Tim you're right they do read threads like this but will they realistically listen to their dealers this time around? I don't believe they will, but they should. I'm sure we've all spoken of Autotrader's rate increase percentages with our peers & w/our Reps but this time I've heard literally everyone that has an account with them bring it up in casual conversation about Autotrader.com at just about every opportunity they could when discussing internet advertising this past year or so. I'm also hearing the same sentiments expressed on here that I've heard in conversation with my peers about in the past year also and that's the declining ROI, most importantly I'd say the phone call numbers are way off compared to years past. They've got a tough climb ahead of them to justify the path they've chosen. Our dealership is considering what to do with our account right now and it doesn't bode well for them in having us swallowing the price increase they want this time around. Since they've lost Yahoo as an advertising partner how is this possibly going to improve the situation going into the new year? Any guesses as to that one?
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AutoTrader.com Pricing???
- Thread starter Alex Snyder
- Start date
"There's an explosion of interest in online shopping," Perry said.
The only thing I've seen "exploding" from autotrader is the monthly rates. We're down 30% this year vs last year on calls alone. Who out there is really content with what they are receiving in relation to what they're paying these folks anymore? Anyone??????
The only thing I've seen "exploding" from autotrader is the monthly rates. We're down 30% this year vs last year on calls alone. Who out there is really content with what they are receiving in relation to what they're paying these folks anymore? Anyone??????
800 new staff?
hmm....400 in Atlanta (support, admin, techs, execs)
hmm.... 400 in rest of usa has to be outside sales force.
That's $24-30mill in payroll alone. >$2 mill a month.
Damn, that's a huge burn rate.
Ok, I hereby withdraw my guess that they're a seller
I now say they're rolling out a totally new platform to sell to already p*ssed off AT advertisers.
Dear Chip Perry,
I hope it's not another MyRide.com!
Joe
hmm....400 in Atlanta (support, admin, techs, execs)
hmm.... 400 in rest of usa has to be outside sales force.
That's $24-30mill in payroll alone. >$2 mill a month.
Damn, that's a huge burn rate.
Ok, I hereby withdraw my guess that they're a seller
I now say they're rolling out a totally new platform to sell to already p*ssed off AT advertisers.
Dear Chip Perry,
I hope it's not another MyRide.com!
Joe
Simple solution-don't pay the increase.
My Autotrader rep socked me with an annual renewal for $450 more per month than the previous year. After looking closely at my contract, I discovered that our contract is open-ended, with no scheduled increases in rate. I said I was happy with my current contact and not to change a thing. After a few threats of "we can't offer you 2008 product at 2007 rates", they renewed my contract-at my original rate.
Good luck.
My Autotrader rep socked me with an annual renewal for $450 more per month than the previous year. After looking closely at my contract, I discovered that our contract is open-ended, with no scheduled increases in rate. I said I was happy with my current contact and not to change a thing. After a few threats of "we can't offer you 2008 product at 2007 rates", they renewed my contract-at my original rate.
Good luck.
That's interesting Eric. I have a meeting with my AutoTrader.com rep in about 10 minutes. BRB.
I will weigh in on this as well. As the decision maker for which third party companies we use and ultimately the person who is accountable for what we pay for these companies; I say it is about time for a change.
I have had a great relationship with ATC for years. I have always signed on whatever dealergroup I am working for or consulting with based on their market. But this latest price hike makes no sense and ultimately will result in the demise of many good ATC sales reps who recently underwent a pay plan change. Needless to say, the feedback hasn't be good and cancellations are way up.
Do you realize that their new pay plan is based on procuring new business almost exclusively? They get nothing for RETAINING that business, but yet get penalized heavily if we cancel. On top of that, they are now told to spew that ATC is a "advertising medium" instead of a Internet lead provider and should be gauged against newspaper and radio.
C'mon ATC, you are sending your reps, Sales Managers and Regional Sales Managers (yes, I have had all three in my office) to war with no bullets. Saying, "wave your guns, I am sure they will fear your power and flee"!
While I am at it, these companies need to quit thumping their chests and figure out more VIABLE and UNIQUE products to offer. By signing everyone up on ATC or Cars.com, it dilutes the chances of even getting seen, let alone contacted.
Videos are nice...mmm k.
Price drop is icon is ...o.k.
Banner ads that are shared with 18 bazillion others is ...so so
Credit apps that can't go into your CRM are a pain
Partnership packages aren't producing negligable results.
We need ways besides the typical, custom comments, pricing and photos to set ourselves apart. Give me that at a increased price and we will talk. Give me a watered down version of what I am already getting, for twice the cost and we are done talking.
I will probably have to cancel all stores over this.
Lastly, I ran a division off eBay for awhile that did Fleet remarketing. We were on top of the world. We could ask for all the money and get it. Companies would come to us. Just like when ATC used to say, it is your loss not being on our site, we did the same at eBay and it worked!
Now, eBay is realizing (maybe too late) that they can't continue to hike up fees and not keep increasing results and substantiate it by widgets. Now that we are all a little more educated and that there are more choices, there needs to be more value and ROI.
Come March 2008, I think Autotrader will re-think their scheme. Hopefully for them, it won't be too late.
I have had a great relationship with ATC for years. I have always signed on whatever dealergroup I am working for or consulting with based on their market. But this latest price hike makes no sense and ultimately will result in the demise of many good ATC sales reps who recently underwent a pay plan change. Needless to say, the feedback hasn't be good and cancellations are way up.
Do you realize that their new pay plan is based on procuring new business almost exclusively? They get nothing for RETAINING that business, but yet get penalized heavily if we cancel. On top of that, they are now told to spew that ATC is a "advertising medium" instead of a Internet lead provider and should be gauged against newspaper and radio.
C'mon ATC, you are sending your reps, Sales Managers and Regional Sales Managers (yes, I have had all three in my office) to war with no bullets. Saying, "wave your guns, I am sure they will fear your power and flee"!
While I am at it, these companies need to quit thumping their chests and figure out more VIABLE and UNIQUE products to offer. By signing everyone up on ATC or Cars.com, it dilutes the chances of even getting seen, let alone contacted.
Videos are nice...mmm k.
Price drop is icon is ...o.k.
Banner ads that are shared with 18 bazillion others is ...so so
Credit apps that can't go into your CRM are a pain
Partnership packages aren't producing negligable results.
We need ways besides the typical, custom comments, pricing and photos to set ourselves apart. Give me that at a increased price and we will talk. Give me a watered down version of what I am already getting, for twice the cost and we are done talking.
I will probably have to cancel all stores over this.
Lastly, I ran a division off eBay for awhile that did Fleet remarketing. We were on top of the world. We could ask for all the money and get it. Companies would come to us. Just like when ATC used to say, it is your loss not being on our site, we did the same at eBay and it worked!
Now, eBay is realizing (maybe too late) that they can't continue to hike up fees and not keep increasing results and substantiate it by widgets. Now that we are all a little more educated and that there are more choices, there needs to be more value and ROI.
Come March 2008, I think Autotrader will re-think their scheme. Hopefully for them, it won't be too late.
AutoTrader.com is reading this thread on all levels. If you want to have a voice, post a comment.
I don't know what changes may or may not come out of this, but they're certainly aware of our grievances. From the proposal I just received, there is a major price difference from the one I heard before I started this thread. I'm still not happy, but at least they're moving now.
Since I now know, without a doubt, ATC is reading this thread I have to put in a good word for my rep. Despite all the hell I always put him through, he does a good job of standing his ground. Yes, he has been drinking the ATC Kool Aid, but he is much more professional than other ATC reps I've dealt with. I like my rep, but I'm still not a fan of the product....at their uncompetitive prices.
I'll never completely buy-in to a scheme that uses our name to promote itself while charging us a fee to do it (I call it parasitic marketing), but while this model exists I'm going to do everything in my power to keep pricing honest.
I don't know what changes may or may not come out of this, but they're certainly aware of our grievances. From the proposal I just received, there is a major price difference from the one I heard before I started this thread. I'm still not happy, but at least they're moving now.
Since I now know, without a doubt, ATC is reading this thread I have to put in a good word for my rep. Despite all the hell I always put him through, he does a good job of standing his ground. Yes, he has been drinking the ATC Kool Aid, but he is much more professional than other ATC reps I've dealt with. I like my rep, but I'm still not a fan of the product....at their uncompetitive prices.
I'll never completely buy-in to a scheme that uses our name to promote itself while charging us a fee to do it (I call it parasitic marketing), but while this model exists I'm going to do everything in my power to keep pricing honest.
The most unfortunate part of this lengthly thread is that a majority of dealerships don't understand what they are doing by participating in AutoTrader.com.
Without YOUR inventory, the 3rd party lead generating, portal business model doesn't work!! If every dealership shut off their inventory feeds to Autotrader.com tonight, where would Autotrader.com's website be tomorrow?
Here's an exercise...
1. Pick a vehicle from your website and copy it's VIN number
2. Paste the VIN number into Google, Yahoo!, or MSN
What do you see?????
Does the vehicle show online shoppers that the VIN number is parked at your dealership's URL (your virtual lot)? Or is your vehicle only visible on the 3rd party sites that you subscribe to?
Web Design 101 isn't being practiced by a majority of website providers in the Automotive Internet industry when it comes to your most valuable (and expensive) asset, your inventory.
Too many dealerships are 100% reliant on 3rd party lead providers because their inventory has been framed in using another 3rd party solution on their website due to their 'website' company not having an inventory module!! If your inventory is framed into a 'New Inventory' or 'Pre-Owned Inventory' section of your site, the ONLY chance an online consumer will find it is if they manage to stumble and fumble through your pieced together clunky website (very unlikely) or through an online automotive portal.
Here is Google's take on frames:
'Frames can cause problems for search engines because they don't correspond to the conceptual model of the web.'
Until customers in your market are able to discover YOUR inventory on YOUR website through the search engines, sit back and enjoy the price hikes from each of your 3rd Party Lead sources...or do something about it!!!
Make sure your dealership isn't cruising down the Information Superhighway in a 1972 Ford Pinto! The results are explosive.
Without YOUR inventory, the 3rd party lead generating, portal business model doesn't work!! If every dealership shut off their inventory feeds to Autotrader.com tonight, where would Autotrader.com's website be tomorrow?
Here's an exercise...
1. Pick a vehicle from your website and copy it's VIN number
2. Paste the VIN number into Google, Yahoo!, or MSN
What do you see?????
Does the vehicle show online shoppers that the VIN number is parked at your dealership's URL (your virtual lot)? Or is your vehicle only visible on the 3rd party sites that you subscribe to?
Web Design 101 isn't being practiced by a majority of website providers in the Automotive Internet industry when it comes to your most valuable (and expensive) asset, your inventory.
Too many dealerships are 100% reliant on 3rd party lead providers because their inventory has been framed in using another 3rd party solution on their website due to their 'website' company not having an inventory module!! If your inventory is framed into a 'New Inventory' or 'Pre-Owned Inventory' section of your site, the ONLY chance an online consumer will find it is if they manage to stumble and fumble through your pieced together clunky website (very unlikely) or through an online automotive portal.
Here is Google's take on frames:
'Frames can cause problems for search engines because they don't correspond to the conceptual model of the web.'
Until customers in your market are able to discover YOUR inventory on YOUR website through the search engines, sit back and enjoy the price hikes from each of your 3rd Party Lead sources...or do something about it!!!
Make sure your dealership isn't cruising down the Information Superhighway in a 1972 Ford Pinto! The results are explosive.
"Do you realize that their new pay plan is based on procuring new business almost exclusively? They get nothing for RETAINING that business, but yet get penalized heavily if we cancel"
We have no idea what their business strategy is or will be going into next year. It's all or nothing anymore, could be alot of nothing if they aren't careful.
We have no idea what their business strategy is or will be going into next year. It's all or nothing anymore, could be alot of nothing if they aren't careful.
It is amazing how much is spent on AutoTrader. I used them in the used car business and it paid off in the long run. But that was 2 years ago. Now you are lucky to even make enough gross to foot the bill for Auto Trader. Many dealers don't realize that Auto Trader charges an extra $200-$300 if not more to have the inventory pushed to them, a few dealers may already pay to have it pushed through their resources they currently have in place. Seems like double dipping I see. They don't care, they want their $$.
As mentioned earlier in one of the comments investing in to your current site that is going to give you the ROI you deserve is the best thing to do. Investing in your SEO! 20% of the dealers now are starting to do that. Dealers get abused so much for trying to get that extra sale and not get nothing out of it from the big guys saying they have their magic wand!
I would not suggest AutoTrader, It really gets me to see so many ISM's and dealers out there that have a grudge on them. They made their own mark in the industry!
As mentioned earlier in one of the comments investing in to your current site that is going to give you the ROI you deserve is the best thing to do. Investing in your SEO! 20% of the dealers now are starting to do that. Dealers get abused so much for trying to get that extra sale and not get nothing out of it from the big guys saying they have their magic wand!
I would not suggest AutoTrader, It really gets me to see so many ISM's and dealers out there that have a grudge on them. They made their own mark in the industry!
✨ AI Highlights
Dealers and industry observers debate AutoTrader's rising costs and whether the platform delivers enough value to justify them. The thread draws comparisons to lower-cost alternatives like carsforsale.com ($99/month), caroodle.com ($300/month), and TrueCar's tiered independent dealer pricing, with several vendor reps jumping in to pitch their own services. The key takeaway is widespread dealer frustration with AutoTrader's pricing model, lack of performance guarantees, and long-term contracts, driving interest in cheaper competitors.
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