Lot Price vs. Internet Price

[Blake Arbogast]

With most consumers hitting are website before they come into the dealership, it is impossible to have an internet price and a lot price. The old-timers are fighting hard to keep their gross and have the two different prices but at what cost, there pissing off customers.
So you switch to one price, still problematic. Your printer fights to keep up, printing new widow stickers weekly, thus leaving you with a huge pain in the ass and realistically an unfeasible task (especially when you have 200+ vehicles). Next step, note on widow sticker, “See Salesman for Current Price.†In a world where the consumer wants everything right now, this doesn’t fly.
So what’s the best way, I have no idea. I am open to any suggestions…

 

[Alex Snyder]

Don't put a price or even a mention of price on the used cars sitting on the lot. Design your window stickers to point them to the web (for those late night lot walkers) and/or a mobile website.

 

[mattwatson81]

Some dealers print their window stickers with KBB Price on them but without what the dealers price is.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I've always been an advocate of displaying the "Retail Price / KBB" price along with your asking price. However, I've never been a fan of having the showroom price and a different Internet Price.

Ultimately I second what Alex recommended. Use the sticker to drive customers to your website or mobile site with a sent to phone short code.

 

[AndrewDiFeo]

We have the assumption that close to 100% of our customers have been doing some type of online research before they call/email/visit our dealership. Going with that assumption, all our pricing is consistent across all sites and our sales force has the pricing list at all times (generated through Vauto) For legal reasons, if you post one price online, that is the price the consumer needs to be charged whether or not they saw it online.

Up until now, we didn't have prices on our used car window labels. We are in the final stages of designing a new label to have the price on it. Because we change prices on our used cars often with Vauto, our starting price of the car is displayed, then when the price changes online, we will put a "addendum" sticker next to the window label that says "price reduced, see associate for details" I will most likely incorporate an SMS code like Alex mentioned so that when a customer is on the lot afterhours, they can get the reduced price through the phone.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I just received a call today..the conversation went something like this "Jeff, I want the price on our New Car Specials Page to differ from what we have in the inventory listings page.

So I'm thinking to myself.. you want 2 different prices on the same car on the same website?

Answer: YES.

My question back: Why do you want to do this and what is your thinking behind this decision?

Answer: "Most people that click on Specials are only looking for special priced cars and are not searching the actual new car inventory"

 

[Jason Walter]

I had this same problem about 2 years ago. We had an off site meeting about or process and it got pretty heated to say the least! In the end my Dealer made the commitment to price them all the same. Now we do not post prices on the lot but we did not try and hide the prices from the consumers. We have our website address everywhere in the dealership!

At that time our internet sale for used were about 20% of the total. Now we are up to 40-45%. Our gross is actually the same and our total units are more than before! Once the managers got on board and took ownership it started workin well. They even price them in vAuto and help me keep the online inventory up to date and accurate.

My suggestion is to get the Owner on board! It all rolls down hill and can make our jobs that much easier.

 

[DrewAment]

One price for all should be the way to go. And, in some states it is a legal requirement!

In CA you have to sell the car for your lowest advertised price - even if the consumer is not aware of the advertisement. If it is lower on the internet then the lot, you have to sell it for the "internet" price. This only includes publically available sites. Email communications with pricing don't count, meaning if you email a price to one customer you could sell it to another at a higher price.

When the law really started to be enforced, I remember sending customers checks for as little as a few dollars all the way up to a couple hundred dollars.

 

[Jason Walter]

One price for all should be the way to go. And, in some states it is a legal requirement!

In CA you have to sell the car for your lowest advertised price - even if the consumer is not aware of the advertisement. If it is lower on the internet then the lot, you have to sell it for the "internet" price. This only includes publically available sites. Email communications with pricing don't count, meaning if you email a price to one customer you could sell it to another at a higher price.

When the law really started to be enforced, I remember sending customers checks for as little as a few dollars all the way up to a couple hundred dollars.

It is true in our state as well....all though they do not enforce it.

 

[CFrentzen]

One price for all should be the way to go. And, in some states it is a legal requirement!

In CA you have to sell the car for your lowest advertised price - even if the consumer is not aware of the advertisement. If it is lower on the internet then the lot, you have to sell it for the "internet" price. This only includes publically available sites. Email communications with pricing don't count, meaning if you email a price to one customer you could sell it to another at a higher price.

When the law really started to be enforced, I remember sending customers checks for as little as a few dollars all the way up to a couple hundred dollars.

Does anyone know if this is a law in most states? Or know where I would search for such information in my state (NH)?