Help with selling a car

I've had my Focus ST advertised now for a few days, and only had 1 e-mail so far, so measly of an offer it almost didn't warrant a reply.

I was thinking I would be inundated with e-mails.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252280748475?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Scrutiny of the advert, what have I missed, photos etc. would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Price? Overlooking the lol price pre facelift cars on autotrader, there are quite a few facelift St2/st3s for less than the price you are advertising at and they are from traders/dealers. I would expect to pay less privately.

Your location perhaps?

Assuming the price is okay.

Having a further look on autotrader, I would be putting it on for nearer 7.5k if you want a quick sale.

Jono8 said:

Having a further look on autotrader, I would be putting it on for nearer 7.5k if you want a quick sale.

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Even then the majority on AT are from dealers as well.

Could also try Pistonheads for 11.99 or whatever it is. I won't critique the ad as I get moaned at on here for being way too detailed but moneywise it is OK I feel.

I sold my 56 plate ST same milage etc few more mods for 6700 start of the year. I had it up for £6950 if it helps at all to gauge your price. Took about 2 weeks to sell and I had it listed over Xmas so not the best time to be fair

A lot of the issues with cars at that kind of money is the people who want them want finance from a garage.

I would speak to Mark @ Rev It Up UK if it's really tidy car, he offered me £6250 which aint bad from a trader but I am too tight. As said 7500 that'd likely get more interest but I fully understand it isn't pleasant chucking loads of money away but such is life with cars.

Personally I'd ditch words like "beloved" and "she" - it's a car, not a ship nor woman!
Also, why not describe the wheels as unmarked rather than point out they've already been refurbished?

As others have said, it's priced quite high compared to others from dealers (where the buyer has more comeback in the event of problems) on the plus side, the photos look good.

Simplify the advert wording , bullet points are all you need rather than the waffle in the current ad imo.

Stormster said:

I sold my 56 plate ST same milage etc few more mods for 6700 start of the year. I had it up for £6950 if it helps at all to gauge your price. Took about 2 weeks to sell and I had it listed over Xmas so not the best time to be fair

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In fairness, that was an absurd price though. OP probably won't get so lucky. I literally have no idea how you got anyone to pay that much when there are loads of 2006 St's with that sort of mileage on autotrader advertised for under £6k!

Pure luck to a degree but I'd have kept it before I gave it away.

I wonder if he's washed it in sunlight yet and tried to polish the swirls out which are under the lacquer haha, it's the only reason I sold it as I became so anal about chasing perfection with that paint after all the hassle it just drove me barmy. The car itself was a lovely drive, fast and mechanically sound.

But definitely worth a chat with Mark @ Revitup, Ross

Price is a touch ambitious as above, if your indicative trade price is £6.5k then you're unlikely to achieve more than about £1k over this, worth reconsidering.

There's also a balance between what you want to get for it and how long you're willing to wait for someone who specifically wants one like yours to come along. Most cars I've sold where I want a strong price have taken months, not days/weeks to sell.

People love to get some money off so consider keeping a couple of hundred extra in the asking if you do lower it.

Finally, there aren't really that many people out there clambering over themselves to buy 200bhp+ petrol hatches unfortunately so a lack of calls after a few days is of no concern (imo)

Ad is a bit superfluous and waffly really. The first two paragraphs are unnecessary, as is the bit about cleaning it. The rest needs to be bullet points, with a paragraph describing the condition of the car. Makes it far easier to read, and there's no need to go on about how loved the car was or that you're buying a house. It should come across in the photos and description how you cared for it, and the rest is what you'd casually chat to a prospective buyer about, in person.

Aside from that, it looks in lovely condition from the photos so you just need to be patient.

Yup, couldn't be arsed to even read it. Nice photos though.

Seems ablot of people on here like the waffle on in their car adverts.

Expensive aswell. I can't really say anything as mine is expensive aswell, but that's because I don't need to sell.

Agree with above - Far to much Waffle, Even though it says what you want to hear it sort of gets lost because it's all mixed up. Do Short precise Bullet points & Be positive for ***** sake.
Also I wouldn't have mentioned the chips or anything else body wise except a "Lovely car inside & Out" sort of statement.
Lose the Bought another car as well just put New House Purchase Forces Sale or summit.

I'm not commenting on the price as others are closer to the mark on valuations of these cars at that age etc
What I will say is If I was buying a car for that money I'd want No Mods & some come back which means yours will have to be Cheaper than Current Dealer prices.

GLWS.

Why are some photos lovely quality, large sizes, and show great detail, whereas others look like they were taken on a late 90s camera phone?

Ditch the crap photos and replace with some of the same angle, but taken with a device that was built this millennium.

paradigm said:

others look like they were taken on a late 90s camera phone?

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There's no such thing!

Dang, you are right, the shame. OK, I amend that to year 2000/2001

Thank you for the feedback, I have revised the listing.

I want £8k for it, I put the extra £350 there for bargaining. I truly believe it is worth £8k, as the facelifts seem to be going for around that price, especially the ST3 which holds a premium over the ST2 in my personal opinion.

There's nothing wrong with having your own idea of price, its your car after all and you know how good or otherwise an example it is.

It will require a great deal more patience than a couple if days though. It took me nearly 4 months to sell the civic for a price that I felt reflected its history and condition

rossk26 said:

I want £8k for it, I put the extra £350 there for bargaining. I truly believe it is worth £8k, as the facelifts seem to be going for around that price, especially the ST3 which holds a premium over the ST2 in my personal opinion.

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It's not worth £8k - sorry. It has a retail sale value of 500 quid less than that, let alone private.

Privately this car is probably better positioned at £6995 with a view to taking £6800ish. It's trade value is closer to £6k. Advertised at £8500 most people won't even bother to phone you up as it's so hilariously overpriced they'll assume they'll get met with hassle if they offered you 7 grand or so.

Sadly this is why buying cars privately is fast becoming a waste of time - they all seem hilariously overpriced, stick around for ever and presumably eventually end up going to WBAC once the seller gives up.

Looks a nice example Op. Seems a fair price what you are asking as it gives room for buyers to knock a few hundred off.
As others have stated the facelift ST falls under a price point were most would have to buy from a trader on finance.
Having only purchased my ST 5 months ago but spent months before that looking they seem to be hit and miss. Some sell in a matter of days while others will be listed for weeks/months. Orange and Blue seem to sell quicker.
Mine was a 2006 1 Owner with 70k full Ford S/H and the owner didn't have a single call in 8 days before I got it for 5k! was listed at 5.5k originally.
But then I've seen other Chavved out examples with hardly any history sell for far more than what I got mine for it's weird.
Just wait it out as someone will come along loking for a nice genuine example