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AutoTrader.com Pricing???

Spotlight Ads, ha ha ha , where should I start???

The retail price is $150 a piece; the actual cash value is about $5 a piece. About 60% of dealers don’t even use the spotlights they are allotted.

The person who invented spotlights is a genius, they actually increase exposure but the extent of their effectiveness is yet to be gauged. I would compare spotlights to the Google sponsored results, they show up on top but most people phase them out and look below them. At the end of the day if a car is cheap enough, it will sell anyways, spotlighted or not.

On paper the number of times the spotlights showed up is impressive, but how many people clicked on them??? Autotrader will never show you the click through ratio of those spotlights, it’s probably less than the regular ads, which is about 5%.

If you have any questions for me, post them on this forum.

TTT
 
How to get Better Deals:

1- Be friends and respect your ATC rep
2- Never tell him business is good
3- Dont use ATC's 800#
4- Always mention downgrade or cancelling
5- Always compare them to cars.com's price
6- Always pay your bill on time

and most importantly, if they threaten to raise your rates, cancel. Trust me, they will come back.
 
"and most importantly, if they threaten to raise your rates, cancel. Trust me, they will come back"

of course they will, with many markets already so saturated with dealers signed on they will have to.

Wait until the last week of the month to hold out on a price, you should at least be able to half any increase they are throwing at you.

So many good people have left this company in the past 2 years
 
looks like this could be a new thread....Jeff can you help us out?
Title the thread:
"Autotrader.com Buying Tips and Secrets."
Looking to buy some online advertising? Want to get an insider's view of what to know before you buy? Come and chat live with "TTT" on Dealer Refresh former ATC field rep as he shares his extensive knowledge and experience, giving you the ins and outs, tips and
secrets to purchasing your next Autotrader.com advertising package.
.....sorry I have some free time it's raining here ;)
 
C'mon guys, grow up.

1. The way you're carrying on, you'd think you've stumbled on some deep, dark insider secrets: "...Wait until the end of the month, threaten to walk, bring up their competitor..." Oh boy, those sure are some new ideas...NOT. Whether it's AutoTrader.com, cars.com, your credit card company or every single one of your dealerships,threatening to take your business elsewhere and mentioning the competition's prices, rates, offers, is as old a tactic as there is. You think cars.com won't make a better offer when you turn in your cancellation? Think again. Considering that car dealerships are best known for chasing after the prospect as he/she leaves the showroom, offering one last "best deal if we can do business today," I wouldn't be quite so smug about pricing integrity.

2. The sales manager's email to his/her staff doesn't sound any different than many of the sales meetings I had to endure when on the retail floor and we were behind target. So what. It's a slow month, anyone other than a complete moron knows that the economy isn't exactly booming, there are quotas to hit and middle management is getting heat from upper management. Tell me you don't get the same thing from your sales management when the dealer principal or GM is unhappy that your numbers are way behind projection for the month. I've been in dealership meetings when GMs have yelled and screamed and thrown whatever is handy just to make the point that the sales staff needs to get back on track. This is business, not a fraternity.

3. Looking for new employees? Yup. So what? How many of your dealerships have the never-ending "Salespeople Wanted" ad in your local paper every weekend to replace the newbie salespeople you blow out as soon as they have sold their relatives and neighbors, or the veterans who can't stand being demeaned by your management any longer? I know in my region/district, they are adding positions and no one has left in the last 8 months. Can you say that about your sales staff?

4. When I began posting anonymously, I was called a coward, my integrity was questioned and I was told how I was doing a disservice to the many fine people who work at AutoTrader.com....and all I was doing was correcting misinformation that others had posted. But TTT, who clearly has snapped under the sales pressure, is given a pass even though he/she shows a complete lack of ethics or morals by posting private company communications (I don't care what company you work for or how disgruntled you are, that's a crappy thing to do) in a public forum? Give me a break. Talk about doing a disservice to the fine people at ATC? TTT wins the prize in that category.
 
I am one of those dealers that decided to stop using Autotrader.com after so many years, I thought it was one we had to have but after looking at all of the numbers for the last two years we decided to cancel and move the advertising money to other places, so far we have a huge success with the local "online newspaper" and streaming radio. I really like the streaming radio from the local stations. If you have not checked that out you might find your missing some listeners, cheap to.