No, you're not being pedantic. It's another one of those little clues which indirectly tell you something about the vendor and therefore the vehicle. I used to agree with those who thought it was petty, but Ebay is a great place to learn the folly of this belief, as I have on several occasions.
Poor spelling does not make you a bad person. Or even a stupid person. It does, however, give me the impression that you don't care enough to check what you've written. I've heard the arguments of the "can't be bothered to spell or punctuate" camp for years, and there isn't really an excuse. It reflects badly on you and whatever you're trying to sell - would you employ someone with an application letter full of mistakes?
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If the price is right I'll buy from anyone (legal). But poor punctuation and a badly written advert rarely command a high price so soemtimes it's worth looking as many others will not.
If you are a seller ,it's a way of losing money cos you get buyers like me:-)
madf
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We all have differing standards of literacy and grammar. Don't judge others by your own, imperfect, standard.
"Am I being pedantic?!!" shouldn't have any exclamations after the question mark!
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Some people are careless with language, others have real problems or were let down by formal education. If a minute decoding reveals a dyslexic with a knowledge of the vehicle I'd be quite happy.
It's the well written spin you need to be wary of!
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Yes, there are many angles to look at it. My opinion is that if the advertiser hasn't bothered to spell properly, and misses important information it shows laziness and the likelyhood is that lazy people don't usually clean their cars, or look after them a lot. I know it is a generalisation, but in most cases, a person who likes their car and enjoyed it, it is really not too much to ask to get the spelling right. And remember cars are in most cases the second most expensive purchase to most people, so they should take it seriously.
I also personally look for information. Short ads don't show much interest if they miss out major pieces of information like mileage, condition, and other pieces of information.
Also, where they live is important. A dirty home with holes in the roof show they are less than likely to have maintained the car well.
And consistency is important in addition to a good gut feeling.
I know I am picky, but when I purchase cars I keep it for a while so a little more research and searching pays it rewards very quickly. A perfect car to me is important.
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Bear in mind that some people like to act a bit 'thick', perhaps in oder to lull you into a false sense of superiority - but they're actually pretty sharp thinkers / negotiators. It doesn't do to name the type of people, but I'm sure we can all think of examples.
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Anyone who sells on Ebay clearly has access to a computer. In that case, they almost certainly have access to a spelling checker (I refuse to call it a "spell checker" as that seems more suited to witchcraft).
So, someone who misspells many words in an advert is not using all the tools available, which suggests a rather lax attitude in general. On this basis I would disregard their vehicle.
V
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Bear in mind that some people like to act a bit 'thick', perhaps in oder to lull you into a false sense of superiority - but they're actually pretty sharp thinkers / negotiators.
Very true, I've come across a lot of people like this, all simple country bumkins until the question of money came up !
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Having spent a lot of time searching for two cars it is not just individuals who cannot sort out a decent advert.
I spent excessive hours searching Autotrader using the link from here.
So many traders could not get their act together and create a decent advert.
Wrong general descriptions including the colour, lazy copying of specs, but most of all stupid priorities in the basic descriptions so the Autotrader searches did not find what specifics I wanted.
Many just wasted their chances of being selected.
I wasted so much time looking at unsuitable cars because I largely had to ignore the option of supplying parameters.
One of the biggest dealers in europe even had difficulty finding out the engine size of one offering.
I eventually found what I was looking for but both were about 100 miles from home.
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an example of a private advert.
A quick search for a Mondeo for £20K plus gave a hole in one.
The only hit was
"2001 FORD MONDEO 1.8 LX 5dr Hatchback,
31,900 miles, blue/grey, PAS, Rear wiper, 3x3 point rear seat belts, Drivers airbag, Passenger airbag, Side airbags, mot, air condition, service history, economic, cheap insurance. £34,000. ono"
Good price? Love the colour. etc.
Oh and a set of exterior photos taken in the street outside about 30 mins after sunset.
I can see the numberplate and lights but the rest is eh... black.
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>>The only hit was>>
An offer around £31,500 should prove successful...:-))
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Not only would I not buy from an illiterate seller but I can be put off settling to a poor English speaker.
When MrsS's Micra was put in Auto Trader, I had a call from someone who was calling from some 100 miles away. His English was very poor and he did n't even know what sort of car a Micra was. He offered me £300 less than my asking price and asked me to hold the car for him. Needless to say I did n't give him directions to our home ..... I'm certain he would n't have found it anyway.
_______
IanS
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Doh! How embarrassing! Top line should read:
"Not only would I not buy from an illiterate seller but I can be put off selling to a poor English speaker."
_______
IanS
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Like it or not, we all make snap judgements about people we meet, not always accurate, but that's human nature. Bear in mind that many mistakes in lineage may be the fault of the newspaper, especially in local press where quality control may not be a priority.
You certainly make a judgement when meeting a seller face to face, but remember many people use classical language to mask a complete lack of knowledge. Some of the thickest people around are supposedly the most educated :)
--
let me be the last to let you down....
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Ive not looked for ages, but I remember seeing lots of typos in the Free Ads and Admag papers. I assumed it was people phoning their advert in and inexperienced phone staff taking the text down incorrectly/ out of context?
On a lighter note; its an old but good one, (probably fictitious) classified ad in a book I had:
FOR SALE: Ford recovery truck, vgc, average mileage, comes complete with two ton wench.
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"would you employ someone with an application letter full of mistakes?"
No and I don't. If people can't take the effort to check their application then then it goes in the bin. There's no excuse, if spelling is not your strong point then get someone to check it for you.
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What if you are not aware of your spelling problems? May sound odd, but I'm sure people don't deliberately spell things wrongly, and many probably can't see a problem with what they've written.
Now I understand that may be a problem if someone's job depends on good written English, but it's hardly important when selling a car...?
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Not motoring, but does prove a point about spelling and spell checkers:-
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
(Originally posted in an old IHAQ thread, IIRC)
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Which is exactly why if you know spelling and grammar are not your strong points you should get someone to check it. And everyone has a general appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses. I'm useless with computers for example :-(
Some of the graduate applications I have to read really would make you laugh (or cry).
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"would you employ someone with an application letter full of mistakes?" No and I don't. If people can't take the effort to check their application then then it goes in the bin. There's no excuse, if spelling is not your strong point then get someone to check it for you.
OK if you are recruiting for a job where written english is a core skill, but it's not the measure of everything is it?. Having applications checked by someone else is only a stop short of having them written by someone else.
Not sure if he still posts here but there used to be a backroomer who was pretty hot on tech stuff but had trouble with punctuation, for good reasons which he explained when jumped on by the habitual nitpickers.
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Surely anyone bothering to write an ad for a car can look at other ads for the same make and realise that (for example) Renault is not spelt Reno?
I try to maintain some sort of standard that makes communication easier and I'm capable of using evidence of the same effort from other people to make snap judgements about the sort of persons I would be happy to deal with.
Also, I live in a country that does not have English as its first language, so if I go public with any piece of writing I do my best to make sure it's as near perfect as I can manage.
Common sense (doing as others do) and technology (the spell checker for example) now mean that anyone can do the same.
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As well as those who don't know whether they have spelt everything correctly, there are also those who don't much care either. I still don't see how you can form a judgement on a car they may be selling based on that.
Still, if it works for you, pre-judge all you like, however as the saying goes you can't judge a book by it's cover...
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