It is the ultimate answer for car selling. I went to Craigslist. I looked for "2004 Honda" and read all the returns. It was a good starting point. But, my ads did not look that interesting. I knew I needed to do something extra. I looked into the Stanford mailing lists. I found some postings. One posting struck me. The author mingled this posting and his Craigslist posting well. The body of the posting started with a Craigslist link. Then, it listed all critical info like engine condition, maintenance record, VIN, exterior, interior. The critical info was followed by some nice photos. The author wrapped the posting by the mechanics details.
I did not know how others perceived this posting. But for me, it was what I wanted. I used it to develop my plan. Here was my plan.
The first step was pictures. I took my camera and parked my car in a spacious place. Then, I circled my car and took many pictures of it. I then went back to my room and uploaded the pictures to Picasa. The pictures looked fantastic.
The second step was the engine and mechanics info. I went to Honda website. Its owner website has all info I needed. Besides, the descriptions looked professional. I copied the main engine desciptions and body descriptions to my draft. Great. These descriptions made my draft looks cool.
The third step was checking Kelly Blue Book. I checked the private party price. This step was done quickly.
The fourth step was putting everything together and making a post on Craigslist. I never posted anything on Craigslist. Luckily, the posting function on Craigslist is well done. I intended to put all good pictures on the ads. But, Craigslist just allowed me to put a few. After several minutes, I put the best two there. Mission completed.
Aren't they cool?
I also contacted my friends who are still able to post ads on campus. Because my car targeted students.
I did not get many responses as expected. I guessed the timing was not right. So, I waited until after the school started. Then, BANG, I got plenty of responses. The car selling process was faster than I thought. I met people and let them test drive. I showed them records. The most scary part was getting money. I did not want to get a check linked to a delinquent or default account. How to prevent from getting an unwanted check? It was a side story.
I felt relieved once I finished all actions on my plan. It was a big accomplishment.
AFTERTHOUGHT:
Selling a car is tough and yet challenging. No wonder so many people become car sales.
