As consumer behaviour is shifting to an online-first approach, dealerships are now opting to create more enhanced, buyer-friendly listings. However, car listing isn’t just about uploading photos and filling in details. It’s also about how efficiently you can prepare the listing and get it live.
So, how long might it take to list a car online?
Simply put, the answer depends on your preparation, the platform you choose, and how optimized you want your listing to be. While simply getting the listing online can only take between a few hours to a day, the whole preparation that goes behind it can take days or even weeks.
Stay tuned as we unravel the duration of listing a car online. Additionally, we will provide further insights into getting a list online quickly. So, let’s dive right into it!
How Much Time Does It Take To List A Car Online? Detailed Breakdown
Despite being familiar with the essential elements of listing a car online, many dealerships often fail to utilize their time efficiently when doing so. You must also be mindful of the time you’re spending on listing the vehicles online.
So, let’s break down how long it takes to list a car online.
The duration for this varies greatly, depending on a number of factors.
Typically, it takes between a few hours and a day. However, the process can sometimes extend to a few weeks.
Building a car listing requires various types of preparation beforehand. Your preparation will determine how quickly you can list a car online.
To begin with, a significant portion of the time is taken up by market research. From gathering vehicle information and documents to setting up competitive pricing, each element requires individual research.
Additionally, dealers have to take care of images for the listing.
For professional images, you would have to wait additional days to get them, which further adds to the overall duration.
Moreover, you have to spend adequate hours working on the listing description.
More importantly, the platform approval time plays a huge role. Platforms with instant buyer service will take no longer than 24hours.
However, private listings that need manual reviews may take a couple of days to be approved.
Also, the process can sometimes be delayed due to technical errors. Although uncommon, these errors may lead you to waste a few weeks before you can list the vehicles online.
Overall, if you’re adequately prepared, your listing can go live within a day. In fact, some listings are completed and released online within 3-5 hours, if there are no verification or compliance issues.
Relevant Existing Content:
How To Increase Clicks On Car Listings? – Proven Strategies
4 Common Mistakes That Delay Listing A Car Online
Listing a car online doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Unfortunately, many dealerships unknowingly take some unpleasant steps, causing the process to be tedious and time-consuming.
Nonetheless, don’t you worry, we have got you covered. If you can successfully avoid these mistakes, you can perhaps have your vehicles listed in no time!
1. Missing or Incorrect Details
Providing incorrect information, typically while writing the description, can be a common cause for the delay. This is because the incorrect information often triggers manual reviews or platform warnings.
So, maintain the accuracy of all sorts of information, such as mileage, VIN, ownership status, or service history.
2. Low-Quality Photos
Using blurry, dark, or poorly framed photos is never a good idea. Some platforms will flag a listing containing such images. Thus, requiring sellers to retake and re-upload images.
Existing Relevant Content:
10 Photo Mistakes That Kill Your Car Sales
How to Take Good Car Photos: 10 Best Practices
3. Pricing Errors
Offering unrealistic pricing often raises suspicion, not just according to platform standards but also in the eyes of viewers. The key is to offer competitive pricing based on accurate market data. Otherwise, you might need to re-adjust to get the listing approved.
4. Platform Verification Delays
Certain platforms have very strict verification policies. They might require identity, ownership, or dealership verification. This may take several days to weeks, especially if the documents have to be manually reviewed.
6 Pro Tips To List A Car Online Quickly
Well, you now know how long does it take to list a car online. But what you also should be aware of is how to list your vehicles quickly and efficiently. This will help ensure a smooth, hassle-free process that also takes care of your sales.
So, let’s dive right into discussing some pro tips for listing a car online.
Prepare Documents in Advance
Before you start with the listing, have all the essential documents ready. This includes registration papers, service records, mileage details, and ownership information. So, you will have to interrupt the process just to collect documents. Moreover, this reduces the risk of incomplete submissions.
Choose The Platform Wisely
Each listing platform has its individual requirements, approval times, and tools. Some may offer instant publishing, whereas others could hold off the process for a while. However, this shouldn’t be the only criterion for choosing a platform.
Choose a platform that also matches your selling goals and listing volume. Typically, a high-traffic site with instant services is ideal.
Capture And Edit The Images
A car listing is nothing without good images. Therefore, you must take clear photos with proper angles, showing the buyers every little detail. Moreover, make sure to edit the images neatly.
For such cases, we recommend using car photography tools like the C-AR App.
This AI-powered mobile app will help you edit the images in a showroom style.
Use AI Or Pre-Written Descriptions
The descriptions in your listing must be user-friendly, professional, and optimized for search engines. This makes writing the description a bit tricky, especially if you have no previous experience.
Hence, you opt for AI tools or pre-written description templates. However, make sure not to rely on them too much. Overuse of AI can affect the overall quality of the description, and can be off-putting for the buyers too.
Use VIN Auto-Fill Tools
Lastly, we recommend utilizing VIN Auto-Fill tools to further speed up the process. VIN decoders can automatically accumulate vehicle specifications such as make, model, year, engine type, and trim. Thereby, saving time as well as reducing errors that can delay listing approval.
FAQ
Q. Can I edit my car listing after publishing?
Yes, one can generally edit their vehicle listing after publishing. However, this also depends on the platform policies and whether they allow it.
Q. How long before my listing gets views?
This depends on the platform’s algorithm, listing quality, and how well-written your descriptions are. You might have to wait anywhere between an hour to a day before seeing any results.
- Can I list a car in under 30 minutes?
Yes, although uncommon, you can list a car in under 30 minutes. However, you need to have all documents, images, and descriptions ready and must opt for instant-buying services.
Conclusion
So, how long does it take to list a car online? The time to list a car online depends on your preparation. In most cases, the listing can be published anywhere between 3 hours to a day, depending on the platform policy.
However, inadequate preparation or errors can delay the process by a few days or weeks. The delay doesn’t usually stem from the listing process itself, but from missing information, pricing mistakes, or verification issues. Hence, plan ahead and take the right measures to ensure a seamless listing process!
