Best Car Advertising Option?

What is the best car advertising option?

  • Autotrader

    Votes: 63 53.4%
  • EBAY

    Votes: 50 42.4%
  • Pistonheads

    Votes: 23 19.5%
  • Owners Club

    Votes: 12 10.2%
  • On the road with an advert in the window

    Votes: 3 2.5%
  • Other

    Votes: 9 7.6%

  • Total voters
    118
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Thanks for the vote of confidence!!

See, told you that you were asking a fair price. Hope the sale goes smoothly...:thumb:
 
I'm going to advertise my C220 CDi in Pistonheads, Autotrader and eBay just to be sure I have a good chance of attracting potential buyers.

What I need help and advice with is what the car is really worth. I could hazard a guess but I need to sell it and I don't want to lose any chance of doing so by inadvertently over pricing it. Any offers of help and advice would be much appreciated.
 
The thing I found as a buyer is that many sellers on autotrader and pistonheads overvalued their cars. Obviously people selling privately are trying to get a better price then part ex, or straight selling to the trade, but sailing too close to dealer prices to make buying from them with no comebacks a reasonable proposition. In fact I paid less for my C63 from a Mercedes dealer then lots of private sellers were asking! It's really about splitting that margin, not trying to match it!
 
I've always used autotrader and sold everything. I am guilty of pricing too high to start with though. I've always realised a figure about halfway between trade in and retail price as said above.
 
I like Ebay, it gives you plenty of space to write a good ad, and there are several options as to how to market, auction, classified with offer, classified etc. Which one you chose depends on the rarity and quality of the car, and also how precisely it can be valued.

I don't use Autotrader anymore, but in my youth remember making sure I had the magazine by Friday lunchtime to take advantage of any bargains.
 
eBay absolutely dwarfs Auto Trader, IME.

If you are buying a £10k motor, wouldn't you like to see the previous transactions of that seller? Just to give a bit of piece of mind?

+2

Have sold some 6 cars or so now on eBay - all bar one has been sold on a NO RESERVE basis with just a 99p start. Always gets potential buyers juices flowing as the majority feel they are onto a possible bargain. Only one sale have I been a little disappointed with.

Don't make the mistake that many seem to make - crap advert / crap pictures and starting price of 3k for a car that is worth no more than, at best, 3.5k.

On average, a decent advert should take some 3 or 4 hours to put together.

I have tried Piston Heads / auto trader in the past but IMHO this form of advertising does seem to generate an awful lot of tyre kickers / time wasters :wallbash:

However, I personally would never buy a car without going to look first - good opportunity to check out both car & seller. Also feel eBay isn't perhaps the way forward for cars upwards of 10k, especially on auction style basis.
 
I like to use eBay for selling and Autotrader for buying.
Very cheap motors seem to shift very quickly on gumtree.
Have never had any luck with pistonheads, but I believe the traders shift cars well through there and the one off custom billion horsepower cars seem to sell on there.
 
It's all a matter of horses for courses. Depends on the car and its price. Specialist cars are best advertised on specialist sites/mags. Other than that, getting it onto as many places as possible is best.

I used to rely completely on Autotrader but I've gone right off them now. Earlier this year I advertised my CLK and my Porsche 944 Cabriolet on Autotrader and received a number of offers to ship them abroad for lots more than my asking prices, plus one person asking masses of questions about the Porsche in loads of emails. The CLK I sold with a free ad on this site (thanks MBClub) and the Porsche went to a guy who spotted it on the free PistonHeads ad. So the free ads even worked better!!!

Someone else's advice about putting effort into the ad is something I totally endorse.
 
market share says it all, auto trader wins everytime...

Whilst ebay is catching up, its still much more difficult to search compared to auto trader, auto trader is just simple to use and has the most cars to choose from..
 
EBay has done the last few for me. the problem I have with Autotrader is that above a grand, it is extortionate to advertise with them.

eBay £15 all in as a classified ad has been good for me. Plus, I like to see if the seller is a part time dealer or not by looking at previous sales. Tend to avoid those (can't trust them if they aren't honest). Plus not had any scammers through it.

Pistonheads was good when it was free but since they started charging eBay is a better return on the cash.

Gumtree can work but ads are pushed down fast and you get a certain quality of buyer I feel. That said, I bought my Merc from Gumtree and the ad was rubbish!
 
I have advertised my CLK on ebay/Pistonheads/motors/Gumtree and it has only generated two dreamer phone calls. I can't believe how little interest I have had on it. It is a great car that I love, great condition, manual, diesel, AMG wheels etc. etc. So I can only blame the snow for the lack of interest!
 
I will advertise it on here but I need to get my post count up first!
 
eBay wins all the way with me although I have bought through autotrader . With eBay if the seller has a feedback history it gives an insight into his honesty with previous sales and also let's you spot an obvious back lane trader due to the quantity of car sales and spare part purchases
 
After doing the same a year ago, I had to conclude that I was asking too much (£5995) and had no enquiries at all, was offered £4800 through an MB main dealer and realised that was pretty much what it was worth, so accepted ( a reality check). The benefits to me was that the car had gone, no need to re-tax it just to use and sell, no need to deal with tyre-kickers. I later learned from the new buyer that he bought it at auction for £4700, so MB lost money and he bought a bargain. I was then in the replacement car, the old one forgotten about.
So take it to a few dealers and get some offers, no need to discuss what you might buy from them, and perhaps adjust your price. In the end I got the Glasses Guide price and saved myself a lot of hassle for what might have been £3/400.
As already mentioned the Ad itself maybe could be improved. Good luck.
 
Whilst I prefer EBay for it's wider reach (and easier searching options) I would never use the auction or 'buy it now' options .

They seem to be a conduit for time wasters, tyre-kickers-doing-you-a-favourers, chancers and other various low lifes.

The classified as is the one to go for everytime.
 
Depends on price, couple of grand, E Bay, any more Autotrader
 
I tend to put everything on gumtree and eBay... so far (touch wood) haven't had a single problem with a buyer. I did have someone ask me to drive a car several hundred miles (before they bid) - but it was a question from a potential bidder so was all within the boundaries of sanity.

In one case, I had a chap come see the car an hour before the auction ended, then stayed around and bid on his tablet. He won, payed cash and took the car away, all very smooth.

Currently have one car on eBay, with a bid... fingers crossed!
M.
 

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