11:47 am, October 21, 2021
The UK’s busiest wholesale marketplace, Dealer Auction, has opened its platform to independent dealers giving them more functionality.
The website, which dealers voted highly commended at this year’s Car Dealer Power awards, will now allow independents to trade stock in the same way franchised dealers have enjoyed ever since the platform was launched in 2009, and then when it was relaunched as a joint venture between Auto Trader and Cox Automotive in 2019.
The move will now mean the platform will boast around 5,000 buyers who will be able to trade 11,000 cars (added to the platform monthly) in 600 daily auctions.
Speaking to Car Dealer Live, Dealer Auction’s sales and marketing director, Sarah Marley, explained the reasoning behind the decision.
‘Dealer Auction has been around for a long time prior to the joint venture – it was the original online wholesale marketplace,’ she said.
‘The formula wasn’t broken – it was franchised dealers predominantly selling their stock to independent dealers, but the world has really changed.
‘Traditionally, franchised dealers were probably seen as the place to go and buy a vehicle. Now you’ve got some fabulous independent dealers of various sizes offering both retail and service.
‘We saw this as an opportunity to evolve the platform to get as much stock in one place as possible. We wanted to build on our heritage and we see independent dealers (who were also already on the platform) as a key part of our growth plans to become the largest marketplace.
‘We wanted to give something back to our independent dealers who have been such loyal buyers.’
Independent dealers have always been an important customer for Dealer Auction, but since opening up the platform’s functionality to independents, dealers have been quick to get on board.
‘We’ve had over 300 new independent sellers on the platform,’ Marley said. ‘The majority of those were already on the platform as buyers, but now they’ve taken the opportunity to be able to sell their stock as well.
‘The volume of stock from independent buyers has gone up 30 per cent from August to September. Independent stock tends to be newer and it tends to be a lower mileage as well, and that has brought down our average selling price and average age on the platform. This has been really welcomed by our franchised dealers.’
In the interview, which you can watch at the top of this story, Marley also discussed:
- What makes Dealer Auction different from an online auction house
- How Dealer Auction has performed during the pandemic
- Used car prices
- Stock shortages
- Future developments
Click the video to watch the full interview
