How to List a Vehicle for Sale Online

The Internet can be a powerful tool to sell a used car. When people decide to shop for a vehicle, often one of the first places they look is online. By posting your vehicle on popular listing sites, you’ll increase the likelihood that people will see what you have to offer.

Make your vehicle ad easy to read and eye-catching. First and foremost, you should focus on your title. It should contain the year, make, price and model. If there’s something special you want to feature, like the fact that the car has recently received a particular upgrade, the title is a great place to include that as well.

Many of the online listing sites run two or three lines of text with each post so that when a user scans through all the used vehicle listings, they can read a little bit about each car before clicking through to learn more about the car. Much like a classified ad, provide a brief, but detailed overview of the car’s features. This is your chance to convince the car shopper to click on your ad instead of all the other competing ads.

If you’re using a site that lets you include lots of information, then use bullets or bold text (sparingly) to break up the text and to display the details in a logical format. Be descriptive and clear, but don’t overwhelm the buyer with every little aspect you can think of. Check your spelling and give the ad a good read over once you’re finished.

Listings with pictures of the vehicle attract more attention as it gives the car shopper a better idea of what you’re selling. You’ll want to make sure that the photographs are clear, easy to see and professional looking.

Take a variety of photos to give the buyer a thorough look at the car. Consider grabbing pictures of the exterior of the car (back, front and side) and the interior (the driver’s seat, stereo, accessories, backseat and trunk). If you’ve highlighted a particular feature in your ad that you think will help sell the car, include a picture to draw more attention to it.

Last but not least, remember to include the CARFAX Canada report in your online listing. There are listing sites that work with CARFAX Canada like autoTRADER and Kijiji so that when a potential buyer views your listing, they can either look at the report you’ve provided, or order a report based on that vehicle’s VIN. A CARFAX Canada report is filled with valuable information and offering it to shoppers can work to answer a lot of questions, and establish you as a seller they can trust who is being fully transparent with them. When a consumer has access to the CARFAX Canada report online, they’ll instantly know the history behind the car and are more likely to contact you about purchasing it.

For the listing sites that don’t provide a method of automatically posting the report, you can include the URL to that vehicle’s CARFAX Canada report in your listing. That way, all the customer has to do is click on the link for instant access to the vehicle’s history.