smurf

new auto trader alternative

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As we all know Auto trader hold the biggest share of the advertising market for selling used cars. also they charge a ridiculous amount of money per week for using their services and don't listen to the consumer at all, only dictate what they think and believe they know best!

what if someone.... was going to compete directly with them but be tailored to the needs of the trader. whilst being only a fraction of the price with no complicated pricing structure, no tiers everyone gets all of the benefits of the site for a fixed price (calculated by no. of advertising slots per month) not per car uploaded. would this interest you?

with the extra features of inter trader buying/selling for sourcing your stock and others.

I would like to know from the dealers them selves what they think are the best/key features they would like to see or use? how what would make your experience better and more useful using this buy/sell platform?

many thanks

   

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"What if someone?". Unless you are Mark Zuckerberg there's  more chance of Wrexham winning the Champions League in six years time than that ever happening I'm afraid. Cox automotive can't do it, RAC couldn't do it, Ebay can't be bothered and Tom, Dick and Harry are nowhere to be seen. Sorry.

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I did something similar to this in another market. You will always get the trade on board until they realise there's no the online visitors. As with everything online you have to ask 'where is the benefit to the user?'

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where is the optimism..? your correct cox automotive are trying to do it and are under 100,000 listings away from an equal share and teamed up with RAC.

all I see everywhere are people moaning about AT saying why let them get away with bullying the market, costing so much etc etc

if a platform was to be offered where you could have direct input into it being most beneficial for yourself would you not use it ?

 

Mojo 121

I agree brand awareness and advertising campaign is key for site traffic and not been overlooked trust me.

I am just interested in what the dealers would like to see on such a platform to benefit them the most

 

Edited by smurf

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57 minutes ago, smurf said:

where is the optimism..? your correct cox automotive are trying to do it and are under 100,000 listings away from an equal share and teamed up with RAC.

all I see everywhere are people moaning about AT saying why let them get away with bullying the market, costing so much etc etc

if a platform was to be offered where you could have direct input into it being most beneficial for yourself would you not use it ?

 

Mojo 121

I agree brand awareness and advertising campaign is key for site traffic and not been overlooked trust me.

I am just interested in what the dealers would like to see on such a platform to benefit them the most

 

 

Just being realistic mate. 

It's not for me but I wish you well.

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2 hours ago, smurf said:

As we all know Auto trader hold the biggest share of the advertising market for selling used cars. also they charge a ridiculous amount of money per week for using their services and don't listen to the consumer at all, only dictate what they think and believe they know best!

what if someone.... was going to compete directly with them but be tailored to the needs of the trader. whilst being only a fraction of the price with no complicated pricing structure, no tiers everyone gets all of the benefits of the site for a fixed price (calculated by no. of advertising slots per month) not per car uploaded. would this interest you?

with the extra features of inter trader buying/selling for sourcing your stock and others.

I would like to know from the dealers them selves what they think are the best/key features they would like to see or use? how what would make your experience better and more useful using this buy/sell platform?

many thanks

   

How much money are you investing in this Smurf? Alternatives to AutoTrader come along all the time, but don't seem to stick Autovolvo promised the earth then disappeared without trace, then theres motor2go, Carsnip, hellocar, and just on Monday saw an advert on cardealer for new site coming soon called motor1.co.uk. they generate hope in the industry that things will change, listen to dealers, be the next big challenger, Its not pessimism Smurf its just you're not the first, we've heard these things time and time and time again and all we get is disappointed, crushed dreams and broken promises. If your shiny new site can give me the same return as AT for a fraction of the cost then obviously we're interested. if its another autovolvo scheme for us to invest in an unproven start up, then its not for me. If your serious about building a challenger then be prepared to spend serious money, I mean millions of pound of investment and wait several years before you break even - I wish you the best of luck Smurf

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RH Trading

I can totally understand that this would not be the first time you may have been asked this question and seen many other sites come and go. I believe this is because they aim at taking a small share of the market instead of competing directly with the superpower. with money already invested and a further upto 5 million yet to be I think we hold a good chance at launching a platform that puts a stop to the ridiculous prices auto trader charge and offers a new upto date way of buying/selling/trading

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Without sounding too pessimistic...5 mil in AT world really isn't going to make much of a dent IMO. I can think of better ways of investing it.

Best of luck tho.

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Have to agree with the others here, trying to compete with AT is no going to work. Trying to gain a foot whole in the car advertising market is possible but you need a different structure than AT, Example

Dealer auction  (gone after the dealer trade to trade selling)

Gumtree (created a free listing site paid by adverts and premium adds, then when had the visitors moved into accommodating dealers with a cheap package)

 

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Sadly I agree with all the above. But there may be hope for us yet. I read that Haymarket are putting together a £50m development package of Pistonheads, WhatCar? and Autocar. 

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