Chad Polk

Video: Take a Look Inside AutoRevo.com

Posted by Chad Polk  |  News & Events, Video Clip  |  Tuesday August 26, 2008 at 12:57 pm

Check out this video to get a peek inside AutoRevo!



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Chad Polk

Three eBay University for Motors Remain

Posted by Chad Polk  |  eBay Motors  |  Thursday August 21, 2008 at 2:37 pm

May want to get one of these eBay Motors University events on your calendar.

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/services/dealer_center/university.html

Here is one of the lead speakers:
Steve Lindhorst

In Spring 2000, Steve began working at eBay’s San Jose Headquarters as eBay’s Advertising Operations Manager.

In Feb. 2002 he was invited to become one of only six contracted eBay University Instructors. Since then he’s traveled to all parts of the U.S. and taught thousands how to use eBay for personal and business income through lectures and individual instruction.

Having a life-long love for cars, Steve was thrilled to be chosen as the sole outside instructor for eBay University for Motors. With personal experience in auto sales, he is able to effectively teach auto dealers to use eBay Motors as an additional sales channel. Steve continues to offer a Motors course for dealers, keeping the information fresh and up to date.

He currently offers group and individual instruction as an Education Specialist.


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Chad Polk

What Are Customers Saying About You?

Posted by Chad Polk  |  Best Practices  |  Thursday August 21, 2008 at 10:30 am

In my morning blog reads, I ran across this great book by Pete Blackshaw which highlights the influence of customer-opinion websites and blogs, and argues that businesses can profit from joining the online discussion.

“Consumers trust each other more than they trust advertisers or businesses.  How do you turn that to your advantage?” - PETE BLACKSHAW

A dealer group recently visited our AutoRevo offices who had a major problem.  Five out of the first 10 Google search results where related to 2 bad customer reviews on a popular dealer review website.  To keep a long story short, we are going to be able to help them clear up this issue now and for the future, but it brings to light how bad press or good press can mean profits for your dealership.

One simple solution is Google Alerts, which scans websites for your dealership’s name and will send you daily alerts via email.  A second proactive approach is for owners or GMs to create a blog.  When blogging be honest and balanced.  For instance, acknowledging where your business needs improvement.  Constantly cheerleading does not portray credibility with consumers.

Back to Pete Blackshaw.  Below are some of his links and most noteably his new book (7/2008) Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000.  Here are a few other helpful links:

Tell3000.com
ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com
Amazon.com


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Chad Polk

Cars.com Making a Push for Webinars

Posted by Chad Polk  |  Industry News  |  Wednesday August 20, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Quick hit post.  Check out the available webinars from Cars.com: http://dealers.cars.com/dealeradvantage_live.php


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Chad Polk

eBay Motors Expands Local Market Radius

Posted by Chad Polk  |  Industry News, eBay Motors  |  Wednesday August 20, 2008 at 8:41 am

eBay Motors is increasing the radius in which Local Market vehicles will be visible to potential buyers on the site. As of September 2nd, dealers will be able to submit listings with a 200 mile exposure (versus 100 miles currently). We anticipate increased exposure will translate to increased lead volume for your dealers!

AutoRevo’s eBay Motors products


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Chad Polk

Cars.com Dealer Workshops Coming Up

Posted by Chad Polk  |  Industry News  |  Tuesday August 19, 2008 at 2:18 pm

I thought this would be beneficial to our readers to point out some links and events with Cars.com.

Check out the upcoming events: http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/da/category/upcoming-events/?ec3_after=2008-7-21

Cars.com Dealer News Feed: http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/da/feed/

DealerAdvantage: http://dealeradvantage.cars.com

About Dealer Workshops

These seminars focus on ways you can get more out of your online advertising.

Topics include:

  • Understanding the consumer
  • Merchandising your inventory to build more traffic
  • Effective communication (email and phone) with the consumer
  • Closing techniques to build higher closing ratios
  • Best practices from dealers across the country

Who should attend:
General Managers, Sales Managers, BDC Managers and Internet Department Sales Staff.

For more information call 1.888.252.7731.


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Chad Polk

AutoTrader Dealer Trainers in Florida Tomorrow

Posted by Chad Polk  |  Industry News  |  Tuesday August 19, 2008 at 1:07 pm

AutoTrader dealer workshop will be in Ft. Myers Florida tomorrow on how to sell more cars online.  The only instructions is to call your Advertising Consultant or District Sales Manager.

Click here to learn more.

AutoTrader for Dealers


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Chad Polk

No eBay Motors Insertion Fees, BUT…

Posted by Chad Polk  |  eBay Motors  |  Thursday August 14, 2008 at 8:11 pm

Ok, let’s take a quick dive into this new pricing model (assuming you read the previous post).  The scenario below assumes no listing enhancements (category featured, bold, highlight, icons, etc) for simplicity sake.

Pricing Today:
Dealer lists 10 cars on eBay Motors
Insertion fees $400 ($40/listing)
Successfully sell 4 cars on eBay Motors
Final valuation fees (aka Transaction Fees) $200 ($50/successful sale)
TOTAL Out-of-Pocket: $600

Pricing as of Sept 2:
Dealer lists 10 cars on eBay Motors
Insertion fee on first 4 cars $0
Insertion fee on next 6 cars $120
Successfully sell 4 cars on eBay Motors
Final valuation fee (aka Transaction Fees) $500 ($125/successful sale on first 4).
TOTAL Out-of-Pocket: $620

Not bad so far huh?  Now lets take in that eBay Motors old timer dealer who is a high volume seller on the site.

Pricing Today:
Dealer lists 30 cars on eBay Motors
Insertion fees $1200 ($40/listing)
Successfully sell 12 cars on eBay Motors
Final valuation fees $600 ($50/successful sale)
TOTAL Out-of-Pocket: $1800

Pricing as of Sept 2:
Dealer lists 30 cars on eBay Motors
Insertion fee on first 4 cars $0
Insertion fee on next 24 cars $480
Successfully sell 12 cars on eBay Motors
Final valuation fees $500 ($125/successful sale on first 4)
Final valuation fees $800 ($100/successful sale > 4)
TOTAL Out-of-Pocket: $1780

So what is this pricing designed to do?  First let me set somewhat of a timeline:

  1. 2007 NADA eBay Motors Local Market is launched to penetrate dealerships that they were previously not in.  List your entire inventory for $1000 in a 100 mile radius of your store.  Never really caught on and flooded the site with inventory and the same number of eyeballs (hurting existing eBay Motors faithfuls…classic supply and demand).
  2. eBay Motors 2.0 website is live.  This turned out to be a really good site for car shopping and more.
  3. eBay Motors team opens up the ability for any provider under the sun to send them a data file outside of the API.  Let’s just circumvent all of our longstanding Preferred Solution Providers (aka AutoRevo) and let mom & pop company post incomplete listings.
  4. eBay Motors teams up with OEMs to pump inventory to the site and lands GM.  Again more inventory same number of eyeballs.
  5. 2008 is full of top secret pricing promotions and evidently they found one they liked.

Ok, so what does this pricing do?

  1. Encourages new dealers to come to the site and list inventory.
  2. Increases the number of listings on the site (aka increases supply with same level of demand)
  3. Reduces the amount of clicks on existing eBay Motors dealer listings (now there is more inventory on the site).

With all of this said, I want to know 2 things:

  1. How are they going to get more viewers on eBay Motors?
  2. Why can’t Motors do what they were good at….advertising nationally for car dealers.  The geographic scope of selling cars is expanding everyday.  They were in that space and did it very well.  Plus no one else was in that space!!!???

At the end of the day where is the cost savings for existing customers, increase in sales, or added value created?

Comments anyone…

Current fee schedule: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/motorfees.html

New fee schedule: http://pages.motors.ebay.com/pricing/vehicles0903/


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Chad Polk

eBay Motors Price Change

Posted by Chad Polk  |  eBay Motors  |  Thursday August 14, 2008 at 7:18 pm

On Tuesday September 2, 2008 at Midnight Pacific Time, the new eBay Motors pricing schedule goes into effect. It is a permanent change.

Insertion Fees Cut Dramatically

eBay Motors is eliminating Insertion Fees on the first four vehicles you list in a 12 month period. For a car or truck, this amounts to an upfront savings of $40 per listing compared with the old pricing plan. Starting with the fifth vehicle you list, the Insertion Fee is $20 (a savings of 50% compared with the old plan).

After 12 months, the counter resets and you get another four vehicle listings with zero Insertion Fees.

Only Pay if You Are Successful
A successful listing is defined as any one of the following:

  • The listing ends with a bid greater than reserve
  • A bid is placed on a no reserve auction-style listing
  • A buyer clicks and confirms the Buy-it-Now button
  • The seller accepts a submitted Best Offer

When one of these events occurs, eBay will charge the seller a Successful Listing Fee. In short, we only succeed when you succeed.

Also note, the Successful Listing Fee varies with the type of vehicle. Like the Insertion Fee, the amount charged depends on how many vehicles you list in a 12-month period. For example, with Cars & Trucks, the Successful Listing Fee on the first four vehicles is $125. After the first four listings, the fee drops to $100.

Please see the table below for full details.

All Vehicles and Transaction Formats Included
With the first four listings, Insertion Fees will be zero for all types of vehicles. Starting with the fifth vehicle listing, Insertion Fees are significantly reduced from the old pricing plan and vary with the type of vehicle. See table below for details. As mentioned above, Successful Listing Fees vary with the type of vehicle and they drop starting with your fifth vehicle listing. See table below for details.

While specific prices vary by type of vehicle and seller activity, this new fee structure applies to any vehicle listed on eBay Motors. It also applies whether the seller uses an Auction-style, Fixed Price, or Best Offer format.

Why We’re Changing Our Prices
Extensive tests earlier this year showed sellers greatly prefer this fee structure. And they proved it by listing more vehicles. Clearly, a more active market means more buyers and more successful listings.

Bottom line? No mandatory fees on your first four listings unless they’re successful.

Fees on the First Four Listings in a 12-month period*

Insertion Fees Successful Listing Fee Reserve Fee
Category Old New Old New Old New
Cars & Trucks,
Other Vehicles
$40.00 $0.00 $50.00 $125.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Motorcycles $30.00 $0.00 $40.00 $100.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Powersports $30.00 $0.00 $40.00 $100.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Powersports Vehicles
Under 50cc
$3.00 $0.00 $3.00 $10.00 $2.00 $2.00
* Vehicles that are relisted using the official eBay Relist feature do not count towards the listing count.

Fees Starting with the Fifth Listing in a 12-month period

Insertion Fees Successful Listing Fee Reserve Fee
Category Old New Old New Old New
Cars & Trucks,
Other Vehicles
$40.00 $20.00 $50.00 $100.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Motorcycles $30.00 $15.00 $40.00 $80.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Powersports $30.00 $15.00 $40.00 $80.00 $5.00 – $10.00 $7.00
Powersports Vehicles
Under 50cc
$3.00 $0.00 $3.00 $10.00 $2.00 $2.00
All other fees (PayPal fees and all other optional listing upgrade fees) still apply. A description of optional listing upgrade fees is available here.

What’s excluded
Listings in eBay Motors Parts & Accessories categories, international eBay sites other than Canada, Live Auction listings, Professional Services, Motors Local Market listings, Store Inventory listings and listings on eBay.com are not eligible for this promotion.

Listings started before September 2, 2008 do not qualify for new pricing structure. Listings started before September 2, 2008 and revised after September 2, 2008 do not qualify for the new pricing structure.

For more information, see the FAQ page.


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Mark Hoffman

The Hiring Continues – 3 New Developers

Posted by Mark Hoffman  |  Careers, News & Events  |  Thursday August 14, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Our customers are constantly giving us great ideas for new features as well as improvements to existing ones. We wanted to get these features in the hands of our customers even faster so we have brought on three additional software developers.

We’re still looking for additional developers, but we’re excited to have filled these much needed positions.


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