5 NEW RULES of Selling Your Vehicle Online!
Most used car buyers have been online before they ever walk into a car dealership. Car dealers have been forced to adapt (some kicking and screaming) – by building an Internet sales department, re-directing advertising budgets, and reconsidering how they price their vehicles.
Don’t tell them I said so, but many large auto dealers do a poor job of marketing their vehicles online. They know a lot about print advertising, but fewer buyers are looking in newspapers or auto/shopper magazines – and why bother? They’re out of date by the time they’re delivered. The cars pictured may have been sold before the paper went to press!
Many “old school” car dealers simply haven’t figured out the New Rules for effectively marketing their vehicles online. Unfortunately for them, they won’t get a second chance to create a first impression.
You Can Learn, Too!
If professionals are having a difficult time staying ahead of the learning curve, you shouldn’t feel bad if you are not clear on how to effectively sell your car, truck, or SUV on the Internet. It’s barely two years since I was asked to decipher the mysteries of online marketing, and to design the best method for selling used (my boss insisted on “pre-owned”) vehicles on sites like AutoTrader, Cars.com, Craigslist, and Kijiji. Luckily, it was a forward-thinking company that trusted me to experiment, knowing I’d make mistakes that we could learn from. How else to learn?
It took a year of trial and error to develop a clean, effective format for our online postings and ads. But that was only part of the learning curve. I discovered that there is a weekly shopping cycle specific to online buyers. Unless you time your ads correctly, much of your effort could be wasted. We also learned how important pictures and pricing are to attract potential buyers and complete the sale.
Developing New Rules for marketing used vehicles online increased our sales volume, and we drew buyers from farther and farther away. Customers regularly drove two, three, and, in one case, five and a half hours one-way just to check out a car we’d posted. And virtually every customer who drove that distance bought the vehicle they came to see.
Think about it. What would entice someone to drive eleven hours round trip to look at a used car?
James explains, other than great Photos, what is needed to have an effective online ad.
The New Rules
1. Bold Headline
First, the subject line has to grab attention away from all the competing ads – and for some models there may be hundreds posted.
2. Detailed Information
The text must be clear and concise, specifying all the information a buyer cares about in order to determine if your vehicle is worth the time to look at.
3. Personal Touches
Personal touches will sweeten your posting – information that only someone who cared about the vehicle would know. These make the seller seem trustworthy. Emphasize the positive AND tell the truth about the condition of the vehicle.
4. Specific Photos
Seeing the features and accessories that your buyer is looking for will catch her attention.
5. Video Walk Around
Finally, the secret weapon that induces someone to drive eleven hours is the video walk around. It’s a simple tool I love to use, even if my customer’s in the neighborhood, and it’s easy to put together. It builds an enormous amount of trust and rapport between buyer and seller, providing a load of information quickly. I know the video walk around sealed the deal for my buyers even before they came over to see the car. There’s a step-by-step guide on creating your own walk-around in Chapter 10.
HELP! NOW!
My new book HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! walks you through the 5 NEW RULES of selling your car online. I provide a step-by-step guide for selling your car online, including:
- price your car so you don’t leave money on the table
- what sites to choose, and how to market your car for FREE
- which photos do you take and how do you shoot them
- handling inquiries and test drives
- how to negotiate like a pro
- handling the paperwork and counting the money
Your time and money is on the line. Learn from the pros – learn the NEW RULES of selling your car online. HELP! NOW! is on the way.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
CARFAX or AutoCheck?
As an Internet Sales Manager I used both major vehicle history reports: CARFAX and AutoCheck®. Both serve a purpose, but in this economic downturn it’s important to save money. That being the case, the best buy is the one that is better known in the auto industry, yet less known by private sellers: AutoCheck®
. This is one situation where my position as an industry insider comes in handy.
On Dec 28, 2009 I found these prices online following a price increase by both companies:
- Single Reports
- AutoCheck®
$24.99
- CARFAX $34.99
- AutoCheck®
- Multiple Reports
- AutoCheck®
- CARFAX $44.99 – Maximum of 5 reports
- AutoCheck®
If you choose the single report package you can save 40% by buying your vehicle history report from AutoCheck®. (44.99 – 34.99 = 10 divided by 34.99 x 100 = 40%)
Other Benefits of AutoCheck
Speed is Crucial
As an Internet Sales Manager for a major dealership, we once took in a trade that came up with a clean report when we initially ran the vehicle history. However, a month later when I went to sell the car we ran a new vehicle history report that indicated an accident.
The dealership I worked for had a policy of NOT selling used vehicles that had been in an accident - period!
The result was that I lost a sale, the dealership lost a customer, and the customer was put through a process he was justifiably disappointed over, all because the speed at which the accident appeared on this vehicle history was not as fast as it could have been. A quicker turn around could have saved us all a lot of grief.
This is an example of buyer beware. No vehicle history report will catch every incident and this is another reason to have your own mechanic check out used cars prior to purchase. Want more examples? Below are two investigative journalism reports on the negative aspects of some vehicle history reports:
Shorter U.S. TV station report
Speed is crucial, and it’s another reason for purchasing AutoCheck® because they deliver accident information faster. And you get twice as many number of accidents in your report when compared to CARFAX.
And just like CARFAX you get:
- available information on accidents, odometer rollback, lemon vehicles.
- a list of the number of previous owners.
- a buy back program is available.
But unlike CARFAX, AutoCheck® has another benefit, which is something I haven’t used so I can’t recommend it one way or the other:
- An AutoCheck®
Remember that no vehicle history report is perfect and getting any pre-owned vehicle inspected by your mechanic is always a good idea. Of the two, the better buy is AutoCheck®
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
The links I provide are often affiliate links that I receive a commission from if you click thru and purchase a product. I appreciate the support as this allows me the resources and time to develop my website (www.BayAreaCarGuy.com) and funds the development of my next book on how to buy a car from a major dealer. See my video explanation at http://bayareacarguy.com/sell-car-online-thanks-for-the-click/.
Escrow.com – Be Safe!
Unfortunately, fraudulent escrow services have been popping up online. All of them say they are reliable and licensed, however, don’t accept just any escrow service recommended by the buyer or seller you are dealing with.
Escrow.com
is one the first escrow services that emerged in response to the growing trend of online buying and selling in the 1990s by providing much needed safety and security. They acted as a middle-man protecting everyone’s interests.
If you have any doubt about the buyer or their form of payment, use an escrow service. But not just any service. is one of the oldest, most reliable online escrow services available.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Online Escrow Services – Be Safe
Selling your vehicle online yourself can put extra money in your pocket. But when it comes time to get paid for your vehicle, safety is a primary concern.
Do you accept a personal check? Not on your life!
What about a cashier’s check? These used to be safe, but unless you confirm its authenticity with the issuing bank, I recommend that you treat cashier’s checks like personal checks: wait for funds to clear (a week or more) before you release the vehicle to the buyer.
I understand that waiting a week before completing a deal is not practical for most people. That’s why I recommend using an online escrow service. The following is from my book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW!:
An escrow service acts as a middle-man, holding the money until the loan is paid off, then releasing funds in a safe manner.
These services are reasonably priced, especially when the fee is split between buyer and seller. They offer a level of safety that is priceless.
There are online escrow services that protect both buyer and seller, but you have to be on guard against fraudulent ones. Do not accept just any escrow service recommended by the buyer. When in doubt, use a reliable and licensed escrow service.
Escrow.com
I recommend Escrow.com. This is one of the first escrow services that responded to the growing trend of online buying and selling in the 1990s by providing much needed safety and security. They acted as a middle-man protecting everyone’s interests.
If you have any doubt about the buyer or their form of payment, use an escrow service. But not just any service. is one of the oldest, most reliable online escrow services available.
has the recommendation of the BayAreaCarGuy!
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
The Video Walk Around
The Walk Around Video
The video walk around is the secret weapon that brought me serious customers when I was an Internet Sales Manager for a major auto dealer. It was rare for someone to make a long drive after viewing a video walk around and NOT buy the car. The video and your prior conversations will make the sale. Buyers usually make the trip to simply confirm the details and pick up the car.
HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW!
Use the video walk around examples on my website at BayAreaCarGuy.com/video, in conjunction with my book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! where I provide a step-by-step guide on how to create your own effective walk around (a great selling tool for so many reasons!) that may also make you a star on YouTube!
In HELP! NOW! I teach you how to:
- prep your car
- find a location
- the equipment you’ll need
- how to script your walk around – including what features to SELL
- how to create a general video for everyone
- how to create a video for a specific buyer
- the mechanics of shooting your video
- how to upload to the Internet
- much more
Creating your own video walk around and posting it on YouTube is both fun and easy. Want to see what one looks like? View my video walk around examples by visiting the Video page at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Find more tools for buying and selling vehicle on my website at www.BayAreaCarGuy.com/tools.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
