Classified Ads for a Used Car

Using classified and online ads to sell your car

Reserve a budget of $75 -$100 to sell your car. Don't do just the usual one week $35 newspaper ad to sell it. Very few frustrated people sell their car using a one week newspaper ad.

Advertise your car

Now that your car is looking great and running well, it's time to advertise it for sale. Traditionally, people advertise in newspaper classified ads. These ads can be expensive.. However, online ads are becoming more of an option, particularly with hard-to-find or collector cars.

Here are the main markets for advertising used cars:

• Online classified ads
• Daily newspaper classified ads
• Weekly shoppers and giveaway papers
• Business bulletin boards at your job, a local supermarket or college
• Word of mouth -- tell your friends and family you have a car for sale
• Put a "For Sale" sign in the car window
  

Advertising Budget

A good budget will get you into 3 different classified ad venues like a newspaper for about $35 for a 1-2 week run, and at least 2 popular internet classified ad web sites, usually $20 for a 30 day run. In newspapers, $35 ad fees are a farce, as they are stingy on the word count. To give any useable info in your newspaper ad, you'll pay $40-$50. One person got poor newspaper response on his Corvette ad, yet he got 2 calls from his web ad the first day. He sold the car 2 weeks later to a LOCAL buyer who saw his ad on the web, not the newspaper! He still got emails even after he sold the car.

Online Advertising

Auto classifieds on the web are much more cost effective than newspapers as they are cheaper, and run 4 times as long. Why limit your ad to 5 local people who might want your car, when you can put it on the web where there are millions of people doing searches. For half the price you get 1000 times the exposure. Another person sold his Jaguar on a web based ad to the first person that emailed him. Web based classified ads have the advantage of your car appearing in a buyer's search of cars within hundreds of miles of their house. But by contrast, newspapers cover a small metropolitan area. Use online classified sites where your ad stays until the car sells. Don't park your car on a road to sell it, it can get vandalized, ticketed, towed.

Many sellers have success listing their car online, as millions of people see the ad. Out of state people move to your city, or travel from out of town looking for a car. At online used auto classifieds sites, type in a car to search for and they list all models fitting your criteria. Forget newspapers, their localized coverage is just too limited. List your car on the web so the whole world sees it. Use a site with a money back guarantee in case your car does not sell in a certain time period. Some sites run the ad for one low price until the car sells, a benefit newspapers don't offer. I've gotten many emails from out of state people for my car. I know several people who have gotten great results by posting it online. Buyers might be in town for a weekend to visit someone, buy your car, and drive it back home.

We can help you build a winning classified ad
and show you the best places to advertise online.