- May 1, 2006
- 4,070
- 2,930
- Awards
- 13
- First Name
- Alex
Another dynamic I'm curious to hear about is how many dealers bring this in-house and then go back to a vendor?
-
This thread is just the tip of the iceberg.The people ahead of the curve aren't Googling for answers — they're already in here, having the conversations you haven't found yet. DealerRefresh is free.Get the full picture →
Poll: Let's Talk Inventory Photos
- Thread starter joe.pistell
- Start date
Up in Canada the top "vendor" for this is AutoTrader.ca (not the .com company). They offer it as part of the classifieds package, but the photos are generally poor. We've had a few dealers actually train the guy who shows up, but most of them moved in-house and haven't ever switched back, even though the Trader option is "free".
- Apr 7, 2009
- 5,155
- 2,522
- Awards
- 10
- First Name
- Joe
Bump. Any one know their photo costs plz add them to our poll & thread.
- Jul 8, 2014
- 23
- 10
- First Name
- William
I currently shoot for our 4 dealers. 15-40 pictures but usually low to mid 20s. Our cost ends up being $15.00 a car roughly. New and Used shot outdoors.
I spend about 30min to an hour editing (depending on how many exotics shot)
With my previous data entry/vendor experience we would lose dealers to go in house and often they would come back because who ever was shooting for them just stopped showing up to work or in the less busy times they get other responsibilities so when things ramp up again they have to much going on and they get behind. Then we would get the emergency call "we need 100 cars online in 2 days" we would deploy 4 guys and get it done.
I do not sell for the dealers but I do maintain the digital footprint and website management for the stores along with the photo responsibilities.
I spend about 30min to an hour editing (depending on how many exotics shot)
With my previous data entry/vendor experience we would lose dealers to go in house and often they would come back because who ever was shooting for them just stopped showing up to work or in the less busy times they get other responsibilities so when things ramp up again they have to much going on and they get behind. Then we would get the emergency call "we need 100 cars online in 2 days" we would deploy 4 guys and get it done.
I do not sell for the dealers but I do maintain the digital footprint and website management for the stores along with the photo responsibilities.
- Apr 7, 2009
- 5,155
- 2,522
- Awards
- 10
- First Name
- Joe
TY William. What's the name of your biz and what area do you serve?
Also, Do you have any visibility into how old the car is before you photograph it?
Also, Do you have any visibility into how old the car is before you photograph it?
As of June 2015 the "free" photo capture will be $50 a week, but they built us an app, so at least we got that going for us.
Hmm.. I need some more information on this for sure. Can you expand on this?
- Jul 8, 2014
- 23
- 10
- First Name
- William
4hbh-Media. We are in the greater Seattle area
Yes, out of the 4 dealers 3 use a different inventory tool. Autobase/FirstlookMAX/Homenet. We use those tools to know how we are doing with our missing photos percentages. Also we use them for lot auditing. Also nice to see if a specific vehicle is lets say 25 days in inventory and still missing photos, we use that as a red flag to audit the lot and find that vehicle because often that vehicle slipped threw the cracks and has not even been detailed among other things.
- Apr 7, 2009
- 5,155
- 2,522
- Awards
- 10
- First Name
- Joe
William,
Dealerships have different vehicle management processes. Some get units photo ready in one day (from it's arrival), one store I worked at we over 30 days till it came thru.
Any idea on the average time the units in inventory before your team shoots it?
Dealerships have different vehicle management processes. Some get units photo ready in one day (from it's arrival), one store I worked at we over 30 days till it came thru.
Any idea on the average time the units in inventory before your team shoots it?
- Jul 8, 2014
- 23
- 10
- First Name
- William
It really does vary just like you said.
It depends completely on the dealers internal system that dictates that time. For example.
A dealer in Seattle has put us above all other departments, and everyone knows it. So when the photo guy comes by and says he needs this car and that car, they give him the car. That is Detail/techs/sales, everyone. Now if a vehicle is on a rack getting it's inspection. It will be put at the back of the line and as soon as that inspection is done, (If dirty) detail will do a quick clean, wash/vacuum/tire dressing and it is to be shot. That dealer on average has its vehicles up in 1-2 days from trade in or delivery. But this is only because the G.M. has conveyed to all departments the importance of getting these cars online. This store we visit 4-5 days a week.
A different dealer we have sells the same number of units, has 2 more detail guys and the average is 15-30 days. They just do not convey to others and do not enforce the mindset of "Pictures bring more customers in". So tech's and service advisers do not release vehicles, customer details get over booked so lot cars can not be detailed quickly and Detail guys will not stop what they are doing to quick clean a vehicle. This store we visit 2-3 days a week. If we were not bottle necked by the internal system we would go more.
Now the later store mentioned will have about 30% of the vehicles shot and online within 7 days but for the most part you are looking at double digits.
It depends completely on the dealers internal system that dictates that time. For example.
A dealer in Seattle has put us above all other departments, and everyone knows it. So when the photo guy comes by and says he needs this car and that car, they give him the car. That is Detail/techs/sales, everyone. Now if a vehicle is on a rack getting it's inspection. It will be put at the back of the line and as soon as that inspection is done, (If dirty) detail will do a quick clean, wash/vacuum/tire dressing and it is to be shot. That dealer on average has its vehicles up in 1-2 days from trade in or delivery. But this is only because the G.M. has conveyed to all departments the importance of getting these cars online. This store we visit 4-5 days a week.
A different dealer we have sells the same number of units, has 2 more detail guys and the average is 15-30 days. They just do not convey to others and do not enforce the mindset of "Pictures bring more customers in". So tech's and service advisers do not release vehicles, customer details get over booked so lot cars can not be detailed quickly and Detail guys will not stop what they are doing to quick clean a vehicle. This store we visit 2-3 days a week. If we were not bottle necked by the internal system we would go more.
Now the later store mentioned will have about 30% of the vehicles shot and online within 7 days but for the most part you are looking at double digits.
✨ AI Highlights
Dealers discuss the costs and logistics of photographing vehicle inventory, with pricing ranging from $14-$20 per car depending on whether it's new or used stock and whether photography is handled in-house or outsourced. Key insights include that taking photos of new inventory significantly improves online engagement metrics, that 25-40 photos per vehicle is standard practice, and that quality matters beyond just cost—including shooting technique, lighting optimization, and avoiding photo editing to maintain customer trust. The thread also touches on the operational challenge that photography typically consumes two-thirds of the time spent on digital inventory preparation compared to data collection.
Replies
Views
20
7,213
Started
Last Reply
