Autotrader

[NOACROSS 414]

8 hours ago, Bmx Bandits said:

Wow Autotrader have an operating profit margin of 70%, they’ve given you two free months over 15 years  (while you’ve given them - circa £360,000.00 I’d imagine) and oh and some plastic steering wheel covers and you think they are fantastic?! 

I find it hard to believe that every one of your enquirers has come purely from Autotrader. Do you not have a forecourt, website or advertise anywhere else? I’m opening up again on the 1st June and list about a quarter of my stock on Autotrader, less then 10 percent of my booked appointments have come from Autotrader. 

I am really pleased you’ve made click and collect/delivery work that well for you and it’s not that Autotrader doesn’t work, its just that you have to be cost effective and there’s are many other ways to drive customers to your stock.

For sure you could and can survive just fine without them. Loads of us have done it. 
 

Car Gurus did drop the ball indeed and screwed themselves. 

[RH Trading 80]

15 hours ago, Bmx Bandits said:

Wow Autotrader have an operating profit margin of 70%, they’ve given you two free months over 15 years  (while you’ve given them - circa £360,000.00 I’d imagine) and oh and some plastic steering wheel covers and you think they are fantastic?! 

I find it hard to believe that every one of your enquirers has come purely from Autotrader. Do you not have a forecourt, website or advertise anywhere else? I’m opening up again on the 1st June and list about a quarter of my stock on Autotrader, less then 10 percent of my booked appointments have come from Autotrader. 

I am really pleased you’ve made click and collect/delivery work that well for you and it’s not that Autotrader doesn’t work, its just that you have to be cost effective and there’s are many other ways to drive customers to your stock.

Wow - so you think I just give them money and receive nothing in return and don't bother to pour over every single lead that comes in?

I invest in what works, if it works well I invest more, if it doesn't I pull away. I conservatively work out that for every £1 i invest Im getting about £8 back and know I can get this higher. Ive used them for the best part of 20 years, with only one ,4 month spell  away when someone on here recommended I cancel and try Jim Reids Autovolo, which I did and was the worst decision I ever made, in  a normal month  it accounts for between 85-90% of all my sales. I couldn't care less about their profit as long as I make a profit from them, thats all that drives me. I monitor religiously where every single enquiry and sale come from, passing traffic, referrals, walk ins dried up from the day we had to shut. did a few deliveries but more by appointments, thats how I know,. My chats, texts, calls and emails returned abut 2-3 weeks ago, I don't just ask where they saw my advert as I only now advertise on one website, yes I have my own by Click Dealer but vast majority of my traffic comes from the adverts on the autotrader. Ive given all of them a fair chance, CarGurus for almost 12 months last year, Motors, eBay, I've fed my stock to all of them. I did get the odd sale but the cost per sale compared to the autotrader was horrific

Trust me, for me there is no more cost effective way of generating profitable sales. Ive tried everyone over a long period of time and pound for pound none come close. Do I wish they were cheaper, God yes, do I scream when they put their prices up, no one shouts louder, but the fact is - they work. Ive published on here last year my sales, profit, ROI generated, and for me I can make it work. I know it doesn't for some and good luck in using other websites. i wish you all the best.

anyway, Im off home now to catch a little of this sun, been preparing cars all day today, got 6 confirmed appointments tomorrow, all with reservations paid to stop the messers.

Good luck all for reopening and hope everyones safe and well

[awc1000 93]

^ this, surely cost matters not when you are getting an 8/1 return on the outlay, 

Iv'e always thought with AT the real issue is what you are selling rather than the cost, RH - what profile / age / price cars are working for you??

[justina3 518]

3 hours ago, RH Trading said:

Wow - so you think I just give them money and receive nothing in return and don't bother to pour over every single lead that comes in?

I invest in what works, if it works well I invest more, if it doesn't I pull away. I conservatively work out that for every £1 i invest Im getting about £8 back and know I can get this higher. Ive used them for the best part of 20 years, with only one ,4 month spell  away when someone on here recommended I cancel and try Jim Reids Autovolo, which I did and was the worst decision I ever made, in  a normal month  it accounts for between 85-90% of all my sales. I couldn't care less about their profit as long as I make a profit from them, thats all that drives me. I monitor religiously where every single enquiry and sale come from, passing traffic, referrals, walk ins dried up from the day we had to shut. did a few deliveries but more by appointments, thats how I know,. My chats, texts, calls and emails returned abut 2-3 weeks ago, I don't just ask where they saw my advert as I only now advertise on one website, yes I have my own by Click Dealer but vast majority of my traffic comes from the adverts on the autotrader. Ive given all of them a fair chance, CarGurus for almost 12 months last year, Motors, eBay, I've fed my stock to all of them. I did get the odd sale but the cost per sale compared to the autotrader was horrific

Trust me, for me there is no more cost effective way of generating profitable sales. Ive tried everyone over a long period of time and pound for pound none come close. Do I wish they were cheaper, God yes, do I scream when they put their prices up, no one shouts louder, but the fact is - they work. Ive published on here last year my sales, profit, ROI generated, and for me I can make it work. I know it doesn't for some and good luck in using other websites. i wish you all the best.

anyway, Im off home now to catch a little of this sun, been preparing cars all day today, got 6 confirmed appointments tomorrow, all with reservations paid to stop the messers.

Good luck all for reopening and hope everyones safe and well

Excellent answer there, i do not use Autotrader as it doesnt work for ME i dont see the need to bash people who do.

 

[Bmx Bandits 52]

4 hours ago, RH Trading said:

Wow - so you think I just give them money and receive nothing in return and don't bother to pour over every single lead that comes in?

I invest in what works, if it works well I invest more, if it doesn't I pull away. I conservatively work out that for every £1 i invest Im getting about £8 back and know I can get this higher. Ive used them for the best part of 20 years, with only one ,4 month spell  away when someone on here recommended I cancel and try Jim Reids Autovolo, which I did and was the worst decision I ever made, in  a normal month  it accounts for between 85-90% of all my sales. I couldn't care less about their profit as long as I make a profit from them, thats all that drives me. I monitor religiously where every single enquiry and sale come from, passing traffic, referrals, walk ins dried up from the day we had to shut. did a few deliveries but more by appointments, thats how I know,. My chats, texts, calls and emails returned abut 2-3 weeks ago, I don't just ask where they saw my advert as I only now advertise on one website, yes I have my own by Click Dealer but vast majority of my traffic comes from the adverts on the autotrader. Ive given all of them a fair chance, CarGurus for almost 12 months last year, Motors, eBay, I've fed my stock to all of them. I did get the odd sale but the cost per sale compared to the autotrader was horrific

Trust me, for me there is no more cost effective way of generating profitable sales. Ive tried everyone over a long period of time and pound for pound none come close. Do I wish they were cheaper, God yes, do I scream when they put their prices up, no one shouts louder, but the fact is - they work. Ive published on here last year my sales, profit, ROI generated, and for me I can make it work. I know it doesn't for some and good luck in using other websites. i wish you all the best.

anyway, Im off home now to catch a little of this sun, been preparing cars all day today, got 6 confirmed appointments tomorrow, all with reservations paid to stop the messers.

Good luck all for reopening and hope everyones safe and well

Look, if you think paying £100 in advertising with Autotrader to to sell a car is a fair price for you, that’s your choice. For me it’s to high.

I was purely explaining that I felt that Autotrader’s offer was poor in light of their excessively profits, was not bashing anyone, although I could quite happily slate Autotrader on the complete lack of supplying me any real sales rep for the last five years, while continuing to increase their prices.

For me I find repeat customers/referrals are my most cost effective source of business as good as free and the easiest to convert.

Good luck for tomorrow. Like many tomorrow will be the 1st day back in 10+ weeks, my prep guys will be in at 5.30 so I’ve got an early start, due to furlough no deposits for us but have made the appointments insure the cars to remove any chance of messers.

[Ratt101 15]

Autotrader at £32k a year versus others, no brainer and they have given it all for free, and what AT is missing is if someone wants a certain car they will google it not necessary do an AT search we all use google 

We are opening  tomorrow and will be no AT advertising we have been in business since 1947 and still going strong 

[Charlie Chopper 13]

14 hours ago, awc1000 said:

^ this, surely cost matters not when you are getting an 8/1 return on the outlay, 

Iv'e always thought with AT the real issue is what you are selling rather than the cost, RH - what profile / age / price cars are working for you??

RH - it would also be interesting to know the percentage breakdown of Price Markers (High - Fair - Good - Great) for the cars you are selling directly from AT leads?

[sparky 274]

13 hours ago, justina3 said:

Excellent answer there, i do not use Autotrader as it doesnt work for ME i dont see the need to bash people who do.

 

Nor me, it's a rather bizarre point of view.

[supreno 0]

well done ! what sort of cars do you have ?

[Ratt101 15]

Is that a question for RH or me Ratt101?

 

[RH Trading 80]

normally stock around 40-45 cars, bit depleted right now like everyone I speak to, 25 in stock. nothing special about my cars, stay away from under 3 years, don't want to compete against franchise. Ive also got 3 ramps and a repair and service centre (only 2 ramps working at moment for social distancing) so luckily prep is in house and this has been ticking over nicely. get some repeat sales business through this but not a great deal. I dont fill the the front with a load of heavy German stuff as that gets competitive as well, prices range from £4k up to around £16k and Ive currently got 5 high price markers. normally stuff like Polos fiestas, focus, golf, usual kit but bizarely Kia and Hyundai stuff sells quickest for decent margins for me, people travel the furthest for these as well ive found and know what they want - no messers. average days to sell was around 32, aim for a £1200 margin on average

oddly the 10am appointment this morning from the autotrader that thankfully bought had a high price flag. now  just desperate for stock 

 

[supreno 0]

On 6/1/2020 at 4:03 PM, Ratt101 said:

Is that a question for RH or me Ratt101?

 

I would be happy to know what you do as well. I started with 1 car which I bought with loaned money from a friend for £3000, a CAT C Auris back in 2016 with no knowledge of cars what so ever, learned and worked my way up and doing really well. not making a lot of money though as I am struggling to find cars with good margins. 

[It's me 615]

39 minutes ago, supreno said:

I would be happy to know what you do as well. I started with 1 car which I bought with loaned money from a friend for £3000, a CAT C Auris back in 2016 with no knowledge of cars what so ever, learned and worked my way up and doing really well. not making a lot of money though as I am struggling to find cars with good margins. 

get yourself into books kid

theres plenty of margins in them

[supreno 0]

1 hour ago, Thestalker said:

get yourself into books kid

theres plenty of margins in them

I am sorry I don't follow ? what do you mean by books?

5 hours ago, RH Trading said:

normally stock around 40-45 cars, bit depleted right now like everyone I speak to, 25 in stock. nothing special about my cars, stay away from under 3 years, don't want to compete against franchise. Ive also got 3 ramps and a repair and service centre (only 2 ramps working at moment for social distancing) so luckily prep is in house and this has been ticking over nicely. get some repeat sales business through this but not a great deal. I dont fill the the front with a load of heavy German stuff as that gets competitive as well, prices range from £4k up to around £16k and Ive currently got 5 high price markers. normally stuff like Polos fiestas, focus, golf, usual kit but bizarely Kia and Hyundai stuff sells quickest for decent margins for me, people travel the furthest for these as well ive found and know what they want - no messers. average days to sell was around 32, aim for a £1200 margin on average

oddly the 10am appointment this morning from the autotrader that thankfully bought had a high price flag. now  just desperate for stock 

 

Thank you for the info, I wish you all the best. As I said my only problem is finding good cars with good margins. a lot of money gets spent on repairs. what is the best place to get good stock from ?

[New year revolutions...... 197]

4 hours ago, supreno said:

I am sorry I don't follow ? what do you mean by books?

Thank you for the info, I wish you all the best. As I said my only problem is finding good cars with good margins. a lot of money gets spent on repairs. what is the best place to get good stock from ?

old chinese proverb

spend more on car eee spend less on rectification

you need the eye to pick trash from mash to make the cash

try buying privately and kick them hard in the nuts if you can,look to see if they are desperate and listen to what they say do a hip before you splash the  cash not before mind, be ready to walk but tell them theres my number if you change your mind

you can buy a  rechargeable oxy3 machine if the cars a honker but showing promise

we all started buying cars the big boys reject,funnily enough the big boys want this stuff now seeing as 1% is shit

[trade vet 702]

10 hours ago, New year revolutions...... said:

old chinese proverb

spend more on car eee spend less on rectification

you need the eye to pick trash from mash to make the cash

try buying privately and kick them hard in the nuts if you can,look to see if they are desperate and listen to what they say do a hip before you splash the  cash not before mind, be ready to walk but tell them theres my number if you change your mind

you can buy a  rechargeable oxy3 machine if the cars a honker but showing promise

we all started buying cars the big boys reject,funnily enough the big boys want this stuff now seeing as 1% is shit

Absolutely,Wet Pidgeons Never Fly at Night .

[supreno 0]

12 hours ago, New year revolutions...... said:

old chinese proverb

spend more on car eee spend less on rectification

you need the eye to pick trash from mash to make the cash

try buying privately and kick them hard in the nuts if you can,look to see if they are desperate and listen to what they say do a hip before you splash the  cash not before mind, be ready to walk but tell them theres my number if you change your mind

you can buy a  rechargeable oxy3 machine if the cars a honker but showing promise

we all started buying cars the big boys reject,funnily enough the big boys want this stuff now seeing as 1% is shit

I agree and it would work for me once I have reliable people working for me. I had a small yard and around 25 cars which I could manage all alone by my self. I never had anyone working for me. now I have moved to a much bigger premises with capacity of over 60 cars and I currently have 40 cars in stock,  I am running the business alone which is not wise but before I start hiring this virus thing shut me down. 

Big boys changed their strategy since the Brexit. 

 

[New year revolutions...... 197]

13 minutes ago, supreno said:

I agree and it would work for me once I have reliable people working for me. I had a small yard and around 25 cars which I could manage all alone by my self. I never had anyone working for me. now I have moved to a much bigger premises with capacity of over 60 cars and I currently have 40 cars in stock,  I am running the business alone which is not wise but before I start hiring this virus thing shut me down. 

Big boys changed their strategy since the Brexit. 

 

wow you must go through some shoe leather running round then

be careful seen a fair few die young in this job with heart attacks through stress

big like by the way

Edited June 3, 2020 by New year revolutions......

[supreno 0]

2 minutes ago, New year revolutions...... said:

wow you must go through some shoe leather running round then

be careful seen a fair few die young in this job with heart attacks through stress

big like by the way

thank you and yes thats exactly whats happening, worked 7 days a week for 3 years straight with no day off or holiday but  but I enjoy what I am doing. 

I used to beg finance companies to sign me up and now they are begging me . hard work pays off.