We linked to the "Are you Feeling a Disturbance in the Force?" blog post on our website because we think it's so true. We happened upon the article when we were in development of our service, and it happened to really solidify what we were perceiving in the online automotive classified space. So let me analyze the article and describe what we took from it:
- "All of the above mentioned classified websites, in one way or another, do little more than host a dealership’s inventory on their own website and VDP display… for a small fee. Some may do it better than others…"
As Jeff mentioned, all the players basically use the same model: dealers export inventory to them, then the players charge a small fee to basically show an additional VDP to potential buyers. The problem with this is that dealers don't need another VDP; they just need their vehicles as easy to find as possible. This helped us realize that there was no need for another "normal model" classified service. We need to innovate and change things up.
- "Some send emails with like inventory to your potential prospects (still not sure why some got pissed about this)"
Most players try to hijack leads for their own purposes, rather than drive buyers to the dealer's website. This makes money for the player but is obviously not done in the dealer's interest. Dealers want traffic to their website. Period. This is where the most accurate and up-to-date information is found, and the website is built to best drive a buyer toward action, so it is the best place for potential buyers to land. This point led us to another idea: just link to the dealer's website. No gimmicks. No lead hijacking. Just a link.
- "I feel a disturbance coming – a new breed OR a dramatic shift made by an existing listing website that could potentially make such a change that they shake up the industry and provide dealers a very different but valuable solution."
We were feeling the same thing. Cars.com and AutoTrader already had this current model down. CarGurus came in and changed things a little bit, but they still use the same basic model. A dramatic shift was needed - something very different but valuable.
All right, so here's the new model we decided to pursue:
- Stop forcing dealers to export their inventory. As a player, doing it this way means you only have a small subset of vehicles that are actually for sale. Many dealers are left out because they can't or don't export. So we decided to go and get vehicle information from the dealer websites ourselves. No hassles for the dealer. No payments, no contracts needed.
- Don't create another VDP for the dealer. Just get the basic vehicle data from the dealer, then display it to potential buyers in search results. If the buyer wants more information, they click through directly to the dealer website.
- No more hijacking leads! There is no need for another service that displays vehicle classifieds and tries to keep potential customers on their own website, so they can hijack the leads. Buyers just want to find vehicles that are available, and dealers just want buyers to get to their website, so they get the lead directly.
Oh yes, I guess you're probably wondering what this service is. 
It's MotoMiner.com. I hesitated for a long time to write anything here, in fear of being spammy or too "markety," but at this point, we aren't actually selling anything. We recognized a need and are in this to help buyers find vehicles and help dealers get their vehicles found. And hopefully, we will actually prove [USER=3]@Jeff Kershner[/USER] right.
I guess the question remains for us if we are "the disturbance in the force," but we know we have something unique and very beneficial for both parties involved (buyer/dealer) in online vehicle classifieds. What do you guys think?
(here is our "What Is" video, since video is easier to ingest than text)
[MEDIA=youtube]Jzbh3S5D0OY[/MEDIA]
