With any new product and marketplace there’s a learning curve and we’ve recently gained more knowledge about what it takes to manage the “art” of posting to eBay classifieds. We want to share the Top 5 Best Practices we’ve learned over the last few weeks with you:

1.)  New eBay accounts require some “Seasoning” similar to the historical craigslist landscape.
a.)  It’s best to start posting with 5 ads a day and work up to 25 or you may risk burning
your account.

2.)  Dealers with similar inventory need to ensure there is a sufficient vehicle description with enough unique content to differentiate each ad from anther. We’ve found some issues with dealers who have very similar inventory and unfortunately, our system can’t always trick eBay into thinking the ads are unique so they may get flagged.

3.)  Make sure you are not posting any duplicate ads. eBay specifically states you cannot post the same vehicle twice. If you do not want to wait until the 6 day listing period is up, you can delete old ads and re-post. Alternatively, if you want to post to separate cities/markets, then create another eBay Classifieds account.

Separate city, separate market = separate eBay classifieds account

4.)  Using multiple URL’s will contribute to flagging. Dealers should not include a link to their website in the vehicle description feed. eBay does not want to be utilized as a traffic converter, so we advise pulling this domain from the description if you want to have your account maintain in good standing.

5.)  Categorization: eBay has organized categories to guide consumers when looking for specific inventory. It’s important when posting ads to double check that you’re correctly listing inventory under the preferred category, or your ads will be subject to flagging. For example, do not list a motorcycle under the Car category. You can review this before you hit submit on your queue. Also note: Cars is a separate category than Trucks, Vans & SUVs. Listing a 2002 Jeep Cherokee in the Car category will likely not be an issue, but if you want to be specific about where the consumer is looking for your inventory, it’s a good thing to keep in mind.

If you have other best practices you would like to share, post them in the comments section below. if you would like to learn more about eBay Classifieds.

With any new product and marketplace there’s a learning curve and we’ve recently gained more knowledge about what it takes to manage the “art” of posting to eBay classifieds. We want to share the Top 5 Best Practices we’ve learned over the last few weeks with you:

1.)  New eBay accounts require some “Seasoning” similar to the historical craigslist landscape.
a.)  It’s best to start posting with 5 ads a day and work up to 25 or you may risk burning
your account.

2.)  Dealers with similar inventory need to ensure there is a sufficient vehicle description with enough unique content to differentiate each ad from anther. We’ve found some issues with dealers who have very similar inventory and unfortunately, our system can’t always trick eBay into thinking the ads are unique so they may get flagged.

3.)  Make sure you are not posting any duplicate ads. eBay specifically states you cannot post the same vehicle twice. If you do not want to wait until the 6 day listing period is up, you can delete old ads and re-post. Alternatively, if you want to post to separate cities/markets, then create another eBay Classifieds account.

Separate city, separate market = separate eBay classifieds account

4.)  Using multiple URL’s will contribute to flagging. Dealers should not include a link to their website in the vehicle description feed. eBay does not want to be utilized as a traffic converter, so we advise pulling this domain from the description if you want to have your account maintain in good standing.

5.)  Categorization: eBay has organized categories to guide consumers when looking for specific inventory. It’s important when posting ads to double check that you’re correctly listing inventory under the preferred category, or your ads will be subject to flagging. For example, do not list a motorcycle under the Car category. You can review this before you hit submit on your queue. Also note: Cars is a separate category than Trucks, Vans & SUVs. Listing a 2002 Jeep Cherokee in the Car category will likely not be an issue, but if you want to be specific about where the consumer is looking for your inventory, it’s a good thing to keep in mind.

If you have other best practices you would like to share, post them in the comments section below. if you would like to learn more about eBay Classifieds.

Since the onset of the $5 charge on Craigslist, dealerships have taken on a multitude of approaches on how they not only understand this marketplace, but more importantly utilize this marketplace to attract customers to visit their dealerships.

The most important thing that we have learned is that dealerships not posting inventory are losing opportunities to gain qualified prospects and sell more vehicles.  Here are the results from dealerships posting in our software:

*March estimated through month end

Leads per ad continue to grow on a month over month basis, proving the importance of dealerships to leverage Craigslist as a market to advertise their pre-owned inventory.  If you have not budgeted for Craigslist ads and a software provider to post through, do so immediately!

Things to Consider

Other important factors to look at are your Craigslist ads.  Today, 50% of traffic on Craigslist is found on a mobile phone.  Are your ads and Vehicle Display Pages mobile ready?  Titles and content are searchable.  Ensuring your ads have a strong title, price, pictures and content is critical. Are you taking advantage of all 24 photos with photo overlay calls-to-action? How many ways are you connecting to your customers?  Having multiple calls-to-action, including phone number, email, and copy and paste links to VDPs only increase your chances of selling the vehicle.

We may all believe we know what sells on Craigslist and have our own theories, but only a select few can take years of past data and tell you which vehicles will generate the most leads and are priced closest to the market price.  Utilizing a partner that offers this level of sophistication will only help you achieve a higher percentage of leads per ad, increasing your ROI, and ultimately selling more cars.

Now for a Little Math.

Let’s assume you want to start with a $1000 monthly budget including $300 for a software provider.  This will allow for $700 in Craigslist posts.  This will get you 140 posts on Craigslist.  Considering an ad is good for 30 days, this should give you the ability to post most dealers inventory at least once per month.  Using the stats above, this will generate 154 leads for the month!  That is an average cost of $6.49 per lead.  If you can close 5% of your leads (a little below average), this equates to almost 8 vehicles sold.  Averaging $1200 on the front end, a $1000 budget will generate $8400 in profit!

Is Craigslist the only marketing site a dealership should use?  Absolutely not!  I feel that it’s a strong compliment and a necessity for all dealerships with any size budget to market their inventory.

If you are interested in learning more, send me a message.

Since the onset of the $5 charge on Craigslist, dealerships have taken on a multitude of approaches on how they not only understand this marketplace, but more importantly utilize this marketplace to attract customers to visit their dealerships.

The most important thing that we have learned is that dealerships not posting inventory are losing opportunities to gain qualified prospects and sell more vehicles.  Here are the results from dealerships posting in our software:

*March estimated through month end

Leads per ad continue to grow on a month over month basis, proving the importance of dealerships to leverage Craigslist as a market to advertise their pre-owned inventory.  If you have not budgeted for Craigslist ads and a software provider to post through, do so immediately!

Things to Consider

Other important factors to look at are your Craigslist ads.  Today, 50% of traffic on Craigslist is found on a mobile phone.  Are your ads and Vehicle Display Pages mobile ready?  Titles and content are searchable.  Ensuring your ads have a strong title, price, pictures and content is critical. Are you taking advantage of all 24 photos with photo overlay calls-to-action? How many ways are you connecting to your customers?  Having multiple calls-to-action, including phone number, email, and copy and paste links to VDPs only increase your chances of selling the vehicle.

We may all believe we know what sells on Craigslist and have our own theories, but only a select few can take years of past data and tell you which vehicles will generate the most leads and are priced closest to the market price.  Utilizing a partner that offers this level of sophistication will only help you achieve a higher percentage of leads per ad, increasing your ROI, and ultimately selling more cars.

Now for a Little Math.

Let’s assume you want to start with a $1000 monthly budget including $300 for a software provider.  This will allow for $700 in Craigslist posts.  This will get you 140 posts on Craigslist.  Considering an ad is good for 30 days, this should give you the ability to post most dealers inventory at least once per month.  Using the stats above, this will generate 154 leads for the month!  That is an average cost of $6.49 per lead.  If you can close 5% of your leads (a little below average), this equates to almost 8 vehicles sold.  Averaging $1200 on the front end, a $1000 budget will generate $8400 in profit!

Is Craigslist the only marketing site a dealership should use?  Absolutely not!  I feel that it’s a strong compliment and a necessity for all dealerships with any size budget to market their inventory.

If you are interested in learning more, send me a message.