Below is a link to the ebay listing for a 1950 Olds convertible I have consigned for sale to Texas Classic Cars of Dallas. It is in an estate I am the executor of. My late friend Richard Lau purchased this car in 1993 and never drove it. I just had a new gas tank put on it, the carb rebuilt and a complete tuneup. It runs very nice. I also just had the new tan top put on at a cost of $2,000. This is not a cheap car and please don't ask for the reserve. I hate to see this one go but there is a 54 Olds Super 88 convertible in my future in about 2 months but that is a story for July.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Oldsm...item5aefd7e820

 

Nice car and nice ad, but there is this sentence in the description that made me cringe:

"Oldsmobile was created in 1949 by combining its new Rocket V-8 from the big 98 series with the smaller, lighter platform of its six-cylinder models."

Oldsmobile was created in 1949? I don't think so!

Oldsmobile was created in 1949 by combining its new Rocket V-8 from the big 98 series with the smaller, lighter platform of its six-cylinder models.

 

Jaunty you have to be one of the best proof readers around. We both know what they meant and I did not even catch it. I have to chuckle at it.

Thanks

 

Proofreading? I call it "reading."

WE might both know what is meant, but we're not the issue here. This car is nice enough and expensive enough that it's likely to attract attention from people outside the Oldsmobile hobby. These people might NOT know what the ad is trying to say.

Besides the above, there is one other collection of words in the ad that could use some fix-up:

"Enjoy the remain of our photos of this 1950 Oldsmobile 88."


"Enjoy the remain of our photos?" Who wrote this thing?


The larger point here is that you're not selling an item for $1.95. People who are looking to spend the kind of money you want for this car like to have the impression that they're dealing with competent people. When the ad itself looks like it was written by someone who failed their 9th grade English class, the impression given is poor, and some people may be hesitant to proceed further.

There is no second chance to make a good first impression, and the ad for this car is what makes that first impression. The pictures, of course, do most of the talking, but the words matter, too. I don't know what you're paying the person you consigned the car to to sell it for you, but whatever it is, in my book, he's not earning it.

 

It looks like a nice car, but why would anyone repaint a car with only 5,700 miles on it?

 

Ttt