Maybe I'm naive, I haven't sold a car for more than scrap value for a really long time. 
I didn't want to be too wordy or technical. I didn't want to be the guy who just cut-and-pastes some spec sheet. I don't want to be the b!tchy guy who demands cash before a test drive, or tells you not to show up if you can't drive a stick, etc.
Any suggestions or inputs greatly appreciated.
More pictures.
There are no pictures of the interior. I would specifically add a picture that shows the manual trans.
Maybe also a picture showing odometer.
Picture of radio and picture showing how dirty or clean the interior is.
It's true, pictures are worth a thousand words.
The ad copy is fine, straightforward and functional. The vehicle itself will sell better if you scrape the stickers off the windows and put tire shine all the way around the tire. The effect of having that thirty or so degrees of tire that isn't deep black and clean is the same as having mud on the tire. The stickers, no matter their meaning to you, simply tell the potential buyer that a young person has been driving the car. Unfortunately, that translates to poorly maintained and driven hard in many buyer's minds.
Your car can have all the personality you want, but to maximize profit and ease of selling, it needs to be a blank slate for the buyer to imprint their personality on.
Also, seconding the suggestion to add interior pictures. If at all possible, take the pictures of the interior early in the morning, late in the evening, or in a parking garage. Harsh sunlight and shadows almost always ends up looking like nasty stains and worn surfaces.
Yes, thanks. The stickers are gone now, but unfortunately, after I shot the photos. I will re-shoot the LF and LR photos tomorrow and take some interior shots as well.
For now I have deleted the two photos showing the stickers, in case anyone gets confused!
Take an underhood picture too. Hose it down and let it dry first though. Should look maintained, but not spit shined like you're trying to hide something.
I would mention in the ad that it's a manual. I know it says it in the side, and the title, but about 2/3 of the time those seem to be wrong and I've learned never to trust them unless it also says so in the copy AND there is a picture showing three pedals.
I seem grumpy about that, don't I?
I hate to tell you to reshoot the photos again, but try to take pictures of the sunny side, not the shady side. Photos in harsh light of the dark side of a car look terrible.
Oh, and has it been hit? I always assume that if there aren't photos of an area, the seller is hiding a giant dent.
One last thing: Is the paint burnt off of the hood and roof? I can't tell in your photos, so I'm assuming it is and you're hiding that. Shoot some photos just before sunset to show me how nice the paint is. If it is actually terrible, then you're doing a good job hiding it.
Is $6500 your lowest price or something you are willing to move on? Always price above your lowest price cause then people will think they get a better deal when they talk you down.
I'd spray it down with water right before you take pictures of the outside of the car and move it out of the puddle of water before you take the pictures so it isn't obvious you just sprayed it down.
And add some pictures of the interior.
mazdeuce wrote: I would mention in the ad that it's a manual. I know it says it in the side, and the title, but about 2/3 of the time those seem to be wrong and I've learned never to trust them unless it also says so in the copy AND there is a picture showing three pedals. I seem grumpy about that, don't I?
Definitely mention manual. I'd guess a lot of them aren't (mine wasn't) and that's one of the first things I look at now.
too many properly spelled words, photos that do not show the car under a foot of snow, and not enough trash in the interior.. unless you fix those, the car will never sell
93EXCivic wrote: Is $6500 your lowest price or something you are willing to move on?
I would take less, but why play that hand up front? Let someone make me an offer.
The phrase "or best offer" in an ad only begs lowballers, IMO.
Added odometer photo as well as interior shot clearly showing 3 pedals and a stick.
Here's what I do Evan. Clean the car inside and out. Search realtor.com for a nice house, usually double my house's value (don't want to shoot too high up the ladder) and look at the interior photos of the houses. Find a nice house that's vacant. Then in the evening as the sun is setting, take pics of my car in the nice driveway.
Sounds crazy, but if you are looking at two identical cars and one is parked in a humble driveway of, say a $150K house, and the other is parked in front of a $300K house, MOST people assume the car at the expensive house is nicer. I've never once had someone mention/realize the switcheroo. But i always price my cars in the 95th percentile and sell within days (last two within hours). I think its the pics amd honest add that does it.
Agreed on mentioning manual.
More pics. Do a neat shot from a low angle. I know it sounds dumb, but it really seems to work. When I sold my e30, I got a lot more action after posting the photo below.
Clean up the interior really well and get some shots to show clean upholstery. Shoot it in the shade and/or on a cloudy day. The interior shot you have is mildly functional, but the contrast is off so it just looks like a dark picture.
Otherwise, very nice job. I tend to include a novel with my ads and people just click on something else.
In reply to DrBoost:
That's a great idea. There is a guy here who has a lot of cars for sale that are photographed at the same church parking lot. Almost all the cars are salvage titles. They go through great lengths to make them look like they are for sale in different towns with different phone numbers.
Same comment about more and better pictures. Especially the seats.
I'd suggest a little less story telling.
Example: Don't tell people to look around. They will. You want them to come look at yours. Consider replacing "Look around - if you see another Scion at this price, it has 140,000 miles or more!" with something like "great deal with low mileage".
EvanR wrote:93EXCivic wrote: Is $6500 your lowest price or something you are willing to move on?I would take less, but why play that hand up front? Let someone make me an offer. The phrase "or best offer" in an ad only begs lowballers, IMO.
I wouldn't put "or best offer." I was just saying price it above what you would take.
93EXCivic wrote:EvanR wrote:I wouldn't put "or best offer." I was just saying price it above what you would take.93EXCivic wrote: Is $6500 your lowest price or something you are willing to move on?I would take less, but why play that hand up front? Let someone make me an offer. The phrase "or best offer" in an ad only begs lowballers, IMO.
Agreed. There are lots of xBs out there, You'll get a lot of "would you take $5000?" because you're giving them the upper hand. Saying best offer is putting the primary negotiating power on them which you don't want.
The best way to do it in my opinion (assuming you'd take $6000) is price it at $6500. Don't say "firm" or "OBO." That way when they ask you if you'd take less you can always say something like "well, judging by the large amount of interest in it, I think I have it priced at a bargain."
Its always best to make them crawl up from the bottom. Saying OBO means they feel like they can knock it down a peg. I know that if I were shopping for one and I saw your ad, I would say "that means he'd take 5750." I would hit you with an offer of $5500 cash, then we'd settle on 5900. If it doesn't say best offer, I call you and ask if you would take less and you can "fruit fresh" them.
Fruit Fresh, verb (FROOT fresh); to dust a customer with a preservative for use later. see also: Trial Close.
In reply to curtis73:
For CL I just price 25% more than I want out of it. If I want 3000 I ask 4000, any offer at or above 3000 is a sale, after the requisite attempt to haggle it up, they have their fun and at minimum I get what I want.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to curtis73: For CL I just price 25% more than I want out of it. If I want 3000 I ask 4000, any offer at or above 3000 is a sale, after the requisite attempt to haggle it up, they have their fun and at minimum I get what I want.
Yup. 'Round these parts (rural PA) my sales pool is a bit limited and below average income, so 25% is a bit too steep to generate calls. I remember being in Los Angeles. You could mark it up 40% and you'd still get people calling.
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