1. New communications system: With this new system, sellers can choose to respond directly the inquiring user by sending a new email (as they’ve done in the past), or replying to the system email. Now when a seller replies to the system email, the email is sent back to the system and saved, then a notification is sent to the inquiring user. The inquiring user can respond directly to the email or use a link to respond from a web page. Each notification email contains the full conversation thread. Take a look at how this works here.
2. New look: ListHD’s styling as been adjusted to appear more modern and appealing all over. The layout of listing pages has been adjusted as well. Among these adjustments were: removing the category breadcrumb from the top, increasing the title size, pulling the price out of general listing information and increasing it’s size, making the “contact seller” link much larger and very noticeable, increasing the size of the phone number, and moving a few other links. The result is a much cleaner looking page that shows listing information clearer. The decreased height of the header allows more of the listing to show before scrolling.
3. Listing management: It’s now very easy to renew or delete multiple listings at one time. Within your “my active listings” page, simply check the appropriate listings and select “Renew” or “Delete” from the dropdown menu at the top. There is also a new “Hold” status, which simply makes your listing not publicly viewable (it appears to be expired). You’ll notice a few other tweaks in the account section as well.
4. Other Seller Listings: The other seller’s listings slider at the bottom of listings has been modified to first pull other listings from the same category and parent categories of the listing being viewed. The result should be more similar listings (to the one being viewed) showing, which should be more engaging to potential buyers. This selection is based on the categories selected when creating a ListHD listing. This optimization will only be noticed when a user has at least 20 listings posted.

What’s Next?

Improved system notifications and another new email feature for sellers are a couple of things I’ve got in mind, but I would love to hear from YOU!  What would you like to see added/changed?

The post Better Communication, New Look, Improved Listing Management appeared first on ListHD.com.

HDmail is the name given to the system for processing buyer and seller communication via email. When a buyer uses the contact form, an email notification is sent to the seller. If the seller chooses to reply directly to that notification, the email is sent to HDmail, which saves the incoming message in the user’s ListHD inbox, then sends a notification to the buyer. The buyer can then do the same. This allows all communication to be saved and the seller’s email to be hidden.

There are some things you may want to be aware of to ensure HDmail works well for you. These guidelines are useful for those interested in using HDmail. Sellers can always email the buyer directly using the email address provided in the inital notification.

1. Be sure to reply at the very top of the message. Most email clients automatically put the cursor at the top of the message, but there are a least a couple that do not.
2. Do not modify the subject of the email. The subject contains important information required to properly process the incoming message.
3. Be sure the email address you are replying from is the same as the one the notification was sent to (and that’s set in your ListHD settings). Some people have their inbox set up to receive email from multiple addresses, but send from only one. You must be sending the message from the email address that the notification was sent to for obvious reasons.
4. Enable plain-text messages. This is rarely a problem. Even though many email clients send email in HTML format, they also include a plain-text version. Be sure that you haven’t disabled the plain-text version.

If an error occurs that prevents the message from being processed, you will receive an email stating the failure. This could happen if the subject was modified, an empty reply was sent, or if the email address wasn’t recognized (number 3 above).

If you are interested in using HDmail, I would suggest trying it out for yourself first. Go to one of your listings and submit the contact seller form using an email address you have access to other than the one in your ListHD settings. This will not only allow you to test it for yourself, but see how it works for the buyer as well.

All messaging will be monitored to ensure the system is processing messages correctly. If you see something that appears to be an error, please use the feedback form to let me know to ensure I’m aware of the issue.

The post HDmail: How It Works appeared first on ListHD.com.

1. Listing Comments allow you to add a discussion box to your ListHD listing using Facebook Comments or Disqus Comments. Of course Facebook Comments require a user to use their Facebook account to make a comment.
2. Twitter Feed allows a user to add their latest tweets to their ListHD listings.

Both options can be set in “my account information” after logging into ListHD. Both options are site-wide settings meaning that once you select a comments option or add your Twitter username, the widgets begin showing on all of your listings. Either option can easily be turned off within your account settings as well.

The post Add Comments and Twitter Feed appeared first on ListHD.com.

Sample template with Other Listings link

Buyers today are savvy shoppers and love a great selection. So why are you only presenting them with one option in your craigslist ads when you could be doing more?

If you are a dealer selling many related items or have several complimentary items for sale, you need to be providing the buyer a route to find those items. Sure you can mention similar items when they call you, but if you don’t generate enough interest you aren’t going to get the call.

ListHD makes it easy to link all your items together and showcase other items on each of your listings. On templates generated by ListHD, a convenient “My Other Listings” button is available. When clicked, a user is taken to a list of your items for sale (try in this example template).

Also, a gallery slider is avaliable on your ListHD listing pages that showcases your other items listed quite nicely. Being the only moving thing on the page, it jumps out at the viewer. This quickly turns a craigslist view of one item into a craigslist view of 20 of your items.

The best part of it is all ListHD services are free! See template examples and other features ListHD has to offer on the homepage.

Sample slider on ListHD listing to feature seller's other items

The post Add Other Listings in Your Craigslist Ads for Cross Selling appeared first on ListHD.com.

1. Clean it out, then clean it up!  Everybody’s truck has all kinds of junk in it and it generally will not sell as well when it’s got mud all over it. Spend ten bucks and take it to a car wash in town to have it washed, then vacuum it out too.
2. Take pictures of it.  Be sure to take pictures of it with something better than a five year old cell phone. Maybe ask your wife to use her new iPhone.
3. Sit down and write an ad out.  No matter how you advertise, you will need to have a good ad listing out all the details and specifications of your truck. Be sure to include any extra/aftermarket accessories that add value. Listing this out will also be helpful in the next step.
4. Determine the market value of your truck.  Look for other trucks like yours for sale. Be sure to compare apples to apples. Try to find similar trucks that are the same year, make, and model. Go on autotrader.com or cars.com and do a search for similar trucks. Remember, just because another truck is listed for a certain price doesn’t mean it will sell for that price. Depending on how fast you want this truck sold, you will need to have yours at the bottom of the price range. http://www.kbb.com and http://www.nadaguides.com may be helpful too.
5. Create a ListHD listing for your truck.  This will allow you to point everyone to one central location for details and high quality images of your truck. ListHD also allows you to generate nice craigslist templates too… and it’s free.
6. Generate a template to post on Craigslist. At the end of the posting process, you will be given an opportunity to generate the code to post on Craigslist. What great about a template? Well it will allow you to show more images and larger images in your Craigslist ad, which will get your truck noticed!
7. Share your ListHD ad on social networks and tell your wife to “Like” it.  Now your wife probably has 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 times as many facebook, etc … friends as you do, so get your wife to post it to her profile too.
8. Advertise your truck locally.  It’s always a good idea to advertise locally using whatever method is available in your town. Keep in mind that you can refer locals to your listing through a short url:  listhd.com/ad/AD ID.

Hopefully these tips will help you get your old truck sold and into a new truck.

The post 8 Tips For Selling a Truck on Craigslist Faster appeared first on ListHD.com.

Here’s a couple of places to help determine a price for your RV:

1. NADA RV Guide – http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs
2. RV Trader Online Price Checker – http://www.rvtraderonline.com/research/tools/price-checker

Try to find the cheapest RV that is very comparable to yours, same make and model would be best, for a good comparison. Just remember, you are liking to run into some that are over priced, so just ignore those. Imagine that you are the buyer, looking for an RV just like yours. What price looks reasonable?

Second, write out a descriptive, personal ad description about your RV. First, list out all the facts and specifications regarding the RV. Buyers will be looking for this, so if you provide it in your ad copy, you will make it easier for them and your item slightly more attractive. Second, try to explain some of those details. Especially on lower-end RVs, many buyers are completely new to the RV world. They are having to learn a lot in the buying experience and if you can help them here, you are again at a slight advantage.

Lastly, try to make an emotional connection with the buyer. Now you are probably thinking that sounds nice, but there’s no way that’s happening! Well, it may be easier than you think. Think of the special times you had with family or friends in the RV. Maybe you used the RV for tailgating with your two sons and wife and the trailer hitch allowed you to bring your golf cart to ride around there. Maybe a bike rack that was added allowed you to easily bring everyone’s bike for riding at the camp ground. Doing this, will make the buyer think of his family in your story which 1. can create a great connection to your item and 2. make your item stand out from the others.

Third, take lots of good high quality images of your RV. Sounds so simple why mention it? Well some could do much better here. For one, be sure you are using a decent camera that will take good quality images.  Don’t settle for just 9 images from an old cellphone’s camera. Chances are if you have an RV, you have a good camera too. Use the good camera to ensure large, clear photos. Take like 30 images of the inside and out. Be sure to capture every angle of the item. I would also recommend taking the images in order, so by the time you upload them, they are already in order for the buyer, so when viewing them, the buyer will better feel like they are actually walking around your RV. Finally, take the images on a pretty day if possible. Taking the images when it’s snowing or when it’s about to storm doesn’t usually look to appealing to people who want or think they want an RV. Take the images when there is some sunshine and it looks nice outside.

Finally, post your RV for sale in as many places as possible. You’ve created a great ad, so show it off now and reap the rewards of your hard work by getting your item sold quicker and for a higher price. First, post your item on ListHD. This will show your item nicely and give you one central location to point buyers. ListHD makes it easy to post a nice image gallery to Craigslist too, which will impress buyers there. Add a link from all your other online advertisements to ListHD, by doing this, it makes it easier to make changes to your ad in the future. Don’t forget to add a link to your ListHD ad in your local classifieds publication (if you have one in your city/town).

These tips should definitely make your RV selling experience easier. Hope it works well for you and good luck.

The post How to Sell an RV Online with Craigslist appeared first on ListHD.com.

Basically this is a great time to evaluate your online and offline marketing strategies. Is there room for improvement? Do you see competitors doing some form of advertisement that you aren’t doing? Has an advertisement caught your eye in the past six months that you still specifically remember? – that was probably a pretty good advertisement.

You need marketing answers, so to get those answers you need to be asking yourself and others around you questions. Are there any other places I can “touch” the buyer? Maybe a website, online ad, publication, business partnership, direct mailing, giveaway, competition, etc? In my advertisements, can I get buyers “closer” to my items? Do I make myself more accessible to buyers? Am I providing the information they are looking for? Is my marketing engaging or boring? Do buyers trust my advertisements?

Often good advertisements are creative and different which brings me to ListHD. If your marketing strategy includes craigslist (which it probably should), you should consider using ListHD. Items posted on craigslist using a ListHD template stand out.

In simple terms, when you post on craigslist with ListHD, you give buyers more to look at – more images and larger images. When you give them more to look at, they look at your ad longer. Your item is represented in “high definition”, which gets buyers closer to your item and you closer to a sell.

ListHD also makes it easier by providing a centralized place to advertise. Create the advertisement of your item once, then generate templates to post elsewhere, or simply link to your ListHD ad. Doing this allows you to modify your ad in one place, so that you can easily modify details or mark the item sold later.

When buyers are shopping, they are usually researching and making comparisons. If you prefer to sell a make or model of an item because it has been proven to you to work better or last longer, share your knowledge with the buyer. “In my X years of being in business, more customers have been happy with this item than that item because…” or “Since this house has brick on nearly every inch of the outside, maintenance of it on the outside will be very minimal.”

I think you see the benefit of this by now, but there are other services out there too. Why use ListHD? Sure there are, but ListHD provides options without the price tag. All use of ListHD is free, even dealer services. Using ListHD, dealers can even manage their inventory with an excel feed – saving time when adding or modifying items.

Just check out the homepage to get an idea of how you can take advantage of ListHD – Your buyers will appreciate it!

ListHD can also be used to generate eBay templates.

The post 2012 New Year’s Resolution: Sell More! appeared first on ListHD.com.

How postings are ghosted on Craigslist is a mysterious thing, but it seems that HTML in a post can (but not always) have a negative affect on it. Reducing the amount of HTML you post in a Craigslist ad description should help reduce that chances of it being ghosted.

Further, using HTML tags that are not supported by Craigslist can cause ghosting as well. If those HTML tags go into your template design that’s made into an image, they will never be seen by Craigslist.

Another nice thing about SnapShots is that you can generate a different SnapShot image for each template. When you generate a SnapShot a second time of a particular template, the original SnapShot is overwritten, so if you have already posted it on Craigslist, it will be updated and you won’t have to repost it to Craigslist again.

SnapShot will be available to listHD regular users no later than Monday, December 5, 2011 (it will not be available on ListHD Basic)(Both are free).

The post SnapShot – Create an Image of your HTML Template appeared first on ListHD.com.

ListHD Basic allows users to upload images by emailing them in as attachments, which is convenient since most people are very familiar with emailing on their smartphone.

While the email is being processed, users enter a title and description, then hit save. Most likely, images will have uploaded and will show up by then, but if not, just wait a minute and Save again.

Once the images show up, users can select a template and preview it. The code for each template is shown at the bottom and can be copied and pasted anywhere.

ListHD Basic doesn’t require any user registration either, so go ahead and give it a try now!

The post Create a HTML Template on a Mobile Device appeared first on ListHD.com.

Now granted, Basic doesn’t provide all the features that the regular ListHD provides such as an additional template layout, more posting options and images, a contact messaging system, and of course the new bulk inventory management for dealers. Basic does get the job done well for one-time users that need to get something posted while waiting on someone* in a store, during a college lecture, or waiting at the gas pump. And I guess it’s obvious by now that Basic is much more mobile friendly than regular ListHD.

So if you’ve got something to post, go ahead and give it a try! Just upload your images, enter some info about your item, select your template, preview it, and snag the code to paste in your craigslist description or anywhere!

The post The Quickest Way to Create a Craigslist Template – Basic appeared first on ListHD.com.