Wording an advert

Wording your advert the right way will draw the buyers in. Get it wrong and you could be left sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring.

• Include all the relevant information but be precise, accurate, honest, avoid cliches such as 'first to see will buy', or 'one careful lady owner'.
• List the exact model, its year of registration and plate number (eg 1999/V), mileage (78,400 miles not 78k), whether it has a full service history, colour (in plain English), number of owners (if it's low for the age of your car), list of equipment/features, price, colour photograph and contact details.
• If you're selling online with someone such as eBay, you'll obviously have more space but keeping it short and sweet should still pay dividends so long as you include all the relevant details. There's more scope for pictures online too, so take advantage.
• Avoid abbreviations. It's easy to scan over them and many buyers won't know what they mean. If you really have to cut down on space to reduce the cost of an advert, stick to the most common abbreviations such as FSH (full service history), PAS (power-assisted steering), AC (air-conditioning), EW (electric windows), RCL (remote/central locking), ONO (or nearest offer), VGC (very good condition).