Car buy/sell website

carfinder

Hi

I am designing a car buy/sell website and would appreciate an insights that anyone is willing to share.
There are lots of car listing websites so I am not looking to replicate whats already there.
I would like ideas or a wishlist of things that a website could do to help car buyers.
Thanks in advance
CF

Heres Johnny

carfinder wrote: »

Hi

I am designing a car buy/sell website and would appreciate an insights that anyone is willing to share.
There are lots of car listing websites so I am not looking to replicate whats already there.
I would like ideas or a wishlist of things that a website could do to help car buyers.
Thanks in advance
CF

Is this a college project or commercial venture?
What do you think is missing at the moment from existing sites? What's unique about your site?
The only thing I thought might be a great idea is to have an independent verification service for cars people might add to a used car sale, like a registered mechanics report but in reality it would be abused. And it's a cost most wouldn't make anyway.
Maybe the ability to upload service history and nct report scores but I suppose this is available via photos already.
Not sure, think car sales sites are around long enough now to have it fairly sussed now, any info I want is available anyway from done deal and that costs less than a tenner to advertise on. Are you going to undercut that price?
Youd need massive volume to make that business model work. Are you going to offer a flashier website and more features? If you price above done deal you are dead in the water.

bobbyy gee

I would like it free to advertise on it to sell a car

carfinder

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Is this a college project or commercial venture?
What do you think is missing at the moment from existing sites? What's unique about your site?
The only thing I thought might be a great idea is to have an independent verification service for cars people might add to a used car sale, like a registered mechanics report but in reality it would be abused. And it's a cost most wouldn't make anyway.
Maybe the ability to upload service history and nct report scores but I suppose this is available via photos already.
Not sure, think car sales sites are around long enough now to have it fairly sussed now, any info I want is available anyway from done deal and that costs less than a tenner to advertise on. Are you going to undercut that price?
Youd need massive volume to make that business model work. Are you going to offer a flashier website and more features? If you price above done deal you are dead in the water.

Thanks for your input. Its a commercial venture but I have backing and a route to market (commercially sensitive so I wont be revealing these details).
I think the value creator in the car sales process is the buyer but he/she is really up against it with a long list of potential rip off's:
Paying over the odds as pricing information is asymmetric
Trade ins complicate the car buying process
Forecourt finance rip off's
Inappropriate PCP deals
Mileage discrepancies
Written off cars presented as undamaged
Doctored service histories
Major maintenance items not completed - timing belt, brake pads/discs etc
It seems that most websites are there to serve their customers - the car sellers. My website would seek to help the buyer to avoid such issues.
I appreciate any further input you might have
CF

Heres Johnny

carfinder wrote: »

Thanks for your input. Its a commercial venture but I have backing and a route to market (commercially sensitive so I wont be revealing these details).
I think the value creator in the car sales process is the buyer but he/she is really up against it with a long list of potential rip off's:
Paying over the odds as pricing information is asymmetric
Trade ins complicate the car buying process
Forecourt finance rip off's
Inappropriate PCP deals
Mileage discrepancies
Written off cars presented as undamaged
Doctored service histories
Major maintenance items not completed - timing belt, brake pads/discs etc
It seems that most websites are there to serve their customers - the car sellers. My website would seek to help the buyer to avoid such issues.
I appreciate any further input you might have
CF

Well then, how about a genuine cars wanted section where a buyer advertise what they want and then match up sellers who can make an offer. Carwow in UK works this way more or less.
Any cars wanted ads I've seen in Ireland look like people flipping cars for a profit, not genuine buyers looking for a car for themselves.

KaneToad

Some things about the existing cars sites that annoy me:

- POA ads

- Missing data: tax bracket, NCT status

- Photos are dependant on sellers..(.would like to see standard style photos: head on, side on, rear view, roof view, interior from drivers perspective, passenger perspective, rear seat perspective, engine bay, exhaust, tyres)

- No mileage details or very rounded milage (usually downwards). Rounding to nearest 1,000 is ok...nearest 5,000 isn't

Some nice additions would be links to industry data about the vehicle. Saves me the additional hassle of going to parkers.co.uk to find out the size of the boot or the length/height of the vehicle.

That's my 2c...

colm_mcm

Autotrader uk site is a great example of having the specs of each model, as well as the best filtering tool out there. That all cost big money.

newmember2

colm_mcm wrote: »

Autotrader uk site is a great example of having the specs of each model, as well as the best filtering tool out there. That all cost big money.

Would like Autotrader to have a number of owners filter.

Ta ceist agam

What about an Auction site similar to Ebay.

Ireland is probably too small to make such a thing work especially when website is new.

carfinder

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Well then, how about a genuine cars wanted section where a buyer advertise what they want and then match up sellers who can make an offer. Carwow in UK works this way more or less.
Any cars wanted ads I've seen in Ireland look like people flipping cars for a profit, not genuine buyers looking for a car for themselves.

That's a good idea I think. It would need some quality assurance safeguards that would discourage dishonest sellers. Any ideas on what safeguards would work?

Heres Johnny

carfinder wrote: »

That's a good idea I think. It would need some quality assurance safeguards that would discourage dishonest sellers. Any ideas on what safeguards would work?

Keep it to dealers that are registered businesses. Maybe that's a source of revenue too, the dealership could pay a sub to get access to the cars wanted section that Joe public doesn't... Maybe they get an email when a car wanted ad is uploaded. This isn't anything new, there's a few industries that do this. Tradesman.ie is one I know of. Don't know if this would work or not, you'd have to do the research but it's an idea. You couldn't be responsible for bad garages though, would be a minefield. But you can verify their registered business status. And maybe their tax compliance status. Could also allow garages to build up feedback and, ratings ftom buyers, again, this, would need research to see if it's a valued addition or not

carfinder

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Well then, how about a genuine cars wanted section where a buyer advertise what they want and then match up sellers who can make an offer. Carwow in UK works this way more or less.
Any cars wanted ads I've seen in Ireland look like people flipping cars for a profit, not genuine buyers looking for a car for themselves.

That's a good idea I think. It would need some quality assurance safeguards that would discourage dishonest sellers. Any ideas on what safeguards would work?

colm_mcm

carfinder wrote: »

That's a good idea I think. It would need some quality assurance safeguards that would discourage dishonest sellers. Any ideas on what safeguards would work?

It’s not practical to do this, if you’re getting maybe €5 for an advert.

A site for sales where every car was history checked and inspected by the site would be great for buyers who are nervous - but you’d need to be getting €300+ for an advert and people probably wouldn’t pay that when they can just sell it somewhere else cheaper.

To be honest, the market is saturated as it is, so unless you’re seriously thinking outside the box, you’re wasting your time.

carfinder

colm_mcm wrote: »

It’s not practical to do this, if you’re getting maybe €5 for an advert.

A site for sales where every car was history checked and inspected by the site would be great for buyers who are nervous - but you’d need to be getting €300+ for an advert and people probably wouldn’t pay that when they can just sell it somewhere else cheaper.

To be honest, the market is saturated as it is, so unless you’re seriously thinking outside the box, you’re wasting your time.

I tend to agree with you. The site is going to be designed for buyers, not sellers.
I have a few "outside the box" ideas that I'm not disclosing here for commercial reasons. Some of the feedback on this thread is really good and I'm grateful to get different perspectives.
If its done right I think its possible to change the power relationship between sellers and buyers. Its all stacked in favour of the seller and yet the buyer creates most of the value in the chain.

colm_mcm

The buyer doesn’t usually want to pay to look at potential cars. Once they make contact with the seller it’s easy for them to operate outside of whatever revenue mechanism you have.
It’s very unusual for the buyer to pay, it’s easier to bill the seller in exchange for an advert.

Heres Johnny

carfinder wrote: »

That's a good idea I think. It would need some quality assurance safeguards that would discourage dishonest sellers. Any ideas on what safeguards would work?

Keep it to registered businesses/tax compliant businesses. Could be a subscription model for these businesses to get alerts for buyers looking for something and make an offer. Private sellers/roadside traders would not get this service.

I am actually just following carwow here to be honest but they tend to work with new and nearly new cars. Might or might not work with used cars, but who knows.

You couldnt be responsible for the purchase though and the honesty of the seller...simply providing a matchmaking service. Sellers could earn feedback points for doing good sales, but be aware of the tripadvisor effect where people slate sellers for the smallest thing. Could be a minefield. Boards doesnt allow that for examole as they could be liable.

Bigus

With all due respect , I’m sure there’s other people in this world with bigger resources that haven’t yet come up with a new car selling model, online.
There’s a fundamental problem with used cars that was explained to me years ago by a very experienced industry insider.



If you take 2 identical cars (make model color spec) that leave the same dealership on the same day at the same time , within a week they will have diverged in price and condition, within a month this divergence will be greater , within a year greater still .... and so on .

So in 3 years time one could be literally worth half the price of the other , under extreme use , extreme bad luck , abuse , lack of service , loads of owners etc etc.

So who decides which is the better car ? The real good one at double the money or the half price well used one ? It’s entirely subjective.

So it’s well established that no 2 used cars are exactly the same ,ever ,ever ,and therefore can’t be exactly the same price even if they started out identical, never mind allowing different models specs and delivery dates.

As Michael O’Reilly of Windsor, now Merlin Auction famously said , “there’s no such thing as a bad car , only a bad price “.


As to Who decides what’s “Genuine” in a used car , it’s a totally non scientific term.

So how can a website solve the unresolvable issues involved in USED cars ?

carfinder

Bigus wrote: »

With all due respect , I’m sure there’s other people in this world with bigger resources that haven’t yet come up with a new car selling model, online.
There’s a fundamental problem with used cars that was explained to me years ago by a very experienced industry insider.



If you take 2 identical cars (make model color spec) that leave the same dealership on the same day at the same time , within a week they will have diverged in price and condition, within a month this divergence will be greater , within a year greater still .... and so on .

So in 3 years time one could be literally worth half the price of the other , under extreme use , extreme bad luck , abuse , lack of service , loads of owners etc etc.

So who decides which is the better car ? The real good one at double the money or the half price well used one ? It’s entirely subjective.

So it’s well established that no 2 used cars are exactly the same ,ever ,ever ,and therefore can’t be exactly the same price even if they started out identical, never mind allowing different models specs and delivery dates.

As Michael O’Reilly of Windsor, now Merlin Auction famously said , “there’s no such thing as a bad car , only a bad price “.


As to Who decides what’s “Genuine” in a used car , it’s a totally non scientific term.

So how can a website solve the unresolvable issues involved in USED cars ?

You have articulated an aspect of the problem that buyers face - information asymmetry between the seller and the buyer. I don't think that it is very difficult for a skilled person to differentiate between a good and a bad car. Even the unskilled, but educated can follow the tell tale signs of a well minded car versus an abused one and the term "genuine" is not as subjective as you portray - objective criteria can be set to differentiate between genuine and not.
The website will seek to assist buyers in accurately making that differentiation.
The main problem was pointed out by colm_mcm - the costs, and who will bear them.
I really appreciate your input - it is a sobering reflection of a type of mindset that would need to change if my website is to succeed

Bigus

You’d need very deep pockets to change mindsets, that’s kinda, my point .

No money in changing mindsets either. Time for plan B

LillySV

carfinder wrote: »

Hi

I am designing a car buy/sell website and would appreciate an insights that anyone is willing to share.
There are lots of car listing websites so I am not looking to replicate whats already there.
I would like ideas or a wishlist of things that a website could do to help car buyers.
Thanks in advance
CF

Filter by boot size ... no mention of that in the other Irish car buyer websites ...I have a new baby and a lab so now need to pick my machines with this in mind

Polo_Cluvie

My biggest issue with most car websites is trying to differentiate between a genuine seller or small time dealers chancing their proverbial arm. DD did attempt to sort this out by adding a ''sellers other adds'' tab but they have found a way around this by registering multiple accounts. The amout of background work a potential buyer has to do before even making an enquiry is ridicilous. I think whats needed is a site for genuine private sellers. How to weed out the chancers now thats going to be the hard bit! Best of luck with your venture

zg3409

As others have said don't allow sellers to not include mileage, nct, tax etc. Auto fill in nct/tax would be useful.

Showing mileage in miles or km, or automatically converting all cars to km, as many sellers put in miles only to make then look smaller. This only benefits sellers, like no tax shown when car has unusually high tax.

A real good search function with no options missing. A generic seach not based on brand but car type such as compact size, under 2000 euro, less than 10 years old. I don't know how you define compact but hire companies do this.

Showing sellers what their car might be worth before advertising, e.g. book value, as many people put up dreamer or high prices as they do not know any better. Also for buyers asking or book prices of similar cars.

You need a really good website and app to compete with the dominant player done deal. If you could link to existing websites stock like carzone you may benefit from quantity. Advertising a new site is very expensive. Getting critical mass to be successful is hard without help from industry or existing big players.

For low value cars the catalytic converter can be worth more than the car, so scrap options, scrap valuations, might be a good idea.

Integrate insurance costs relative to car, as in high insurance category, if that info was available or run a script to compare a standard person with different car types to indicate high or low insurance price expected.

Running costs high/low tax, high low depreciation, high low resale value after 2 years.

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