Anything wrong with this ad?

colincork

I've had this ad up for nearly 3 weeks and I've got very very little interest

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3869390

Started looking for €2300 (very optimistic)
Dropped it to €1900 and just dropped to €1550 now
Is this still too much?

Are the Pictures not good enough or do people just not want alfas?

Kenny Logins

Photos aren't great TBH, and it's a high mileage Alfa, which is never going to be easy to sell.

Tallon

First picture, there is someone in it, and it looks like they're working on the car. Also, you cannot see all the car. Why not take it with the car actually entirely in the shot?

Second picture, same again, hoover beside it, and some other stuff. and the paper on the reg?

Third is fine, although a bit small

Fourth... Well, your dash is filthy, and scratched

You have writen on the ad

Bodywork isn't great few scratches and dents just needs a bit of TLC

It has very high milage

Spend a bit more time on the photos, and the description

Pictures of the engine help too

Maybe take some photos of the 'scratches and dents' as people will always assume the worst, and they could be just minor

colincork

Tallon wrote: »

First picture, there is someone in it, and it looks like they're working on the car. Also, you cannot see all the car. Why not take it with the car actually entirely in the shot?

Second picture, same again, hoover beside it, and some other stuff. and the paper on the reg?

Third is fine, although a bit small

Fourth... Well, your dash is filthy, and scratched

You have writen on the ad

Bodywork isn't great few scratches and dents just needs a bit of TLC

It has very high milage

Spend a bit more time on the photos, and the description

Pictures of the engine help too

Maybe take some photos of the 'scratches and dents' as people will always assume the worst, and they could be just minor

Cheers for the advice might get some more photos up alright but the reg is actually blocked out so no one steals the plate number and racks up some fines.

What price would people realistically pay for this?

Tallon

colincork wrote: »

Cheers for the advice might get some more photos up alright but the reg is actually blocked out so no one steals the plate number and racks up some fines.

What price would people realistically pay for this?

I can go to tesco and get 10 Alfa plates.. I wouldn't worry about it

.... Youll struggle to get a grand with that mileage and the mention of the bodywork not being great encourages people to keep looking for another.
... And what are all seals and gaskets? Smells of spoof to me.

Zubeneschamali

I wouldn't say PRICE DROP since it suggests NO ONE WANTS. I wouldn't say "Bodywork isn't great" either, that's just ordinary wear and tear on a 10 year old car. Price and Looking For should be the same. Better photos please.

Tallon

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I wouldn't say PRICE DROP since it suggests NO ONE WANTS. I wouldn't say "Bodywork isn't great" either, that's just ordinary wear and tear on a 10 year old car. Price and Looking For should be the same. Better photos please.

Not mentioning bodywork issues would be worse. If I got to the car and it was scratched to bits and damaged, I would be turning straight around

bazz26

Tallon wrote: »

I can go to tesco and get 10 Alfa plates.. I wouldn't worry about it

Yes but that involves some effort whereas surffing the web requires very little, why make it easy for them? If someone want to run a check on the car then the OP can give them the reg over the phone if asked.

Tallon

bazz26 wrote: »

Yes but that involves some effort whereas surffing the web requires very little, why make it easy for them? If someone want to run a check on the car then the OP can give them the reg over the phone if asked.

It's already easy for them!

He's trying to sell a car here. Blanking the reg in Paint or Photoshop would be a better option, not hanging a dirty old piece of paper off the back of the car.

The chap has provided his name, his Mobile number, where he lives, a photo of himself (or a family member friend)

Heck, if you want to go down that road, sure I can tell you what model phone he has, what PC and operating system he has, what network his phone is on, what renovations he's currently doing to his house at the moment, when he graduated from school... but yeah, putting his reg plate online might cause him trouble...

colincork

Tallon wrote: »

bazz26 wrote: »

Yes but that involves some effort whereas surffing the web requires very little, why make it easy for them? If someone want to run a check on the car then the OP can give them the reg over the phone if asked.

It's already easy for them!

He's trying to sell a car here. Blanking the reg in Paint or Photoshop would be a better option, not hanging a dirty old piece of paper off the back of the car.

The chap has provided his name, his Mobile number, where he lives, a photo of himself (or a family member friend)

Heck, if you want to go down that road, sure I can tell you what model phone he has, what PC and operating system he has, what network his phone is on, what renovations he's currently doing to his house at the moment, when he graduated from school... but yeah, putting his reg plate online might cause him trouble...

Off topic But what can you really do if you knew my OS and phone network?!

Tallon

colincork wrote: »

Off topic But what can you really do if you knew my OS and phone network?!

dgt

Someone has put a lump of cardboard infront of the number plate. Now, I don't know about most people but I seriously hate that crap. If one is that concerned about their number plates being seen, why are they displaying it while driving? What are they hiding? I'd rather buy a car with no pictures in the ad than with a set of blanked plates

Also, there are people in the ad. No frontal picture. No picture of the engine. No picture of the other side of the engine. Car parked on a slope.

Get it to level ground and start over. Front snap, rear snap, 2x side snaps, interior front snap, interior rear snap, engine bay and either a shot of the discs or receipts (that ones debatable)

And DON'T BLANK THE PLATES

coylemj

dgt wrote: »

Get it to level ground and start over. Front snap, rear snap, 2x side snaps, interior front snap, interior rear snap, engine bay and either a shot of the discs or receipts (that ones debatable)

+1

The photos are a complete disaster and quality isn't great either. Get a decent camera, bring the car to a church car park or somewhere where there are no nearby cars, avoid direct sunlight and take the shots mentioned above. And no people in the shots! If necessary, turn the car around if you need to avoid distractions like signage (pubs and the like) in the background for some of the shots.

mgbgt1978

Have a quick look at some photos of the same model on Autotrader, this will give you an idea of what angles work best.
Lose the Reg cover, car cloning is not a huge problem in this country, and anyway you are selling the car so it shouldn't worry you.
Something along the lines of "typical wear and tear for a car of this age" rather than mention of dents etc.
Make a bigger deal of the positives.....Nct & Tax until next year, recent Timing belt change, new wishbones etc.
Price it in line with others of the same year (and condition), if you don't get calls then 156's simply aren't selling well at the moment.

-Corkie-

I think the OP deserves a prize for having a Alfa as there daily driver with that mileage..

Well done dude...:D

johndaman66

Tallon wrote: »

Maybe take some photos of the 'scratches and dents' as people will always assume the worst, and they could be just minor

Very much agree with this. If photos are taken of the more serious dents or scratches/ rips on the upholstery etc. it gives me the impression of an honest seller and that broadly speaking I know what I can expect when I go to view the car. I have seen too many cars described as "mint" or "spotless" only to find they are in reality anything but.

Also, and like a few others have mentioned I see absolutely no legitimate reason for hiding the number plate of the car. The world and his wife can see your registration when your car is parked in the Dunnes car park

shawnee

If you really want to sell the car. I suggest you improve on the photos, show interior and even the engine. The add would need to be boosted up to a new ad as many don't view ads over a week old. With the mileage etc and the present sale for cars I would suggest a price of 950 max if you really want to sell it.;)

the_syco

colincork wrote: »

the reg is actually blocked out so no one steals the plate number and racks up some fines.

As mentioned, goto your local Tescos for this. As for hiding the reg plate, when I was looking for a car, I wouldn't bother with any car that has it's reg hidden; if it's hidden, it's most likely hidden for a reason, be it stolen, finance owed, or some other crap that I couldn't be bothered with.

You mention the dents and scratches, but have the front of the car in shade. Hiding the dents?

Conmaicne Mara

First impressions...

Really bad photos. Main photo looks like the car is being stolen. Whatever you have covering the reg, get rid of it, it looks dirty and generally just bad.

If you want to hide the reg, put the pic into something like Paint and colour it out or pixellate it.

Take more photos from different angles on a bright day, maybe the camera is the problem. A different more open less cluttered location might help too.

Front and back of car are cut out of main photo. Roof is cut off another photo. Speedo photo is dark & grubby.

H3llR4iser

You had some very sound advice this far.

Summing it up, what I'd do:

1. Take better pics, if you know an amateur photographer enlist his/her help - this is the kind of pictures you want: http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/3589256. Also, pictures of the "scratches and dents" are appreciated, people always assume half of the car's bodywork to be missing when a seller says "scratches and dents";

2. Price it to the market; An old petrol Alfa is a complex thing to sell - you either need to find an enthusiast who knows the TS engines can go 300k km without flinching, or somebody that wants a zippy car at a bargain. They're not considered a "status car" like, say, a BMW and the average Joe won't pay 1500€ for a 10 years old one. The 166 of the ad I linked above hasn't sold either, its price is way overboard.
Also, regardless of what the aforementioned average Joe says, Alfa Romeo is a premium brand and repairs don't come cheap - if the car has scratches and dents, it has to be reflected on the price. Hence, I'd recommend 900-1000€ max;

3. Mention the new parts but don't overdo it - again, you're dealing with a car wich as a somewhat undeserved reputation of bein unreliable; saying that you had to replace half of its components won't help. Of course, if we're talking about good new tires or a full tank of petrol, it NEEDS to be mentioned

4. DO NOT BLOCK THE LICENSE PLATES. It's a huge NO-NO. Cloning a license plate is as easy as looking out of the window; It's something that is on public display all of the time. Blocking the plates on an ad makes people think there must be something wrong with the car and prevents them from doing checks on cartell or similar; They might also want to run the plate into an insurance quotation website. I would NEVER even go to see a car whose plates are blocked in the ad.

Thant's about it...in any case, you're selling a 1.6 liters petrol Alfa at a time and place where everybody wants a diesel Volkswagen or Toyota, so it will take time and you'd probably need to find the enthusiast. Honestly I'd consider it if I didn't have the "first time insurance" issue

advertsfox

1 - Why cover your registration plate? Then it looks light you have something to hide and a lot of people won't even touch a car without using CarTell / Motorcheck.

2 - More pictures! You can put 10 on DoneDeal, here's my car I put up last weekend and within an hour of adding it, I got 6 calls (sold the next day). First impressions are huge.

3 - Clean the car! Why would anyone buy a dirty car? It shows that you don't really care of have interest in it, bit of polish and shine goes a long way.

4 - Pictures of receipts - I find this to be a huge seller, take a group pic of the keys, NCT, service history and manuals.

PS: With it being an Alfa with high mileage, your going to have issues but it is taxed and NCT so emphasize on that.

The issue is the price, the asking price is deleriously high.

Tallon

RoverJames wrote: »

The issue is the price, the asking price is deleriously high.

And all the other things mentioned.. but yes, the price is crazy

Conmaicne Mara

advertsfox wrote: »

2 - More pictures! You can put 10 on DoneDeal so do so, I put up last weekend with new pics and within an hour of adding it, I got 6 calls. First impressions are huge.

Parked outside of a chocolate shop, I see what you did there

advertsfox

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Parked outside of a chocolate shop, I see what you did there

Willy Wonky rules of motoring :cool:

Shame it's really a hairdressers :P

Conmaicne Mara

Lol, I just read the Chocolate bit of the sign.

dudara

H3llR4iser wrote: »

1. Take better pics, if you know an amateur photographer enlist his/her help - this is the kind of pictures you want: http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/3589256.

Wow - they are insane pictures. They're probably nearly as good as the official PR photos when the car first came out.

Bigus

dudara wrote: »

Wow - they are insane pictures. They're probably nearly as good as the official PR photos when the car first came out.

Yeah but it's like a good lookin bird you'd be afraid of it , pictures way too arty hence up for sale for 43 days.

Plus some would say the cars being abused in the photos .

These are seriously overdone but there is a happy medium.

Tallon

Bigus wrote: »

Yeah but it's like a good lookin bird you'd be afraid of it , pictures way too arty hence up for sale for 43 days.

Plus some would say the cars being abused in the photos .

These are seriously overdone but there is a happy medium.


http://photos2.donedeal.ie/Full-12754724.jpeg

Do you know how that photo was taken?

You have to go as slow as possible to get that photo :rolleyes:

How is it 'being abused'?

Yamanoto

H3llR4iser wrote: »

1. Take better pics, if you know an amateur photographer enlist his/her help - this is the kind of pictures you want: http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/3589256.

Going for something original in your composition is no harm but these are a OTT imo. I want to see the car, not a brochure which has been shot with various lenses / filters, then photoshopped within an inch of its life.

Pa Dee

colincork wrote: »

I've had this ad up for nearly 3 weeks and I've got very very little interest

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3869390

Started looking for €2300 (very optimistic)
Dropped it to €1900 and just dropped to €1550 now
Is this still too much?

Are the Pictures not good enough or do people just not want alfas?

Drop to under 1k. €850 and it may shift

dgt

OP heres a link to pics of a car I sold. Needless to say, it sold within 2 hours of the ad being put up

Linky

Take note

Bohrio

I dont know... 169 K miles thats 279000 km... That's a lot...

challengemaster

Bigus wrote: »

Plus some would say the cars being abused in the photos .

More than likely it was being pushed for that pic.... if anything that's just treating an alfa normally :pac:

dgt

dgt wrote: »

........

Take note

Were you asking almost double what the car was worth, that's the OPs problem

sleepyholland

These kind of photos might help.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3642775

166man

Poor quality pictures, 170K miles and asking €1500 is never going to sell regardless of how much work it's had. I might be an Alfa fan but you got to be realistic. I'm not saying it isn't a good car, but in the eyes of the average Irish consumer they won't touch it.

Why pay €1500 when you can get one with half the mileage for €1k.