Terrible ads

Regularly I visit Craigslist and Facebook to check if there is anything for sale that may be of interest to me.

And often I shake my head when I see poorly worded ads that lack essential information, ads full of spelling- and grammatical mistakes accompanied by photos that are so bad that you really can’t even see what the item is.

Just yesterday I saw someone offering a Nikon. That’s it, not mentioning that it is a DSLR camera with a lens. No model, age, condition. For the amount of $500 you may expect all the relevant information to be provided.

The seller probably doesn’t even realize that the post will not show up in the results when someone does a search on the keyword ‘camera.’

And at the same time, it is clear that the seller is either completely ignorant or plain lazy by not wanting to put any effort into it.

Aside from the fact that this camera is way overpriced I would not be interested simply because the owner makes a bad first impression.

It is astounding that many people cannot even correctly spell the brand and name of the product. I see at least one a week someone offering a Cannon camera.

The worst ad I have seen so far this year was from a guy who wants to sell a 1960’s Volkswagen Beetle. He could manage to say only two words about it: ‘Have title’

Another problem, at least to me, is when someone posts something for FREE and then asks for offers. So, it is a bit misleading to say the least.

And how about this one. Two or more of the same items are being offered and the owner doesn’t make it clear whether the price is apiece, or for all of them.

A well-known trick is to say that he, or she, is selling the item for a friend, neighbor, family member etc. with the addition: “I don’t know anything about it.” In other words, the seller will not answer any relevant questions and takes no responsibility in case the item is faulty.

And when it says plainly in the ad: “I don’t know if it works or not” then it is almost certain that it does not work.

Be careful, always.