Editor’s Note: Our friends over at DirtHammer are building out the Bring a Trailer for side-by-sides, and they offered to show RideApart’s ravenous powersport readers a thing or two about the ins and outs of selling your machine. We’ll be running a few stories from them, with this being the first. And oh boy, this first one is definitely a learning experience.
We spend our days sorting through side-by-sides for sale online and highlighting the best of the best. We’ve seen everything from weird John Deere Gators with freaky fiberglass roofs to $100,000 customs that are nicer than anything we have parked in the garage. The crazy part is how many awesome rigs we see with atrocious listings.
If you’ve spent any amount of time on Facebook Marketplace, you’re probably not shocked. That site’s the poster child for the bare minimum. Take this 2024 Polaris RZR XP 1000 Sport, for example.
This kind of machine is like catnip for us. The RZR XP 1000 is a rad entry-level sport machine, and this one’s less than a year old. But this ad’s a disaster, and because of that, we passed it up at DirtHammer.com.
So before you start trying to sell your side-by-side, here are a few things you can learn from this awful ad. Let’s start at the top.
Title: Get It Right
Look, I get it. Side-by-sides have some of the worst model names ever conceived, but if you don’t spell out the full and correct details for your machine, potential buyers can’t find it. This ad isn’t the worst offender we’ve seen, but it’s still not great. The seller has it listed as a “2024 Polaris XP 1000 Sport.” Unfortunately, one crucial detail is missing: RZR. Last time I checked, Polaris makes 5,000 different “XP 1000” machines, and only a handful are RZRs.
If you can’t remember all the letters and numbers associated with your machine, hop over to the manufacturer’s website. They’re all there. Copy and paste, friends.
Details: They’re Important
Think of it from a buyer’s perspective: What do you want to know? Price and location, sure, but how about mileage? Does the seller have the title or is there a lien on the machine? Are there any aftermarket parts? Anything left of the factory warranty?
This ad gives us none of that. Instead, we get five sentences, two of which are about the guy’s housing situation. OK, thanks?
Photos: Don’t Be Lazy
This is the big one.
If you want me to hand you $16,000 of my hardly earned dollars, you’re going to need to do more than snap two miserable photos of the rig on a trailer. Have the decency to back the machine out into those five glorious acres you told us about in the description and click away. The internet doesn’t charge by the photo, so go wild. The more the merrier.
Again, details are important. Get the interior, the tires, the engine compartment. Anything and everything someone might ask you about, including the odometer. Make certain you capture every angle. Front, rear, driver side, and passenger side. And, I can’t stress this enough, make sure the rig is clean and well lit. Bonus points if the photos are horizontal.
You don’t need to be Larry Chen, but the better your photos are, the more likely you are to get your asking price. Remember, humans are animals who like shiny things. You’re selling more than a side-by-side. You’re selling the life the buyer will lead when they have your machine in their hands. Show them where you’ve taken it. Show it at sunset. In short, show it off.
And hey, if you’ve done your homework, if you’ve showcased your rig well enough, and if it isn’t a basket case, we’ll feature your rig on DirtHammer.com. So when you’re ready, we’ll see you there.
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