We are passionate about motorsport and our goal is to open the market for buying selling and promoting everything to do with motorsport. By ‘open’ we mean making it quick, easy, and cost effective to trade.

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Why does MotorsportAds.co.uk work whereas other websites I've used don't?

Firstly, we've made this site clean, simple, uncluttered, easy to follow and navigate. That's critical and that's why people like it, use it, tell other people about it, and come back regularly. Of course, it's a process of continual improvement so we won’t be sitting around doing nothing – and we welcome any suggestions you'd like to make.

Secondly, we carry out extensive marketing activity – including promotion at selected race circuits, press advertising, race championship sponsorship & promotion, web promotion, and telesales activity - to make sure everyone in motorsport is aware of us, so that we can increase the likelihood of people seeing your ads.

Thirdly, the structure of our ads and the power of our search engine means that buyers can readily find what they're looking for, without wading through pages and pages of irrelevant information.

Fourthly, because we're working hard making sure it works - checking ad content and suggesting enhancements where necessary, listening careful to comments and suggestions and acting upon them, carefully looking at everything we do to make it as efficient and as effective as possible.

Fifthly, cos we're just nice people.....

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How do I place a classified ad?

Three straightforward steps:

Firstly, if you’re not already registered, complete our registration form.

Secondly, select 'Place Ad', chose the category you want to advertise in, select the style of ad (Feature, Standard, or Free), enter the details needed, and upload your photos

Thirdly, check our Terms and Conditions if you have not already done so, confirm your acceptance of them, make any payment needed, and decide whether or not you wish to pledge a charity donation.

Your ad will automatically be placed immediately. You will be able to see your ad within its ad category, search and find it, and edit it from within the ‘My Account’ option. In certain circumstances ads do not appear immediately as our content checker may refer the ad to us prior to placement – you will be notified of this, and we will endeavour to place the ad within one normal working day.

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Am I a Trade or Private Advertiser?

The Business Advertisement Disclosure Order 1977 requires all advertisements by people who seek to sell goods in the course of business to make the fact clear. This requirement applies whether the advertiser is acting on his own behalf or for some other person in the course of whose business goods are to be sold.

We allow you to indicate this when you register by stating whether you are a Trade or Private Advertiser. In some situations it is arguable whether or not it is a Trade sell (for example a race team whose business is preparing and running race cars who want to sell one of their cars) so we would recommend that, if in doubt, go for Trade. We're not aware of any particularly negative impact that would have on sales of motorsport items. It's certainly best and follows the spirit of the law to make it clear in such circumstances to any potential buyers exact what the nature of your business is.

I thought I'd placed an ad but can't find it?

If the ad doesn't appear within 'My Account', then it has not been completed. By far the most likely reason for this is uploading very large photos and either the internet connection timing out or user intervention.

We recommend that you firstly resize your photos to a maximum of 500x500 pixels and, if you have the software to do it, compress the photo as much as possible whilst still retaining a decent picture quality. Alternatively, complete the Place Ad process without uploading photos, then select to edit your ad from within My Account and upload the photos at that time.

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What are the different types of classified ad?

There is a choice of three different classified ad styles:

Feature & Standard Ads

Feature & Standard Ads are the most prominent way to advertise, and offer the best prospects for successfully selling items. They appear at the top of ad listings (Feature Ads first then Standard Ads) and stand out both with a 180 character ad summary and by your own choice of colour.

Feature Ads are also displayed on the Home Page, in rotation, in order to maximise their exposure, and attract 3-5 times the number of viewings.

Both Feature Ads and Standard Ads allow you to provide the following information:

Your own title for the ad

A 180 character ad summary which appears within ad listings

A full description of the item or service you are advertising (up to 5000 characters)

Dependant on category there may be additional information you are asked to provide in order to help searching

Up to four photos or images

Your choice of colours for your ad

A URL if you wish to link your ad to an external website

Your contact details (which are taken automatically from your registration details)

Free Ads

Only for items under £2,000, Free Ads appear below Standard Ads in category listings and search results. They are less prominent in the main listings than Standard & Feature Ads and are listed without an ad summary. Once the ad page is opened, it displays the same information as a Standard Ad except for a web link.

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Is my credit/debit card payment secure?

All payments made online via MotorsportAds.co.uk are processed by a company called Protx who are the preferred choice for many banks including HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Nat West. We don’t process any credit card information directly on our website.

Protx has achieved the highest level of compliance under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI). They adhere to the most stringent levels of fraud screening, ensuring that your details remain secure throughout the transaction process.

If however you prefer to make your payment over the phone, please place your ad, then call us with your credit/debit card details.

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How will someone find my ad?

Clicking on a category on the left hand side menu, will open all ads within that category. Feature Ads appear at the top of the listings, Standard Ads appear next in the listings, followed by Free Ads. In certain categories there are sub-categories, allowing an initial finer tune of ad listings.

The normal search tool then allows you to search ad content for specific words or phrases. The advanced search tool enables you to be significantly more specific, with search criteria which are specific to each ad category.

Try to think what keywords people might use when searching for your item, and make sure your ad contains these words. For example a search for 'VW' will not find 'Volkswagen' and vice versa, so include both words in your ad eg 'Volkswagen/VW'

Listings show a thumbnail photo, title, description, price, distance, number of times the ad has been viewed, and whether you are a private or trade advertiser. Clicking on an ad within the listings opens the full ad.

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How can I search for items for sale?

There are two ways to find what you're looking for: one is to browse the ad categories using the navigation menu on the left of the website; the other is to use the search feature, from either within a specific category or on the Home Page to search all ads.

All classified ads are placed in their most relevant category. Several categories have sub-categories to help you easily access the ads you want to see. Clicking on a category name on the left menu will display all the ads in that category, and you can browse through them, or filter them further by searching for something specific (see next paragraph).

Within each category or sub-category there is a simple text search facility so, for example, if you enter "Clio" in the search the results will display all ads with the characters "Clio" within the ad title, description or specifications. In several categories you can filter the ads that are displayed (for example in Race Cars you can select All, Single Seaters, Saloons, or GT/Sports Cars). Then the search will only look at ads within the filtered list of that category.

When you search for a phrase with more than one word in it, e.g. MG Midget, the text search will find all ads that have both these words in their details in any order and not necessarily together. As long as the ad has the word MG and the word Midget anywhere in the details the ad will be found. If you want to find the specific phrase MG Midget then put double quotes around the phrase, i.e. "MG Midget". You can mix phrases and words into one search so the search for "MG Midget" Race Cars will find any ads with the phrase MG Midget and the words Cars and Race anywhere in their details. Text searches are not case sensitive.

Advanced search allows you to search more specifically on different criteria depending which category you're in. For example in race cars there are criteria like 'Championships Eligible For' and 'Engine Size', whereas in motorhomes criteria are things like 'Sleeping Capacity' and 'Length'.

Bear in mind when searching that it's possible that the advertiser might not have used the keyword(s) you are using in your search, so sometimes it's worth trying some variations.

If you want to search all ads regardless of category, use the search from the Home Page.

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How can I sort my search results?

You can sort by price, ad title, date the ad was last viewed, date the ad was created, and distance. To sort by distance you must be registered and logged in, as we use the first half of your postcode to calculate distances.

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Can I place more than one ad?

Yes, you may place as many ads as you like, but only one Free Ad per item or service, with a maximum of ten Free Ads per person or organisation. Ads automatically expire at the end of six months, but can be renewed, or you can choose to remove the ad at any time.

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How do I manage my ads?

Within ‘My Account’ you can access your current and recently expired ads. You can activate or remove ads any time, edit an ad, upgrade an ad, and extend the ad placement period.

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How do I remove my ad once it's sold?

Within 'My Account', tick the box alongside your ad to show whether it's sold via motorsportads or elsewhere, and click the button 'Process ticked ads'.

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Do I get a part refund if my item is sold quickly?

Yes, in all seriousness, we've really been asked this question! The answer is of course no, but if you'd like to show your delight in selling your item so quickly, then please:

a) tell others how good MotorsportAds.co.uk is
b) do all your motorsport related advertising with us
c) make a donation with some of the proceeds of your sale to either or both of the Motorsport Safety Fund and the British Motor Sport Training Trust. Click here to find out more.

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I placed my ad over a week ago and it hasn't sold yet. Why?

Some items sell really quickly on MotorsportAds.co.uk, others do take longer. The nature of the motorsport marketplace is that it's not uncommon for certain motorsport items to take some time to sell. That doesn’t mean that the item itself is necessarily in any way deficient or overpriced, just that the marketplace is finite and people are not always looking for, say, a particular type of race car at the same time as someone puts it on the market. That's one of the reasons all our ads are for six months duration. Nevertheless, it's worth checking that your item is competitively priced, clearly and properly described, and that you've used good photos in your ad. Also, please make sure you've included and correctly spelt all the words that someone searching for your item would be likely to use.

If it's a Free Ad, it may be worth considering upgrading it to a Standard or Feature Ad to achieve a higher profile for your item (you can do this from 'My Account', by clicking on the ad title, changing the Ad Style, saving the ad and making the appropriate payment). Similarly if it's a Standard Ad, it may be worth upgrading it to a Feature Ad (please call or email us if you'd like to do this).

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Why don't ads show the date they were created?

The nature of the motorsport marketplace is that it's not uncommon for certain motorsport items to take some time to sell. That doesn’t mean that the item itself is necessarily in any way deficient or overpriced, just that the marketplace is finite and people are not always looking for, say, a particular type of race car at the same time as someone puts it on the market. Displaying the date created potentially puts the sellers of such items at an unfair or inappropriate disadvantage. In any case, sites that do show the date created are very often manipulated by the seller by them re-creating the ad so that it appears to be a new ad when in fact it isn't, so in reality it means very little and at worst is positively misleading.

We work hard to make sure that all ads on MotorsportAds.co.uk are current and valid: this includes reminding advertisers on a regular basis to keep their ad uptodate. If you find an item that isn't uptodate or is no longer available, please use the 'Report This Item Sold' facility at the bottom of the ad.

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Can I upgrade to a Standard Ad or a Feature Ad?

If you have a Free Ad you can upgrade at any time by clicking on the ad title from within 'My Account', changing the Ad Style, saving the ad and making the appropriate payment. If it's a Standard Ad, please call or email us if you'd like to upgrade to a Feature Ad.

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How do I update my contact details?

This is done within ‘My Account’. Contact details stored here are automatically used for your ads, and if you update your contact details it will update all your ads with the new contact details.

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How do I access 'My Account'?

If you are logged in, the My Account option shows towards the right hand side of the top menu bar. If you are not logged in, you will see an option 'Log In' in the same place, which you should select.

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Will my email address be available to someone looking at my ads?

No. If someone wants to send you an email, they complete an email form which keeps your email address private. Such emails are forwarded to you automatically via MotorsportAds.co.uk.

It is well known that ads can attract 'scammers'. By not publishing your email address, and through the use of our anti-scamming software, you are fairly well protected against scam emails. However, the risk of receiving a scam contact still exists, so please be aware - if it is too good to be true, it usually is. Scam emails usually follow a standard scenario: you are offered more than the asking price and you are required to pass on the surplus. What generally then happens is that you receive payment, you pay the surplus back to the person, then several weeks later the payment you received is bounced.

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How do I place a display ad?

Please contact us directly at display@MotorsportAds.co.uk or call Paul on 0118 948 4201.

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What’s the charity connection?

MotorsportAds.co.uk supports the work of the two UK motorsport registered charities, the Motorsport Safety Fund and the British Motor Sports Training Trust. We invite donations to these charities at the time of placing a classified ad, and we hope that you will take the opportunity to make a donation and support these extremely worthwhile charities.

There is no commercial relationship between us and these charities. We strongly encourage motorsport participants to make donations to one or both charities, but there is no obligation whatsoever to make a donation and ads will be carried regardless of whether or not a donation is or has been made

How do I make a charity donation?

Send a cheque or cheques to the charity(ies) you have selected, together with a completed gift aid form if appropriate. Addresses are:

Motorsport Safety Fund, PO Box 200, Sevenoaks TN15 8WZ

British Motor Sports Training Trust, Motor Sports House, Riverside Park, Colnbrook, Slough, SL3 0HG

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