AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Natalie]

Wow,
I just read this entire thing... I have had a hard time figuring out the value of AT since I started here. I like my rep. but most of the time when they pitch new material I have no clue as to what benefit it could really have... I think we pay too much for the amount of leads generated and the credit center is junk... I just got the yearly review for AT in the mail.. not sure what I will say this year?

 

[Sam]

Interesting news about auto trader, now I know. But for the last two years almost we were paying $3000 a month, but yet we were right on top of many other adds from dealers. I finally decided that if they were going to really want a certain vehicle they would just scroll down and look for my inventory. We got the price cut to $1700 without all them other features. within the same month I was just going to quit on them and I said I needed to the price to be closer to $1000 per month. They rep said that she didn't want to lose our business so she would just do it right now and keep us with the same package.Not a bad deal. Whats crazy is all this time where it say's click to view website, it was not our real website, it was an ugle templete built by autotrader and when I finally got that corrected I finally started getting 3 times the leads then ever before. Now I just have to wonder if 3 to 5 car deals a month might really be worth even the $1000 dollars I am paying, yea maybe so, at least I'm paying $3000 no longer.. Have a good day..

 

[Entrepreneur]

How much a dealer should really be paying for listing on ATC or any other similar portal?

Can I get realistic and fair pricing model per month based on number of listing that a dealer is allowed to upload to create a win-win situation? and how do you guys upload your inventory to these portal? is it automated of a manual entry?

 

[Dave L]

Most charge @ 1k per month, cars.com,Bargainnews.com and other company's. Autotrader charges the most! They do have a package for 1k which will get you customers. They also have prefered packages for 2500 per month. The simple fact of Autotrader is they will charge you as much as you will pay! Be careful with your negotiating. I use deskmanager software, it ships info to webmanager and that puts all of your inventory on the net in one shot. They are very good, low priced and have a great system. Look into it. Worth every penny,they will also build you your own website. Good luck.

Dave

 

[TheMotoring.com]

Another usefull thing on site is :

You can have your own link on the site, eg: your username is : Kerylen , then your mini site name is, http://themotoring.com/Kerylen

where you can ask people to see your inventory without, without managing your site. All Inventory Items will be searched on the main site and your mini site aswell

Just drop an email on [email protected]

for more information

 

[Entrepreneur]

Team,

I need an opinion here.

With right pricing for dealers and with brand new outstanding and amazing Auto portal like ATC, cars.com etc, How hard is it to work with these dealers which are already using ATC, Cars.com and other big portals? Will they make a switch or there is no room left for new Auto Portal anymore? It seems like ATC and cars.com are everywhere, monopolizing where they go. I am also not sure how they expanded so quickly. Really appreciate your feedback.

 

[Joe Pistell]

WOW! You're building an Auto Portal? WOW. What an amazing business plan you have! WOW.

It never ceases to amaze me when a business has "low barriers to entry" how noobs like this don't do any homework and totally underestimate the business skills needed to succeed.

 

[ed.brooks]

Joe, was that a little sarcasm? I remember sitting in a conference room at the Crowne Plaza in Atlanta on my very first day at AutoTrader.com. It was a little over 10 years ago and Chip Perry, the CEO, gave us his Investor Road Show speech. One of the things I still remember is Chip discussing the incredibly high barriers to entry in this segment. Well, at least to do it with any level of success.

In order to enter this field and attract any viewers, you need inventory. Of course it's hard to get inventory when no one is visiting your site. A classic catch-22. ATC started with every car sold at a Manheim Auction, every car in an ADP system and every car in any Trader Publishing magazine.

Anybody that can combine this size inventory - just to start - with a few hundred million in cash to burn while they get established might be able to compete.

 

[jenni (blog)]

Autotrader is way too pricey. and then when you call to get pricing they don't tell you until they get a bunch of your personal information. One website I came accross was Caroodle.com. Only a one time fee of $10 and your car will stay on there until it sells and you can add as many pictures as you want! such a deal. Sold my car in 2 weeks!

 

[Entrepreneur]

Thanks all for opinions/feedback.

I don’t think you need 100 millions to start such a business. It’s about the web site content and what it has to offer to consumers, look, feel and friendliness. I do agree that you need inventory. But you at least have to start from somewhere. Inventory building is going to take some time but if end goal is to provide win-win situation for the buyers and the sellers then business model has full potential to be successful. Buyers find the services/goods they want and service providers get leads for price they want then that is the only thing matters.