I was looking in some classified's lists to see what people are selling. Some of the ads people wrote were just awful; here's my thoughts on what you should do to improve your ads.
Know your audience
In order to sell your stuff, you need to know who's looking at your ads. When someone is thinking about buying used things, they're looking for either:
- A lower than retail price
- Things that are no longer made or rare
If you don't have something that's truly rare (no, your “custom”
M4 is not rare) and you aren't willing to sell for less than retail, you're
unlikely to make the sale. Even if the item is brand new or barely used, you
will need to sell for less than retail. This is because you're at a competitive
disadvantage with retailers, as you have to establish trust with any
prospective buyers. You will need to give a compelling reason for someone to
buy from you over a known retailer.
In addition, everything you say should be relevant to the
buyer in some way. The fact that you're looking for drug money beer
money money to go to the movies with your friends is not relevant to the
buyer and is annoying more than anything else.
Have a descriptive title
The title should give as much information about what you're selling. Posting titles like:
- I ned colege monies plz :((((, or
- Quitting airsoft sale
says nothing about what you're selling. Buyers do not care
why you're selling or if you have money problems. (In fact, saying you need the
money will likely lead to lowball offers, since you appear desperate for money)
With titles as useless as those buyers will probably skip your ad, unless they
are drawn in because of feels. You title needs to give as much information as
possible to draw buyers into reading the rest of your ad.
A title such as:
- KWC M1911 CO2 mags, Moon camo ACU, assorted moon camo pouches
is likely to draw in people looking for M1911 magazines,
moon camo, or pouches. From there, you can go on to close the sale. If you find
that you can't fit everything into the title, you may want to consider
splitting the items into two separate ads.
Make pricing
clear
Once you have someone in your ad, you can show your prices. To improve your chances of closing a sale, your pricing needs to be as clear as possible for the buyer. Don't bother with adjusting prices for buying multiple things or other fancy pricing schemes, as most people that view your ad are probably only interested in one item.
This tactical tactical is $5, and this backpack is $30 shipped. But if you buy both I'll sell them to you for $34.95 + shipping. If you don't live in a state starting with the letter S I'll have to charge an extra $5 in shipping for the lack of a $ in your state's name. And if you buy both the tactical tactical and the backpack on a prime numbered day, you get $1 off!
Fuck that shit.
Instead of confusing the buyer, just integrate the cost of
shipping into your prices. You'll eliminate the confusion while also being able
to say FREE SHIPPING. (FREE SHIPPING seems to help a lot for some reason)
Take good
pictures, be informative
While you don't need a $XXX+ camera and a model to pose with the item you're selling, you should take pictures that show everything that is important about the item you're selling. The pictures you take should be well lit, and show any wear and/or damage that may be present. If the item is really large or small, you should use a ruler/measuring tape/other thing to show the size of the item. For some items like containers, bags, backpacks, etc. take measurements of the insides as someone might want what you're selling to store a specific thing they have. Add as much relevant information as you can to boost your chances of closing a sale, but remember rule 1: if the info is not relevant to the buyer, don't include it.
Here's are my thoughts on how to write a classified's ad. Do you have other ideas on how to write a classifieds ad? Share your ideas in the comments!
