AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Jennifer Schrader (blog)]

Got shot down pretty hard core there DS by Katherine! Thanks for the great info Kat!
It is pure greed when it comes down to it. They don't care about their dealer at all unfortunatly, just the $$ in their pocket!

Take a hike AT along with your hand bag DS!

 

[Greg Taylor]

There is a trick to using AutoTrader.com, should you choose to continue with AutoTrader.com considering the jacked up prices.

Sign up for low level pricing (Toyota puts out $1400 of the bill) then, if using Dealer Specialties or a varient... call them and upload you New Car inventory to AutoTrader.com.

You need real pics, not stock photos and try not to involve AutoTrader.com reps.

I sell about 10 - 12 NEW CARS in additional to pre-owned sales per month doing this and is saves me thousands because I am not signed up on the new car end of Autotrader. People looking for a used Camry sees my new one listed in at the discounted price.

 

[Linda Abanto]

Do you think Autotrader.com works for dealerships in Los Angeles?
I have been approached for employment with them, your blog has left me thinking about it.
However, I was previously working on advertising, and know that as compared to other Media, Internet's performance is getting better while the other media (specially newspaper and print) are cutting their rates. So I think their rate increase is in line with the changes on the market.
I also noticed tons of job postings nationwide for auto trader. They are either trying to be very aggresive or the turnover is high as some of you say.
I'll appreciate any feedback, thanks.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Linda - I can't say anything about working for AutoTrader.com because I've never worked for them. There is a lot of turnover in the automotive industry in general (I think I heard 60% in the first year is the national average), but is ATC a tech company (less turnover) or an automotive company? Some of the previous ATC employees can probably comment better to your questions.

I'm really responding to you because your question about LA got my wheels turning. My official response on LA is that I don't know - I've only visited. You did get me thinking about my own market though. Why would a dealer from Newport News (Richard Klepach a few comments before) come on here saying nice things about ATC aside from our rep asking him to? Why does AutoTrader.com not work for Checkered Flag after multiple tries over many years? Why does the magazine work for us, but not the site? Why do my more-immediate competitors feel the same way I do?

Is it because AutoTrader appeals to an audience that buys cars under a certain price point?

I'm going to come off a little snobby with this next remark, but I recently started seeing AutoMart everywhere (that's another story...a more positive one though!) - my local grocery store and even a few places I grab lunch. I never see an AutoTrader. I went to K-Mart the other day followed by a stop at a Food Lion (also another story) and I finally found a ton of AutoTraders. In my area it seems like the AutoTrader rag has been targeting a lower-economical segment. It then occurred to me most of our ATC calls, over the last 3 months, were about credit issues. Had magazine placement over the years driven a market segment to the website?

Most of the franchised dealers in my area cater to a new car customer. If AutoTrader has been painted as something for a used car customer (a customer independent dealers, here, cater to) naturally it isn't going to work for us. It explains why we get better results through Cars.com and probably will be receiving from AutoMart soon (another Cox Media company).

So Linda, maybe you should look at the LA market yourself. Where have the magazines been sold? Do you find them in places where a $20+ bottle of wine is as foreign as Japanese? If yes, do you want to work with independent dealers and fight with franchised dealers? If no, do you work with franchised dealers and fight with independents?

I have a crazy theory that print isn't fully dead. The effects of print are still being felt amongst the companies who are still in the printing business. If you're an automotive classified company, where have your people been sticking your rag all these years?

 

[Richard Klepach (blog)]

I just wanted to clarify that by no means did anyone from Autotrader ask or coach me into posting any good comments on here for them. Everything I said in the comments I posted earlier was from my own experience and thoughts of them. Just over the past six months my internet sales have skyrocketed. I credit all my available resources from vendors and reps., going back to the basics and good ole' training. I would be foolish to cancel my listings on autotrader.com...Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

C'mon Nate - don't be so obvious.

Richard - please continue to participate on Dealer Refresh, and maybe one day we can catch up offline.

 

[Bill]

Our dealership has been advertising with autotrader.com since 2000. We had the same rep for about 2 years then we got another rep who just left the company this year in June. We had a very good relationship w/our last rep, he seemed to really care about our online marketing and provided us with consistant training on the back end tools, etc. We do "ok" with them on pre-owned sales and source about three or four units a month from them. The features they added this year have really not brought us any noticable difference in traffic on our pre owned inventory our new inventory gets minimal attention, we do well with calls from Cars.com on new vehicles. I see many have mentioned the price increases of late, how much are we really talking about here? Our rates went up about 25% in the Spring but some have mentioned they are planning on raising rates again in the first quarter of next year? is this the case? Our rep with them now is "ok" but knows little or nothing obout the car business and has that deer in the headlights gaze if you know what I mean. Where is autotrader.com going in the next coming year? I'd like to get more from them than we have been getting, it's been half decent but I'm looking for more bang for the buck if you will, it's been "flat" w/them for the past year or so. The ROI has been ok but I'm coming to realize if we're paying 50% more to advertise w/them in the past year and a half, why hasn't our amount of sourced deals grown w/this increase?

 

[Adel]

Facts:

Autotrader.com will raise all dealers with them less than a year by 30% by 3/31/08. Dealers on longer than a year with them should expect a "legacy" rate increase of 8% by 3/31/08 automatically.

Cars.com will also be bumping up rates on all dealers by aprox 20% also by 3/31/08.

We are entering a "recessive" economy.

Take it for what it's worth but it's unfortunately the truth.

 

[Scott James]

I can't believe all the bellyaching BS from you folks. When Cable TV was in it's infancy, you could buy spots on CNN for a frickin Dollar. A Buck to maybe 5 bucks a spot. AND..you would get a 24 R.O.S. Remember??? You would get TONS of "Spots" for pennies on the dollar...of...get this...people staring at a screen. (But...you only got their attention for 30 seconds). Now the cost of a TV spot on CNN is over 100 to 200 times the price you paid even in some cases 10 years ago. Your Television Advertising: MAYBE your POSSIBLE...CUSTOMER...STARING AT A SCREEN...for 30 seconds maybe 10 feet away , IF you happen to catch them not taking a wizz and IF they are not fast-forwarding through hyped up BS "COME IN NOW FOR THE BEST DEAL OF THE CENTURY...$4000 FOR YOUR TRADE SALE!...blah blah blah flavor of the month...it worked in this market over in Nebraska and they sold 100 units ...puke.) VS. PEOPLE STARING AT A SCREEN (18-34 year old males in the market to BUY A FRICKIN CAR....For not 30 seconds...NOT 3 minutes...FOR ALMOST 30 MINUTES! Wait a minute...what is ADVERTISING? Is there at least SOME element of EXPOSURE? What are you nuts? What Radio Rep or TV Rep is giving you a report of ANY kind other than "Here's who we THINK( is not taking a wizz or Fast forwarding through your) MAYBE SAW FOR 30 SECONDS...Your lame azz ad. 30 Seconds. VS. 30 Minutes. 10 Feet away looking at a screen or 2 Feet looking at a screen. A bit distracted...waiting for the show to come back on...or completely engaged looking at your vehicle. Why did Google spend a Billion on You Tube?
TRY THIS "EXPERIMENT"..

Nix your T.V. Budget For a Year. Just your TV....and re-invest it all in ATC, CARS, 3rd parties...your own site, ebay, ALL OF IT. INVEST in a STRONG Internet Manager or Team that KNOWS THE CAR BUSINESS AND IS STRONG ON THE PHONES. Use EVERY tool that every Internet 3rd party provides and make your own site as strong as well with Key Words. But...don't sit there and complain about the ROI at this point in the GROWTH and SHIFT of dollars away from traditional media...it's happening anyway...get over it. Maybe ATC is just ahead of the curve in their rates...maybe their not. They are probably high...for now. I heard my rep say "Only 8% from now on". Fine. Whatever.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Scott,

Thank you for your comment. I don't think anyone on Dealer Refresh would ever dispute your point on investing more in eCommerce ventures. We're mostly eCommerce people here.

The spirit of this thread has nothing to do with whether Automotive eCommerce is accepted, it is quite the opposite: Automotive eCommerce has been accepted, but one of the players has gotten a little out of hand. We want our vendors to work with us, be our friends/our partners, but understand that when they get out of line we are going to use the Internet to open their eyes. Our customers taught this strategy to us, and now we're using it.