Buying and selling cars at online auctions such as eBay is becoming increasingly popular. As a seller, there are a few guidelines that you might want to follow so that you can generate a lot of interest in your car auction ... and a profitable sale.

Pictures Speak Volumes

You want your car looking its best if you want to get a good price for it. You might need to invest in a good car painting job. You will also want to get it detailed.

Spend a bit of time and money on your listing. Make sure you have a detailed auction description and a nice selection of pictures. If you have a lot of pictures, you can present them in a slideshow. You can also offer to send more photos by email, although it is likely that most people will not go through the time or trouble to ask for more pictures by email. Nonetheless, you will be much better off having as many pictures as possible available on your eBay Motors posting than having just one or two photos.

Photos That You Should Include at eBay Motors

If you live in sunny Arizona or California, this first tip may seem a bit odd ... take a picture of the underside of the car. Your auction visitors want to make sure there is no rust or other damage. In wintry areas such as the Midwest where salt is used on the highways, rust is a big problem. No one wants to buy a rusted out vehicle. While you are at it, you might want to take some pictures of the fender wells, too.

Put your potential buyers in the driver's seat. For example, you will want to show a picture of the dashboard, a clear image of the odometer and interior of the car from the driver's perspective and, if it's a muscle car with standard transmission, the stick shift and panel. You will want to feature other quality pictures of the interior such as floor mats, the seats and headliner.

Obviously, you will want to include pictures of the outside of the car, too. Present photos of the driver's side, the rear, the passenger side, and front.

If there are damages or flaws to your vehicle's exterior or interior, it is much better to be safe than sorry. That means you should take close-up pictures of the flaws and note them in the description. By being upfront, you will not have an irate buyer later.

Be sure to clean up your engine compartment and then take pictures of it. Take the dipstick out and photograph a close up of the oil to show that is fresh and clean.

Clean up the trunk and take pictures of that, too. People like to see a spacious, clean trunk.

Finally, be sure to answer any email requests as soon as you can. Include your phone number so people can call with questions.