Bad ads with few details - do they put you off?

[CIM]

A pet hate of mine is looking through ads for property, cars, furniture etc where it seems the sellers cant be bothered to give a full description or add photos. Another is rental ads where they dont ad a price - what is the point?!

Why do people think a couple of lines and a basic description is going to get people interested??! Where possible on websites I select "only show ads with photos" - the people designing many of these sites seem to think this is an important feature so I am guessing I am not the only person that is put off enquiring by sparse ads with no photos?

[Balcony]

It's not property, but I've moaned to Ebay and Amazon about the lack of descriptions given for some things sold. A good, clear and full description helps find the right buyer.

[Jelly Baby]

In the UK I wrote and published own magazine and therefore produced adverts for a living. A well worded advert in the right publication or location can transform a business or ensure a sale.

In short CIM - I also despair!

[cainaries]

There's an ad in our local paper from someone looking for a teacher to give private lessons. And that's it. Private lessons in WHAT? How did the person taking down the ad not notice this was pointless?

I completely agree with you, CIM. In the same local paper was a full-page ad put in by an estate agent which was about 2 lines giving extremely basic info on houses/flats they've got for sale or rent. No photos.

You know how you get (or used to get) free magazines in the UK which gave photos and details of all properties for sale in a certain area? Lots of agents clubbed together, presumably, to publish the magazine - some of them were quite upmarket. We've often thought that would be a good idea here on La Palma but no-one is interested. Too few buyers now probably but just before the euro came in - the market here was very lively. (Can't imagine why ...:whistle::whistle:

[chifleta]

Another is rental ads where they dont ad a price - what is the point?!


A bit like my pet het.... shops with no prices in the window... anything like that I just don't bother going in to look. The same as rental properties with no price advertised, why should I waste my time telephoning and asking.

[CIM]

Yes, a lot of the jewellery stores do it, does my head in. I am always interested in buying watches (after a nice one now) and like to keep an eye on prices - but most of the bloody places don't show them. So I do the same as you and go elsewhere. In fact I prefer to just shop on the internet now, seems a lot easier.
Well, I´m glad I´m not the only one who gets hacked off at adverts with too little info/photos!

[caroletenerife]

Yes, a lot of the jewellery stores do it, does my head in. I am always interested in buying watches (after a nice one now) and like to keep an eye on prices - but most of the bloody places don't show them. So I do the same as you and go elsewhere. In fact I prefer to just shop on the internet now, seems a lot easier.
Well, I´m glad I´m not the only one who gets hacked off at adverts with too little info/photos!
Jewellery shops with no prices are aimed at people that dont need to ask the price lol... x

[cainaries]

Jewellery shops with no prices are aimed at people that dont need to ask the price lol... x

Probably true of clothes shops, too. But ordinary houses, flats etc. to rent .... makes no sense to me.

[dokgolf]

Couldn't agree more CIM. Drives me nuts. I'm trying to buy a new van at the moment. The amount of ads I've come across "Great van, PMO" followed by a phone number is crazy. I've given up on them now, only deal with people who have made an effort.

[slodgedad]

You would be even more amazed where the majority of adverts start out.

We spend most of our time moving things like 'Tele' in General Chat to Television for Sale in the right section.

Some even post 'I have a so and so for sale' with full details and piccies in the middle of a chat about something that is in no way remotely connected.

Getting back to the point, a picture paints a thousand words.

[clara]

What I Never understand is restaurants that don't tell you where they are or sometimes not even an address. Six months ago I picked up a leaflet for a very tempting sounding place and only yesterday spotted it.

A map or even a sketch would get more people through the door.

[Vortex Wake]

Some people write adverts with little real detail to prompt a quick sale from an unsuspecting buyer i.e. ' iPhone £140 ' . No mention of the model version 4 / 3 or the old 1 generation version.

Same applies to laptops etc . A Toshiba laptop at £100 is not a bargain if its 10 years old.

I had a guy on eBay selling a car electronics part with little detail . I asked a specific question , which if answered correctly would allow me to know the part he was selling (the more expensive or least expensive) - he chose not to answer my question , instead he replied with an irrelevant question.

[Pooh]

Right now it's property ads for me, since we're looking for a permanent place to live. But too many have poor descriptions, and even poorer pictures.
What annoys me the most is that one of those poor ads may be the one having the place we really want, but we miss it because it doesn't look interesting enough to view.
Other ads are looking great, with nice pics and gives what appears to be a good description, but when getting there for a viewing you notice that if you just had shifted the angle a bit on a pic it would have revealed something disqualifying it from our list, and all the things the description doesn't mention, but would have been pertinent... I don't get it - do they expect people to buy expensive property without looking at it first?
So we just have to go through and view many of the objects having poor ads too, or we might miss the place that fits us. Really annoying.

[CIM]

I know what you mean - I am looking at buying myself and always going through listings. I see some private ones with no photos at all!!! I don't even click on them - its the height of stupidity.

Even the better listings often have too little information. I don't get it at all, as an agent myself I want to do as few viewings as possible to generate sales hence I add plenty of info including "negative" points to cut down on the amount of time wasted on unsuitable property. So if there are a lot of stairs or the beach is miles away or whatever I add it to the listing. No idea why more don't do the same.

[warbey]

That Posting I followed is why if I ever can be in the Market, You will be my first Stop.

Presentation works wonders. Property must be an Ideal Subject

for Photography, to catch the Eye

but it cannot tell the full Story. A good guide to Position and size though.

I believe that more than a few dont have Cameras or Knowledge how to Present

an item.

[marbro8]

what pees me off is when you drive past a nice car on a drive for sale with just a FOR SALE sign on it with a mobile number, no details no price? i don't really think they want to actually sell them they just want to talk to people cus they are lonely:laugh: