What are the unit economics on your VDP's?

[CarsonWhite]

Howdy everybody. First time posting on here. Based in SW, Florida.

I was genuinely curious what the unit economics look like for sites and varying scales? VDP's are kinda becoming a melting pot of varying sources, data, partners etc... From a consumer perspective, it all feels like the same experience, and it's never truly enjoyable. Out-linking, re-routing, unclear presentation.

I've tried estimating how many exist on the internet and accounting for duplicates, dealer sites, marketplaces and other aggregators, I'd venture to guess it's ~30-35m at any one point in time. That's a whole-lot of competition, and a wildly scaleable industry.

So I'm curious, based on different scales, how many sources are in any given VDP on your site? What's the cost of producing any one VDP?

 

[DjSec]

The real problem is that most dealership website developers all pull from the same data, create platforms for the masses, uses the same templates over and over again, and then compete on price. It becomes a race to the bottom, so the quality of the sites suffers, serious web design companies look at those margins and want no part of it, and dealerships believe their website don't matter.

On a normal dealer website (DealerOn, Dealer.com, Sincro, CarsForSale, DealerCenter, etc.), a single VDP is usually stitched together from multiple sources:

• Dealer DMS / Inventory Feed
  VIN, price, mileage, stock#, status
• Photos / Photo provider
• OEM Window Sticker / Build data
• 3rd-party specs (Chrome, Polk, Monroney, KBB/Black Book, Carfax/AutoCheck)
• Pricing tools (vAuto, ACV rules)
• Merchandising tools (SpinCar/Impel, video tools)
• Marketing add-ons (badges, payment widgets, trade-in tools, etc.)

That’s easily 4–15 data sources feeding every VDP.

Most websites cost dealers anywhere from $99 to $1,500/month, and they all suffer from the same issues because vendors:

• Use identical templates
• Use the same slow scripts
• Copy the same layouts
• Prioritize OEM compliance over UX
• Load the pages with plug-ins
• Run on 10–20-year-old platforms
• Sell “features,” not conversion results

Dealers rarely optimize their VDPs, so the shopper ends up dealing with:

• Massive outlinks
• Slow load speeds
• Pop-ups
• Redundant data
• Confusing CTAs
• Endless badges and distractions

That poor VDP experience then forces dealers to lean on third-party marketplaces to compensate:

• AutoTrader: $3,000–$5,500+
• CarGurus: $1,500–$3,500+
• Cars.com: $2,000–$4,000+

So when you combine:

• Website cost
• Labor
• Tools
• Photo time
• Marketplace spend
• Lost leads from slow or underperforming VDPs

A dealership’s true cost of “VDP visibility” usually ends up somewhere around $10,000–$50,000+ per month, depending on inventory size and marketing spend.

And that’s the crazy part, dealers think their getting a bargain when they’re paying $99 for a website when the real cost of poor VDP performance is often 100× higher.

 

[Jason@nabthat]

Hey Carson,

Good to "meet" you and welcome to the community, albeit, it has been awhile since I posted anything.

I will just throw out some metrics and let you come back with any questions (if you have any):

1) 70% of all traffic is mobile
2) New Vehicle VDP's are less important (identical vehicle builds)
3) Used Vehicle VDP's are crucial (for obvious reasons)
4) SRP pages host the most traffic by far

Images, Video, Pricing and Details are pieces of the data and then you have 3rd party add-ons that dealers will throw into a VDP:

- Images, Pricing and Details typically come from one inventory feed provider, but can come from multiple if needed
- Video is either bolted on through a 3rd party or an additional feed is provided to the website platform
- 3rd Parties (such as vehicle reports (CarFax, Autocheck, Vehicle Records, etc.) are added via a CTA or built into the page via an iframe or javascript, Digital Retail Tools (Roadster, AutoFi, Darwin, etc.) are added to provide payment terms and online purchasing options, Trade-In (TradePending, KBB, Edmunds, etc.) and more.

VDP's can tend to become "messy" if the website platform does not have any dedicated real estate for these tools in their UI/UX and the layout of information is not clear and concise. Mobile optimization is important since the majority of traffic comes from mobile devices. Simple is better, less = more.

 

[DjSec]

I will just throw out some metrics and let you come back with any questions (if you have any):

1) 70% of all traffic is mobile
2) New Vehicle VDP's are less important (identical vehicle builds)
3) Used Vehicle VDP's are crucial (for obvious reasons)
4) SRP pages host the most traffic by far

Images, Video, Pricing and Details are pieces of the data and then you have 3rd party add-ons that dealers will throw into a VDP:

- Images, Pricing and Details typically come from one inventory feed provider, but can come from multiple if needed
- Video is either bolted on through a 3rd party or an additional feed is provided to the website platform
- 3rd Parties (such as vehicle reports (CarFax, Autocheck, Vehicle Records, etc.) are added via a CTA or built into the page via an iframe or javascript, Digital Retail Tools (Roadster, AutoFi, Darwin, etc.) are added to provide payment terms and online purchasing options, Trade-In (TradePending, KBB, Edmunds, etc.) and more.

VDP's can tend to become "messy" if the website platform does not have any dedicated real estate for these tools in their UI/UX and the layout of information is not clear and concise. Mobile optimization is important since the majority of traffic comes from mobile devices. Simple is better, less = more.

It sounds like one of the biggest opportunities is the VDP:
VDPs are nearly identical because they all depend on the same inventory feeds, the same vendors, and the same add-ons. If a platform actually hosted its own data and used AI to generate unique, educational, and genuinely useful content around each vehicle, that VDP would instantly stand out.

Most VDPs are just duplicate feeds.
However a VDP that:

• Explains what makes that specific vehicle interesting or valuable
• Breaks down trim packages in human terms
• Highlights the history and ownership profile
• Calls out common problems, reliability notes, or cost-of-ownership insights
• Uses AI to compare that VIN against similar listings in the area
• Adds narrative, not just specs

That turns a VDP into something people actually read instead of bounce from.

And on scale:
If you maintain sold VDPs, suddenly you’re not restricted to however many live vehicles you have today. You can build out hundreds or thousands of SRPs as long as you have enough sold inventory history to support them.

The trick is a sold VDP only works if the content is worth staying for. If the page teaches the visitor something, answers a question, or helps them make a future buying decision, then “sold” isn’t a problem. It becomes evergreen educational content that keeps ranking and keeps traffic flowing.

So owning your data + layering AI-driven content + organizing SRPs around both active and sold vehicles = one of the clearest ways to standout and compete in a crowded market where everyone is selling the same products and saying the same thing.