You own an old item that you think is valuable and would like to sell. Write a letter to the owner of an antique shop. In your letter: - Explain how you found the shop - Describe the item that you would like to sell - Say how much you would like to sell the item for
Sample Response
Dear Mr Ram,Dear Mr.Ram,
I am Vikas, and writing this letter to sell the valuable antique coins I have to belong to the 20th century. Recently, I saw your advertisement in a local newspaper callednamed Ajit, wherewherein I read that you are particularlyintensively interested in buying such precious coins. Furthermore, throughfrom the same advert, I obtainedget your contact details and shop addresscontact and shop address.
I possess hundreds of coins that were mintedintroduced in 1922, 1948 and 1950. SpecificallyBasically, there are 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 paisa coins. From online researchFrom an Internet survey, I came to know that these rare coinscurrencies are in high demand nowadays. Moreover, it is clearly described that one coin is worthworthed more than ₹ 5000 depending on its year of issuebased on the year in which it came.
Therefore, I would like to sell all the coins, and as per my estimation, altogether, it would cost more than ₹ 7,00,000, and I would like to negotiate the deal at the same price. Therefore, if you are interested in purchasing the coinsinterested in purchasing, call me directly at 888-9962, and we will arrangefix an appointment at a time convenient for both of usas per the convenience of both.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Yours faithfullyFaithfully,
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a clear purpose and gives useful detail about how the shop was found, the coin collection, and the proposed selling price. Its main weakness is frequent awkward wording and grammatical inaccuracy, which sometimes makes otherwise relevant information difficult to process. The highest-priority improvement is to express the description and valuation in simpler, more idiomatic sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are clearly addressed and supported with specific details in an appropriately formal letter.
State the asking price more directly and consistently so the proposed terms of sale are immediately clear.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is organised into logical paragraphs, though linking words are sometimes mechanical and therefore is repeated unnecessarily.
Use fewer formulaic connectors and let the sequence of finding, describing, and pricing the coins provide the progression.
Lexical Resource
The response shows adequate range for advertising, antiques, and negotiation, but frequent inaccurate collocations weaken precision.
Use natural choices such as are from the twentieth century, worth, and asking price instead of awkward invented or misapplied forms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the main message, but errors in verb forms, articles, and sentence construction recur.
Build shorter complete clauses and check tense and agreement carefully, especially in the opening and price discussion.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You own an old item that you think is valuable and would like to sell. Write a letter to the owner of an antique shop. In your letter:
- Explain how you found the shop
- Describe the item that you would like to sell
- Say how much you would like to sell the item for
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.