken recently.

I would take an underbonnet pic, and a pic of all the documentation spare keys etc is often useful, shows the car has been cared for.

 

[jam38]

I just sold my car on eBay and to be honest with you, you do get a load of people taking the biscuit. The key thing is to be patient and wait. If you can put up with all the clowns then eBay is good. I paid £15.49 for my advert and the thing to remember is honesty! Describing a car mint, when it clearly is not just pees me off, so I won't do that to anyone. The second person that came to see my car bought it. Also, keep an eye on the people watching the advert and also the times it has been viewed. This will tell you how well you have priced the car. In the end my car had 1,153 views and 72 people watching it. I also kept my advert on until the gentleman came with cash to buy. Don't accept an offer until the deal is done otherwise you will have to readvertise and claim fees back etc. Above all good luck!

My old advert: 1994 Mercedes 320 CE Cabriolet (would consider part ex) | eBay

I have bought many cars on eBay and I would look there first purely because when someone does not describe their car well they have lost a potential buyer. Whereas when the advert is clear and honest you can guess the condition would be good/bad. Oh and check their feedback.

 

[ringway]

1994 Mercedes 320 CE Cabriolet (would consider part ex) | eBay[/URL]

I have bought many cars on eBay and I would look there first purely because when someone does not describe their car well they have lost a potential buyer. Whereas when the advert is clear and honest you can guess the condition would be good/bad. Oh and check their feedback.

I agree.

I sold my Sprinter on eBay and had 65 watchers and quite a few offers. It put me in a strong position because I knew that a lot of people were interested and the bidding had become frenzied.

I actually ended the sale early for two reasons.

1: The van was listed as PLUS VAT and I didn't think some of the interested parties would realise that they would end up paying too much for a 10.5 year old van.

2: The van was tiptronic (semi-automatic) and an old guy on crutches begged me to sell it to him so he could carry on driving and keep his painting and decorating going.
After travelling in excess of 100 miles to view the van, he hobbled up my driveway and was pleased to to let him have the van at a cheaper price than the current high bidder. What else could I do? I hope it is giving him the good service I had from it.

For the record, I had the Sprinter for 7.5 years (okay, I added rear seats and a decent hi-fi) and in that time it depreciated by only £10,000.