Autotrader

[moabbas 1]

Happy new year! I seem to be hearing a lot of people leaving autotrader, we have 80 vehicles in stock and are paying around £4.5k + VAT every month! Autotrader does bring in enquiries but not enough to warrant spending £5k every month! What are the alternatives?

[Tony911 79]

Nothing really, ebay and gumtree are a waste of time. Autotrader charge us this much because they know they can its like buying a nissan gtr it's fast but its not a ferrari hence they have got us by the balls. 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

21 minutes ago, moabbas said:

Happy new year! I seem to be hearing a lot of people leaving autotrader, we have 80 vehicles in stock and are paying around £4.5k + VAT every month! Autotrader does bring in enquiries but not enough to warrant spending £5k every month! What are the alternatives?

Welcome, surely you should already know the alternatives ? It depends on what works for you, how you market, your stock type and area. I stick with AT because it works for me, multiple platforms might work for you but that depends on you. 

Edit......lots of you’s....

[NOACROSS 414]

There’s loads on this subject on here and I’ve shouted from the rooftops for years about the subject of Autoraper. We left the robbers over two years ago and the world hasn’t ended. 

There’s plenty of other options but you do need to work it hard including on your SEO. 

We use eBay Motors pro (find it very good), Car Gurus (paid for but I’d use the free one), Motors (Just about pays for itself with the odd flurry otherwise), local press, Facebook etc.

For people/me with lots of stock Autoraper is too pricey. Up to ten cars then I too would probably use the greedy bastards maybe  

You don’t have to advertise all of your stuff on there. Maybe cut it right back and rotate the stock.  

Anyway, we’ve not missed them as I say.  People DO NOT just go to Autoraper to look for cars. Don’t believe any who tell you otherwise. 

[David Horgan 564]

 

Me personally I cant imagine being off autotrader , Car guru doesn't work for me , Ebay is expensive if its run along side AT and I don't sell enough to warrant thinking about it , I personally don't think i should pay two platforms to advertise the same car BUT it does depend on what you choose to sell , My stuff doesn't sell on Ebay , Motors or CGuru , People know where to find what they are looking for in my opinion and that's where your stock needs to be for sale .

All work at different levels .

10 yr old Corsa , EBAY NO Brainer ,  Three yr old Jaguar XF 3.0 litre Portfolio and its AT NO Brainer , Two extremes I know buts that's my thought on why it works for some and not others .

Your job is to find YOUR customers , not them find you . Dangle the bait  and the fish will strike if not you need another river or a lake . 

[NOACROSS 414]

I’ve consistently sold higher value cars via eBay (motorspro). People will google search for a car or stumble across it some other way. 

I do think the above is correct though in that you need to find your market and audience. 

[Nick M.K. 574]

1 hour ago, moabbas said:

I seem to be hearing a lot of people leaving autotrader,

Who?

Why would a professional dealership even begin to consider leaving THE ONLY advertiser in the UK that consistently delivers???

I think anyone that thinks of saving £3-£4K per month advertising (that works!!!) from a multimillion pound a year business is certifiable. 

I am yet to see a single dealer that does better AFTER leaving AT. 

[Blenheim Car Sales 111]

Its super hard work being on that platform, I can only imagine how much more difficult my work life would be having to scavenge all the places i would need to be to replace this one platform

[NOACROSS 414]

Very easy indeed. I spend no time loading a car and only load it once. All fed from the website provider,  Click Dealer and all enquires show on the platform and usual email etc. 

[Blenheim Car Sales 111]

no one that has 30 million veiws a  month i mean, That sort of hard work finding something to replace that

[Tom 164]

Ebay has died for us, gumtree is crap, motors is weak. Now on A.T and getting consistent enquiries. 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

9 minutes ago, Tom said:

Ebay has died for us, gumtree is crap, motors is weak. Now on A.T and getting consistent enquiries. 

As a loyal ebayer I agree, it’s died to the point I’m not getting last price emails. I’m sure the cretins have all gone Facebook, where it’s free and without rules. 

[Tom 164]

Just now, Arfur Dealy said:

As a loyal ebayer I agree, it’s died to the point I’m not getting last price emails. I’m sure the cretins have all gone Facebook, where it’s free and without rules. 

Yes agreed, even though more people look on ebay than AT according to my stats. Lots of views and watchers and that's it they don't call or message like they used to. Bizzare. 

 I know with ebay its a bargain website, they go on there to get a bargain so if your car is top wack it wont work. I do sell a few on there, did 1 this week but it's just really dried up. 

[david gott 58]

The last few days I’ve thought about knocking Ebaymotors on the head, Sod’s law took a deposit on an MR2 today through eBay!!!! Bugger 

[trade vet 702]

5 hours ago, moabbas said:

Happy new year! I seem to be hearing a lot of people leaving autotrader, we have 80 vehicles in stock and are paying around £4.5k + VAT every month! Autotrader does bring in enquiries but not enough to warrant spending £5k every month! What are the alternatives?

Love the name Prestige Auto International,reminds me of the Step Bros movie.You appear to have about £500k stock,so £4500 p/m to AT should work if you are doing your job properly....With 80 cars,vans,trucks,without being diplomatic,you should be doing at least 10 p/w.If you are not,the problem is the management.

[umesh 336]

12 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

 

I am yet to see a single dealer that does better AFTER leaving AT. 

Nik, Jim Reid left AT about 4/5 years ago and look at his business, never looked back.

This debate will go on for ever! what works for one doesn't work for another dealer, it's all about ROI and if it's not working bin it and move it regardless if it's AT, Motors, Cargurus , local press.... 

the market place is changing so much and so are the buyers. 

[trade vet 702]

22 minutes ago, umesh said:

Nik, Jim Reid left AT about 4/5 years ago and look at his business, never looked back.

This debate will go on for ever! what works for one doesn't work for another dealer, it's all about ROI and if it's not working bin it and move it regardless if it's AT, Motors, Cargurus , local press.... 

the market place is changing so much and so are the buyers. 

When you guys started IMDA,I think I did warn that you should not let it impact on your day job.I recall getting short shrift from Mr Reid.In Mr Reid’s case,I appear to have been right.

[Nick M.K. 574]

Umesh, I meant that a dealership with well utilised AT package should do better than the same dealership without. 

They could be doing very well without AT 5 years on, better than in the past but what I meant was that had they stayed with AT all these years they would’ve sold more cars to a wider customers base and would’ve grown more. 

They had a couple of tough years attributed to the Scottish independence referendum and uncertainty in the offshore oil industry, an AT presence would’ve given them nationwide exposure in markets beyond Scotland where both theose factors didn’t make such an impact. 

[sparky 274]

34 minutes ago, umesh said:

Nik, Jim Reid left AT about 4/5 years ago and look at his business, never looked back.

This debate will go on for ever! what works for one doesn't work for another dealer, it's all about ROI and if it's not working bin it and move it regardless if it's AT, Motors, Cargurus , local press.... 

the market place is changing so much and so are the buyers. 

Agreed. There are plenty of dealers out there doing very very well without AT. I certainly wouldn't dream of calling them 'Certifiable'.  

I use them but honestly, I could take or leave them and if the latter the world would not end. 

[Nick M.K. 574]

20 minutes ago, sparky said:

I could take or leave them and if the latter the world would not end

I am not so worried about the world ending (if that was the case the discussion would be about Healthcare problems or Mr Trump) but missing out on sales, especially in larger operations would certainly happen. In the same way your cars would be dirtier if you had a team of 3 valeters of which only one (the highest paid one) did most of the work and you sacked him. 

[umesh 336]

Think in reality we all build our businesses in different ways, from the start I've concentrated more on building my brand /name more locally than nationally, so I’ve spent more on local marketing inc local press that I still use 21+ years on.

AT gives me national and local exposure ( as much as I spend locally some customers half a mile up the road have never heard of me ) as they haven’t been in the market for a car.

I have another friend who’s got a village location, been in business approx. 30 years had a few ads on AT and not sold much and really can’t understand why other dealers pay a fortune to advertise on there, but that’s just his take and his business model.

Opposite spectrum dealers who totally rely on AT and believe without AT they will have no business, as I’ve said, each to their own but everyone needs to closely monitor where the leads/sales come from.

And you also have to work out if you’re spending £4/5k per month, how many cars do you actually sell to pay that? If you’re only selling 6/7 cars for example you’re working for the platforms, if you sell 15/20 cars then it’s working for you. ROI

BTW - Nik - Love the Valeter Comparison  

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

13 minutes ago, umesh said:

BTW - Nik - Love the Valeter Comparison

Not bad, especially considering I've never had one :-)

[Lucas 9]

As a consumer, I didn't know AT before I come to this forum. I bought cars before. I just search on Google Map to find out the dealers nearby, then get there to see the cars. This is just my case. As a buyer, I don't like looking at hundreds of ads online. I having difficulty to read that much, and I don't really trust the photos and description of the ads. I like physical viewing and convenience more.

[Nick M.K. 574]

6 minutes ago, Lucas said:

As a buyer, I don't like looking at hundreds of ads online. I having difficulty to read that much, and I don't really trust the photos and description of the ads. I like physical viewing and convenience more.

This is a great comment which perfectly shows how hard it is to please every customer in this business. Some say they want to buy from the comfort of their own home, some need to go and look at multiple pitches and cars, most are somewhere in-between. Most don't trust us. 

Getting it right is far from obvious and straight-forward but I feel buying in general (hotels, flights, electronics, books, music, films, even food and clothes) is moving more towards "from the comfort of the home" rather than "go and see many".

[umesh 336]

15 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

 

Getting it right is far from obvious and straight-forward but I feel buying in general (hotels, flights, electronics, books, music, films, even food and clothes) is moving more towards "from the comfort of the home" rather than "go and see many".

 

Agree 'click and buy'  is happening and we all have to be ready , as I've said for many years video's sell cars and people are buying unseen and having cars delivered.