Prices on website... yes or no?

[NHHarleyguy]

I have been trolling around this site for a while and as a relative "newbie" to the industry (I actually work at a Harley-Davidson dealership) I find that this site is an awesome resource with a lot of talented contributors.

I am struggling with the question of internet pricing. I have searched the topic and haven't found anything that deals with this question specifically. We have three stores with our used inventory shared on all three sites.

One of our stores has elected to not display price online but rather "call for quote" I believe that this may increase the number of calls, but ultimately will produce less deals. I think that having the price is exactly what today's internet customer wants. The more info that you can provide, the more likely that when that customer calls or emails, they are "pre-qualified" in a sense because they see the price and have elected to reach out for more information.

Anyone have any insight or data on this subject?

 

[kevinfrye]

Old school thinking...

In today's market, your shopper will visit an average of one dealership. If you fail to meet what they are looking for online as they make their decision on who to visit, you will be quickly eliminated. "Call for pricing" means "Eliminate this dealer from consideration" for car shoppers online, as they know the old school games. They are only a click away from other dealers that show their pricing. Same for those shoppers who ask for a price quote and you fail to give them anything - you are quickly eliminated from consideration.

At a minimum - display MSRP or any price. Understand that whatever you put online - they will still want to negotiate. However, to be in the game, you need to have some transparency. The old days where the dealers held all the power of information are gone with the Internet...

 

[craigh]

When I was bike shopping last year I ran into a couple sites that had, "Call for Price" listed instead of prices.
I didn't call a single one of them.

Personally, to me it says, "We need to justify our high prices in person". If your prices were lower than the competition you would be stupid now to show them. That is the consumer mindset and I believe it applies to many people.

Even if your calls do increase, you would have to have a patient and talented person answering the phone to get past the "What price is the softtail" question and into real discussions.

 

[VVAuto1]

The best data would be look at VDP conversion with no price and VDP with a competitive price. While everyone can agree that VDP's wont deliver a vehicle but like Kevin said your eliminating the time waisted and pulling in those buyers who are interested.

Lets look outside the automotive industry, think about selling your house and not listing a price online?....

 

[ryan.leslie]

Welcome to the forum NHHarleyguy!

I totally agree with Kevin. It is probably especially true for you on the powersports side as you are dealing with a purchase that is often considered more luxury than necessity. It pains me to say that as a guy that feels two wheels is an absolute NECESSITY!

If "call for price" = "too much" on a luxury purchase in the mind of your buyer you are losing more opportunity than you are creating by generating a phone call. Even if they take the bait and make the call all they did was reinforce what they already thought, "wow, they ARE proud of that one," and the call doesn't translate to a showroom visit. Pricing is part of online merchandising. It is equally as important to real lead generation as quality images.

Ryan

PS. I had the opportunity last week to rent a '13 Street Glide out of Butte, MT and made the ride down and through Yellowstone National Park. Awesome bike and truly breathtaking scenery! I logged 550 miles of amazing in just 24 hours... Any riders on the forum should absolutely put this on your "biker bucket list." Here is just one of many photo opportunities along the way.

 

[craigh]

PS. I had the opportunity last week to rent a '13 Street Glide out of Butte, MT and made the ride down and through Yellowstone National Park. Awesome bike and truly breathtaking scenery! I logged 550 miles of amazing in just 24 hours... Any riders on the forum should absolutely put this on your "biker bucket list." Here is just one of many photo opportunities along the way.

Added to my personal list.
Will have to rent a bike with a wife-seat on the back

 

[Bill Simmons]

Each month I receive all of the monthly AutoTrader Scorecard reports for all of our stores. Pardon the poor screenshot, but I copied this little bit of information to validate Kevin's point. You will notice that theses vehicles listed on our websites and AutoTrader without a price have not received any VDP views. This is only a small sampling, but hopefully it makes the point and offers you the validation that you were looking for. No price = no click and also no pictures reduce your clicks. Hope this helps.

 

[ajholland]

It has been said by the last few posts, but you have to put prices on your vehicles. I've heard the argument over and over that "if I don't put prices on the cars, then people will have to call me, so I will get more leads!" The few calls you may get with this tactic don't outweigh the # of calls you will lose AND the sense of trust and transparency that you so desperately need when trying to reel in an online customer.

 

[NHHarleyguy]

PS. I had the opportunity last week to rent a '13 Street Glide out of Butte, MT and made the ride down and through Yellowstone National Park. Awesome bike and truly breathtaking scenery! I logged 550 miles of amazing in just 24 hours... Any riders on the forum should absolutely put this on your "biker bucket list." Here is just one of many photo opportunities along the way.

Ryan, thanks for your input and that's a great pic! The Street Glide is one of our best sellers! Awesome bike!

 

[NHHarleyguy]

Thanks everyone for your insight. As I suspected, the consensus is to show pricing. I always try to put myself in the customer's shoes and I have NEVER responded to an ad that did not have the price! Back to the old struggle internet vs old school car sales mentality! "Just get them in!"