Guide to Writing a Successful Classifieds Listing

How can I get the most out of my ad?

There are always some classifieds that perform better than others, and this guide will give you tips on how to do just that.  From photos to wording to pricing, let us share the best ways to write your classified ad in order to improve your chances of having it not only seen, but sold!

And that's why you're on NL Classifieds, to put dolla bills in your pocket!

Hit the jump for invaluable classified-posting tips!

So, you've decided to sell that old (or new) thing in your shed, room, attic or driveway.  What's next?  Head to NL Classifieds and log in with the Member Login link in the top right corner, and then click on Create a New Listing.  From here, follow the instructions and fill in the required fields to post your ad.  We won't cover how to do that in detail here as we already have a guide that covers that called How to Post an Ad on NL Classifieds. This guide is more about optimizing your ad than just posting.

Category

Picking the right category is important, because a lot of our users browse certain categories.  Others only use the search feature, and others again use both.  To ensure that your grandma's antique clock ad is visible to the people that are looking for antique timekeeping, ensure it's in the Antiques & Collectibles category and Clocks & Timepieces subcategory!  We'll cover how to reach the search-only crowd below.

Contact Info

So, first things first; contact information.  Make sure that the phone number and/or email address are both accurate.  It only takes a second, but it can cost you a potential buyer if that 7 is actually an 8, or if there is on xo too few on butterflykissesxoxo@hotmail.com.  You can include up to 2 phone numbers and an email address, but you only need to include one of them.  If you don't want phone calls, don't include your phone number!

Title

This is where you can make sure that people using the search feature will see your ad!  The Title section is where you tell potential buyers what it is that you're selling.  Give enough detail so that people know what it is you're selling, but not so much that it can't be read at a glance.

• BAD: "car for sale"
• GOOD: "2007 Dodge Charger SXT AWD"
• BAD: "available immediately"
• GOOD: "3 Bedroom Executive House (123 Classifieds Lane)"
• BAD: "2007 35ft Sprinter Travel Trailer, like new, only 35,000km, new parts, never seen rain, price reduced $1000!!!!"

No need to include the category (Car, house, snowmobile, etc.) in the title, as most likely, your potential buyer will know what it is, but they want to know what kind it is.  The second example is too vague, what exactly is available immediately?  Some sort of real estate, I got that... ohh it's a house, I'm looking for an apartment.  The third has too much information, all that can go in the next section; the description.

Description

If you had to be concise in the title, spill your guts and tell the item's life story in the description.  Be as descriptive as possible, if it is a vehicle ad, include the year, mileage, condition and any work done or needed at the very least.  Feel free to add why you're selling it, how it treated you, how heartbroken you will be to come home and see the empty space in your driveway.  Give your potential buyer a feel for the item, and for you.  Someone is more likely to buy if they feel they know you or the item.  You can include the price here as well, or just in the next section.

Price

If you're including a price (instead of using the tactic of getting buyers to make offers), make sure you include it in this section and not only the description!  The way the website is formatted, it shows the price separate from the rest of the ad, so people can see it at a glance without actually having to click on your ad.  This way when you're selling that $1000 gold plated watch for $200, potential buyers will jump when they see the price instead of potentially passing it by because they think that kind of bling is out of their price range!

Image

Photos have to be the most important thing when placing an ad.  Classifieds with photos outperform ones without them 5 to 1.  Just think about it, would you buy something you'd never seen before? Neither would other people.  You can upload photos from your smartphone or tablet now, as long as your device is up to date.  If you have multiple, by all means upload them all.  The more angles the better.  You have up to 10MB of space, and our site re-sizes them automatically for you.  You should be able to post as many pictures of your 1986 K-car as you need!

After your ad has been posted

Sharing

It's a social world we live in, and often times sales happen over social media. There are links on all your ads that allow you to share them to your favourite social media sites or even email that friend that we all have that refuses to get Facebook because he thinks that it's a government conspiracy to control society.

Re-posting

Finally, after your ad has been active for 7 days, you can edit the dates to bump it to the top of the listings! For FREE too! We like free things, like hugs and smiles.  If you see one of us in the wild, feel free to give us one of either.  Right, re-posting.  The site over-posting policy only allows ads once every 7 days to minimize redundancy.  If everyone could post their ads every day, then there would be 100's of duplicate ads to sift through, and that makes for a not so fun classifieds experience.

There you have it, a guide to writing a successful ad on NL Classifieds!  As always, proper spelling and grammar always helps, and make sure you answer any calls or emails as soon as you can, because despite how well-written your classified ad is, your potential buyer may have moved on to the next item while waiting for a response!

As always, happy shopping from the trained monkeys here at NL Classifieds!

NL Classifieds, always current, always free.

Find us at www.nlclassifieds.com