Lesson26SellingaCarOnlineWhenyoudecidetosellyourcar,therearethreetraditionalwaysofsellingit;eitherprivatelytoanotherdriver,toadealerinsaleorpart-exchange,orthroughanauction.Privatesellinginvolvesadvertisingthesaleofthecaryourself;thisisusuallycarriedoutthroughnewspaperlistings,magazinelistings,orthroughanadvertinthewindowofthecar.Oneofthefastestgrowingwaysofadvertisingacaristhroughonlinecarlistings.Thesearesimilarto(andsometimesrunby)thelistingsincarmagazinessuchasAutoTraderandExchangeandMart.Thisarticlewilllookatthebenefitsandcostsofadvertisingyourcaronline.HowOnlineListingsWorkOnlinelistingsarestoredinadatabasewithineachsite,andaredisplayedaccordingtothecriteriathepotentialbuyersets.Theycansearchbymake,model,ageofcar,features,andmoredependingontheindividualsite,althoughthemostcommonwayforcarstobelistedisbymodel(e.g.:FordFiesta).Details.Themostimportantpartofanycaradvertisthedetailsofthecaritself.Theseareusuallywritteninthesameshortenedstyleasclassifiedcaradverts.Forexample:2002FordFiesta1.4ZETEC5DRNEWSHAPE,1owner,14,000miles,air-conditioning,powerassistedsteering,electricwindows,centrallocking,alloys,silver?599(NameofCity)Tel:01234456789Thesedetailsarecrucial,asanydecisionstolookfurtheratthecarwillbemadeusingthisdata.Photos.Alongwiththedetailsofthecar,manyonlineadvertsincludeoneormorepicturesofthecar(orasimilarspec/colour).Thisallowsthepersonsearchingforacartoseewhatitlookslike,aswellasmaybeallowingabrieflookattheconditionofthecar.Somesitesallowmorethanonephototobedisplayed,attractingmoreattentiontothecarthananytextadvert(howeverwellwritten).Contact.Eachonlineadverthasonitthecontactdetailsofthesellerordealer.Thisallowsthemtobecontactedinordertoactuallymakethesale!Sometimesthecontactdetailsarejustanemail,althoughmostlyaphonenumberisgiven,andoccasionallyanaddress.BenefitsofSellingaCarOnlineLargenumberofviewers.Thekeybenefitofadvertisingyourcaronlineisthatyoucanexposetheoffertoalargenumberofpeopleacrossthewholeofthecountry.Theaccessibilityoftheinternetmeansthatalthoughyoumaybetheoppositesideofthecountrytoyourbuyer,theycanstillviewyourcaranddecideifitisworththetravelingneededtobuyit.Withanonlineadvertyouarenotrestrictedtolocalareasasyouwouldbewithmagazinesand(particularly)newspapers.Cheaperthanprintedlistings.Anadvertwithanonlinecarlistingsiteischeaperthananequivalentprintedlistinginamagazineornewspaper.Theoverheadcostsofawebsitelistareconsiderablylowerthanthoseofaprintedlist,meaningthatlower(andoccasionallyfree)pricesarecommon.Searching.Searchingforaparticularcarismucheasieronline.Whereasacarlistingsmagazinemayhavetocreatepagesdedicatedtocertainsizesofcar,prices,orparticularmakes;anonlinelistcanbeorganizedandcategorizedaccordingtomanydifferentareas.Someonesearchingforyourcaronlinecansimplyenterthemake,model,andapproximateageorpriceofthecar,andbegivenaspecificallyrelevantlistinstantly.However,someonesearchingforyourtypeofcarinamagazineornewspapermaystruggletofinditquickly,astheymayhavetoflickthroughpagesforhoursfindingtherightcarinapileofotherirrelevantcars.Thepicturesinsomemagazinesmakeitabiteasier,buttheyarestillnowherenearasquickandeffectiveasanonlinesearch.Detailsandphotos.Anonlineadvertmeansthatyouaremuchlessconstrainedforspacethanwithnewspapersormagazinesforwhichspaceisanexpensivepremium.Manyprintedlistingswillchargeyoubytheword,whereasthisalmostneverthecasewithonlineadverts.Althoughtherewillberestrictionsonthenumberofwordsyoucanuse,andonthesizeofanyphoto(s),onlinelistingsarestillmuchmoreopenwiththeamountofspaceyoucanusethanprintedlistings.Thismeansthatonlineadvertscanincludemoreofthedetailsaboutthecaranditsspecifications,makingitmoreattractivetothosethatviewtheadvert.DisadvantagesofSellingaCarOnlineThemaindisadvantageofonlineadvertsisthatyoucanreceivelotsofrepliesfrompeoplewhoaretoofarawaytorealisticallywanttobuythecar.Astheinternetisaccessiblebypeopleacrossthewholecountry,youmayfindthatyoureceivemore,butnotnecessarilyrelevantcallsfromthosewhoareinterestedbutnotreallyinterestedintravelingtoviewandbuyit.Thismeanssometimetherecouldbelostansweringcallsthatarenotgoingtoleadtothecarbeingsold.Therearesolutionstohelpthishowever.Mostonlinelistingsitesrequireapostcodetocarryoutasearch.Thismeansthatcarscanbelistedaccordingtohowfarawaytheyarefromthepersonlookingtobuy,helpingensurethattheydonotcallpeoplewhosecarstheyarenotrealis