Well there are a couple things that I learned conducting this little experiment:
1) It
is in the CG dealer agreement that we shouldn't share pricing with other dealers and Cargurus isn't going to die on that hill (especially if I'm showing 19 out of 30k dealers world-wide
https://investors.cargurus.com/investor-relations).
2) Cargurus cemented, because I had already experienced it, that if a dealer has an issue with their price, Cargurus will discuss how they arrive at that price with the dealer. Apparently there is a CPL component which I didn't include in the survey because we all know what happens when you ask a dealer "how many
good leads did you get?"
I know there are a number of people in this forum that have worked on both the retail and vendor side of the business so that will give a different lens when having these discussions. Now, we may have had a bad experience in one or the other, or both, which will tint our lens. My personal experience at Dealer Inspire/Cars Inc was actually great so my "tint" leans towards a mutual respect and general outlook that most vendors are wanting to be great partners. My attitude towards Cargurus is no different. "POKE THE BEAR" is click-bait and not a jab *insert rimshot*. Keep in mind that many vendors lack context of retail (both fixed and variable), which then leads to plenty of misunderstanding and hurt feelings.
The results of the survey are a little wonky and such a small return (2 are mine lol) that really no earth-shattering conclusion could be drawn from it. I'm sure if
@jon.berna conducted it, it would be waaaay more better. It does, however, show that dealers are curious and alway comparing with others. My mom still says, "Comparison if the thief of joy" FYI.
The majority of the participating dealers have a main concern of "Fairness". I would assume then those dealers see value, but just want to make sure they're maximizing their expenses or if they aren't paid after expenses, watching out for their leadership's profitability. If the dealer said "Value", then I would hope they've had a conversation with their CG rep. There may be a handful of bad reps (no one is perfect) so if you need to run up the chain, Cargurus leadership isn't out of reach (they're literally in this forum).
If you have had discussion, and you still feel that the ROI isn't good, then cancel. Pretty simple BUT you should make sure your inventory mix, market pricing, photos, descriptions are on point first otherwise your problem may be you... (we suck at pictures at the moment)
Here are the live results:
And if you want to contribute to the survey for Sept 2020, it is still open here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...uPN5ywFtzmV__614FxicPE9Q/viewform?usp=sf_link
