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AutoTrader.com Pricing???

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#91
Sounds like Autotrader is a bad name like Microsoft is? or Chevron? or AT&T? or GM or Ford...
Who doesn't want to pay higher rates. No One...
Who else do we gripe about... Cable company, gas companies, mortgage rates, car companies..
What does everyone think will happen when the next newest technology launches.. ie: Google... Prices will go up, traffic will go up, rates go up, traffic goes up, rates go up, etc..
I worked in newspapers back in the day and I heard dealers complain about rates ALL the time. Things are not different. Same argument, different company. Base your advertising buying decisions on who can perform, who can reach car buyers the most cost efficiently. Prices will go up... if they go down that is the time to worry about something bad going on.
BTW, KBB.com and Autotrader.com just announced a partnership... stay tuned...
 
#92
Well Autotrader really stuck it to me. in May they called and said the prices were going to go up.They told me I could buy up to 45 select ads which i did. They also said I could have the ads until needed and the 60 day time was not a issue. Well after the 60 days were up I had 30 some ads to use. After alot of talk with autotrader they finally gave them back. Well guess what! after that 60 days I had 10 ads left and the deal we had they said is no longer a deal THEY RIPPED ME OFF. sTILL 10 ADS LEFT!!! i GOT SCREWED BIG TIME. Hey a deal is a deal what are they thinking?
 
#95
Thank you for comment jp - sounds like you have too much time on your hands if you're taking the time to sit and read all these blogs. Some of us use two hands to type, read faster than the average person, and can think quick on our feet, so taking 2-5 minutes to post a comment probably isn't hurting business. On top of that, most of the dealers posting here are market leaders for their region. We're not complaining about business being down - we're talking about AutoTrader.com raising rates without adding any extra substance....did you actually read this thread?

I'm going to jump out on a limb and make an assumption with this next remark: I'm glad I don't work for AutoTrader either!

...posted from my house at 4:09 AM EST just before heading to the airport to catch a plane for....you'd never believe it....business.
 
#96
Alex- Thanks for a great article for all of us to view our opinions from our experiences on this side of the biz. I think we all have learned much from this post and I based my opinions from results, not personal interests in gaining employment. Grass isn't always greener on the other side!

Caradgirl- Not only do I have a cute and classy AT consultant, but she also suggests dealerships to be on Autotrader.com and Cars.com to capture both types of internet car shoppers. It just happens that the majority of my current page views, emails, calls and sales come from Autotrader shoppers.

Question of post- Is AutoTrader.com worth the price hike? Yes! Im not excited about going to the owner in 3 months with a bigger invoice, yet I have the ROI to show its worth. And, it still blows traditional advertising costs out of the water with trackable 24/7 Internet Department results and that's excluding the non-sourced sales from the showroom.

Where do most shop for variety and best price on high ticket items; houses, computers, flat screens? The internet. Who is the number one online resource for automobile advertising?

That's where my money would be spent first, after a quality dealership website, then to additional online advertising sources.

Update!! (Now at 11 sales for month, 7 from AutoTrader)
 
#97
Internet Jeff,
Your AT performance stats are very different than my *market experiences.

My AT shoppers are very stealth and could only be found in post sale surveys. See 6 months of 2007 Call Count Records, AT is buried in the pack:


I would like to study your marketplace. Which dealership do you represent?

Joe
p.s. Marketplaces are fluid, dynamic beasts. We all share space on AT with our competitiors, so, SIZE MATTERS.

* MY MARKET.
- Smallish market in UpState NY (300k).
- I'd define my market demographics as anything but upscale... Lunch Pail is more like it ;-)
- Small mass media budget (TV-Radio).
- It's a single point Chevrolet store w/100 used.
- 2 power players near by with over 2,000 used units within 10 miles.

This store is the classic old school family franchise operation where the property had been paid for generations ago and the last faciltites upgrade was when Nixon was Pres! hahaha...
 
#98
Autotrader is sticking it to everyone! Including us employees. YES the prices WILL hike up again for 2008 and if you think your Spotlight ads are giving you an advantage, wait until they ad the new showcase ads!!

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tinyurl.com

Follow the link and you will see what I mean. I could only find these ads when I did a Saturn search in the Maryland area. I'm sure this is another a-la cart to sell the dealers or they will somehow wrap this into another package and want the reps to sell for another fee. They'll throw some bonus at us for selling these new showcase ads. Enjoy!!
 
#99
Ian,

I can't see what you're talking about in the link, but I heard about the new ad unit I think you're bringing up. It is going to allow one dealer to dominate a particular make with a big flash ad above the standards, the partners, the spotlights....everything. I can only imagine how expensive this thing is going to be!

I wonder what will be next?

On a different note, I didn't want to get into actual dollar figures - I wanted to keep things somewhat civilized, but....I had a phone call from a single-point dealer on this thread and heard he is paying $7,700 a month to have a partner listing on ATC. Is anyone else paying that kind of money? If so, do you get an industrial sized jar of vaseline with that bill? Yeah, it might be cheaper than buying a print ad, but that is leaps and bounds beyond any other online spend I know of.
 
#100
Alex,

We have been on board for a long while with ATC and have experimented with almost every type of Package you can imagine from owning the top 7 makes in the area and forking out.....Gasp.... over 10K a month! Paying all of the money to still hover around $250 a lead. Deliveries were up and ROI had a growth spurt but nothing to justify the outrageous prices we were handing over. As far as the $7700 dollar mention I know plenty of dealers spending over that amount and more. We have since discontinued our top 7 make placement and consolidated to 3 makes with some verticals. We are processing a cost analysis and I dont think we are going to be players at our current rate. Now one thing can be said for sure the new 08 prices are going to be ridiculous!!!! I have spoken with several independents that are shelling out the 10K a month and will continue to do so because that is one of the only ad sources they use.

The new program is called ALPHA and it operates like it sounds. I have no doubt they plan on pitting dealers against each other for some of these top positions. The larger franchised dealers are going to slug it out for these spots. AT will continue to nickel and dime the independents with a somewhat inflated representation of what they are really receiving. I have heard estimates from Industry leaders that ALPHA pkgs may start around double what Partner pkgs are retailing for. I know AT works for us. Could they work in the same capacity for less money? YES! I think its time we start holding their feet to the fire a little. When you see your rep next time tell em you want more, that you just dont think your getting your money's worth. My rep said "Look at all the Floor Traffic and Web traffic we produce" My question is this TRULY measurable? There are a few ways of doing it but this cant be AT's only response when you are presenting your product as best you can online.
 

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