3:55 pm, March 27, 2017
A NEW online avenue for buying and selling stock that’s free to use? That lacks any of the hassle of the traditional auction model? And works hard to eliminate any malpractice and mischief?
If you think that all sounds too good to be true, we wouldn’t blame you for a second – but it’s definitely not in this case!
DealerTrade is a new vehicle trading website and online community that is funded purely by advertising, making it completely free to use for its members. There’s no joining fee, no membership fee and no catches whatsoever.
The company was set up by Dean Miles, Wayne Ryder and Simon Smiddy, all three of whom have vast experience in the motor trade. All three are former senior employees of one of the biggest names in the automotive auction world – and their understanding of the industry told them that a new approach was needed when it comes to buying and selling cars at auction.
Having spent part of his career ensuring dealers were satisfied with auction services, Miles is well aware of the main challenges they face. He says that their biggest concern is the cost of buying and selling cars at auction.
‘The aim is for dealers to create a community between themselves,’ said Dean Miles when we caught up with him recently. ‘Instead of heading to auctions to buy or sell stock and incur fees, with our system members build relationships through the site and trade cars between each other. We’re trying to save dealers money’.
‘We’re a premium service that’s free of charge. The biggest remark we get from dealers is: ‘What’s the catch?’ Our answer is simple: ‘It’s free and our revenue will develop through our advertising partners.’
Some other sites charge dealers approximately £200 for each £10,000 car they sell, as well as a typical membership fee of up to around £100 per month. As we’ve said, DealerTrade gets all its revenue from advertising, meaning dealers can sign up and use the service without incurring cost.
In terms of recruiting selling partners, Avis Budget and United Rental Group are already on board, and the company says there’s big news coming soon about another really big ally they’re currently in talks with.
Another problem that is perceived to be all too common on other vehicle trading sites is a lack of policing. Many dealers complain that those who act questionably within some of our competitor sites are very rarely dealt with appropriately. DealerTrade is absolutely determined to root out this issue by introducing a new way of protecting its users.
‘We operate a three strikes and you’re out rule,’ says Dean Miles. ‘If somebody makes a complaint against you, it will be noted. If a member receives three complaints, they will be removed as its spoiling the service for the rest. We’re the only ones doing this. It’s going to be heavily policed because the frustration with our competitors is their members are left to their own devices. We’re all from a motor trade background and have experienced some of the pitfalls with these type of platforms, so we’re determined to ensure that the behaviour of a few doesn’t spoil it for the rest of our members.
‘We’ve already removed cars for being too expensive and we’ve had to remind certain members it’s a trade-only platform. We want people actively trading cars at realistic money, to build professional relationships with each other and to save themselves the cost of disposing through mainstream channels.
‘Complaints can be mis-describing a car, wasting people’s time – we won’t put up with things like that because our competitors are notorious with that kind of behaviour. We want a fair community for everybody and we want that to be it. DealerTrade is built by motor dealers for motor dealers.’
DealerTrade has been live since October 2016 and has accumulated more than 1,500 members so far. This number is constantly rising at a rate of approximately 15 dealers every day. Everyone who has signed up so far has only had positive things to say.
‘Feedback from dealers is they’re glad we’re here, they’re glad we’re making a change and reducing the cost of buying a car,’ says Dean Miles. ‘They’re glad to have a new avenue for stock. It’s as simple as that. They’re saying there’s room for us and they’re glad we’re here. So far everybody we’ve spoken to, and that’s a lot of people, not one person’s said it’s a bad idea. Not one!
‘There won’t just be a benefit of buying and selling cars on the site. We want people to benefit from the other sectors of the motor trade as well, just for being a member. We’re in discussions with some advertising partners that will provide discount services for DealerTrade members. As long as you’re a motor trader, you can sign up for free. That’s the biggest USP we’ve got – there really are no catches.
‘Other services seem to have been built by computer bods who don’t understand the motor trade. We understand the pitfalls of the motor trade. We understand what goes on. We are trying to make things simple and transparent to change people’s behaviour on these sites.’
