What Buyers Actually Look for on DoneDeal Ireland
Your car has been listed for three weeks. You've had four inquiries. None turned into viewings. This isn't because your car isn't worth selling — it's because DoneDeal buyers are scanning listings in a specific way, and most sellers don't know what they're looking at.
DoneDeal is where Irish car buyers go first. It's where 80% of private car sales start. But the platform rewards sellers who understand buyer behaviour — what catches their eye in the first 6 seconds, what makes them click "contact seller", and what stops them scrolling.
Here's what actually happens on DoneDeal, and how to fix it.
The Core Problem: You're Not Talking to How DoneDeal Buyers Think
DoneDeal buyers are different from AutoTrader buyers. They're price-sensitive. They're skeptical. They've been burned before. And they scroll fast.
The average DoneDeal user spends 3–4 seconds looking at your listing thumbnail before deciding whether to click into it. Then, if they click, they have about 6 seconds to decide if they're interested enough to read your full description or contact you.
This means two things matter more than anything else:
- Your first photo — it has to be clean, bright, straight-on, and show the car's condition immediately.
- Your headline and price — they need to match what buyers are actually searching for, and the price needs to feel credible for that car in that condition.
Most sellers fail at both. They use a side-angle photo taken in the shade. They write a headline like "2015 Toyota Yaris — Excellent Condition". And they price it €200 above market rate because they bought it for €8,500.
DoneDeal buyers know the market. They've looked at 30 listings already today. They can spot unrealistic pricing and unclear photos in seconds.
What Buyers Are Actually Looking for on DoneDeal
1. The photos come first — before the price, before the mileage, before anything.
Irish buyers use DoneDeal on their phones during lunch breaks, on trains, and while sitting in traffic. They're scrolling through 50 car listings. Your photo has to stop the scroll.
This means:
- First photo must be taken in daylight, head-on, showing the car's full front and driver's side.
- The car must be clean — washed, not detailed, but clean enough that dirt doesn't hide scratches or dents.
- Include photos of the interior: steering wheel, dashboard, seats, back seats. Buyers need to see wear patterns.
- Include the undercarriage and wheel arches if the car is older than 10 years — rust concerns are real in Ireland.
- Include a photo of the odometer showing mileage.
- Include a photo of the NCT cert if it's current. If it's not, say so upfront.
A 2012 Volkswagen Golf with 89,000 miles, clean photos, and a current NCT will get 8–12 inquiries in the first week. The same car with blurry side-angle photos and no NCT visible will get 1–2.
2. The headline needs to be specific, not flowery.
DoneDeal buyers search by make, model, year, and price range. Your headline should match how they search, not how you want to describe the car.
Bad headlines:
- "Beautiful 2015 Yaris — Brilliant Condition"
- "Reliable Ford Focus — No Issues"
- "Cheap Toyota Corolla — Must See"
Good headlines:
- "2015 Toyota Yaris 1.3 Petrol, 76k Miles, Full Service History"
- "2014 Ford Focus 1.6 Diesel, NCT to 2026, Recently Serviced"
- "2011 Toyota Corolla 1.4 Petrol, 92k, New Tyres"
The second set is boring. It's also effective. It tells buyers immediately whether this car matches what they're looking for.
3. Price matters, but credibility matters more.
Irish buyers will check your price against three things: DoneDeal listings for the same car, Cartell.ie for the car's history, and their own knowledge of the local market.
If your price is €500 above market rate for a car with average condition and average mileage, you'll sit for weeks. If you're €500 below, you'll get 15 inquiries in two days.
This isn't about underpricing. It's about matching the market. A 2015 Hyundai i20 with 65,000 miles in Dublin, full service history, and a current NCT should be priced €6,800–€7,200, not €7,700. Buyers know this.
4. The description needs to address buyer concerns directly.
Irish car buyers have standard questions:
- "Is the NCT done?" — Answer this in your first sentence if yes. If no, say "NCT due [month]" and price accordingly.
- "Any accidents?" — Be honest. If the car has a Cartell.ie report showing minor damage from 2018, buyers will find out anyway. Better you tell them first.
- "What's the best price?" — Don't say "price is firm" in your description. It makes you sound defensive. Price it right the first time.
- "How many owners?" — Include this. Two owners is better than five. Five is better than unknown.
- "Full service history?" — If you have it, say "full service history with receipts". If you don't, say "recent service at [garage name]".
A good DoneDeal description is 100–150 words. It answers these four questions and stops. Anything longer gets skimmed.
5. Your contact approach affects response rates.
Buyers on DoneDeal expect you to be available and responsive. If you list a car Monday morning but don't check messages until Thursday, you've missed your window. The buyer has already bought a different car.
The fastest sales happen when the seller responds within 2 hours and offers a flexible viewing time. If you can only show the car on Saturday afternoons, say so upfront. Buyers will self-select.
What Most Sellers Get Wrong on DoneDeal
Mistake #1: Using blurry photos or photos taken from bad angles. A photo taken from the side, in the shade, at a 45-degree angle might look nice to you. To a DoneDeal buyer scrolling on their phone, it looks like you're hiding something. Take straight-on photos in daylight.
Mistake #2: Writing flowery descriptions instead of specific ones. "This car is a dream" tells buyers nothing. "2016 Honda Civic 1.8 Petrol, 48k miles, full service history, new clutch fitted March 2024" tells them everything they need to know in 15 seconds.
Mistake #3: Pricing above market rate because you overpaid. The market doesn't care what you paid. It only cares about condition, mileage, and current supply. If comparable cars are €6,500, yours isn't worth €7,200 just because you spent a lot on it.
Mistake #4: Not mentioning the NCT status upfront. If your car's NCT expires in three months, say so in the headline or opening sentence. If it's current until 2026, that's a selling point — mention it. Buyers assume the worst if you don't mention it.
Mistake #5: Being defensive in your description. Phrases like "No time-wasters", "Price is firm", or "Full inspection available" make you sound like you don't trust buyers. They make buyers not trust you. Let your price and photos do the talking.
Quick Wins You Can Do Today
If your car has been listed for more than two weeks without serious interest, try this:
Win #1: Re-photograph the car. Take 12 photos: front, back, driver's side, passenger's side, interior dashboard, steering wheel, front seats, back seats, boot, wheels, odometer, and NCT cert if you have it. Take them in daylight. Retake the listing with the new photos.
Win #2: Rewrite your headline using the formula: [Year] [Make] [Model] [Engine Size] [Fuel Type], [Mileage], [One Key Selling Point]. Example: "2016 Ford Fiesta 1.5 Diesel, 62k, NCT to 2025". Clear, specific, searchable.
Win #3: Check your price against five comparable cars on DoneDeal right now. Note the mileage, condition, and NCT status. If your car is in the middle of the pack, your price should be too. If it's better, price it at the top. If it's worse, price it at the bottom.
Win #4: Add one sentence to your description that addresses the biggest buyer concern for your car type. For cars over 10 years old, it's rust: "Undercarriage clean, no rust evident". For high-mileage cars: "Recent full service, all major components checked". For cars with accident history: "Minor front-end damage in 2019, fully repaired by [garage], no ongoing issues".
Win #5: Set a phone alarm to respond to messages within 2 hours between 10am and 6pm. Your response speed directly affects whether a buyer arranges a viewing or moves on to the next listing.
How to Know If You're Getting This Right
You've optimised your DoneDeal listing correctly if you get 3–5 genuine inquiries in the first week. Not "interested" messages from dealers trying to buy your car cheap — actual buyer inquiries asking to view.
If you're getting zero inquiries after two weeks, it's not that your car isn't worth selling. It's that your listing isn't matching how DoneDeal buyers search and browse.
The good news: fixing this takes a few hours, and the difference is immediate.
Most sellers waste weeks trying small adjustments — dropping the price by €100, rewording the description slightly, adding one extra photo. Instead, start from scratch: new photos, new headline, price checked against the current market.
If you're listing a car on DoneDeal right now, use this framework. If you're trying to figure out what your car is actually worth in today's market — not what you paid for it, not what you hope to get, but what Irish buyers are really paying for that make, model, year, and condition — you can see exactly what your car is worth based on real DoneDeal data right now with CarIQ's market report (€19.99). It takes the guesswork out of pricing and saves you weeks of frustration.