Autotrader vs EBay
eBay has sold its 2.6% of Autotrader to confirm the end of the relationship the two companies have shared since the year 2000. Next month, Autotrader will launch its own vehicle auction service.
When I found Autotrader’s official statement about the launch of auctions, I was surprised to read this quote from Autotrader’s Chip Perry:
“Now consumers have the option to not only buy and sell their cars via classified advertising but also through our unique Auction-Style Listing product, which allows conditional, local market bidding – unlike anything currently in the industry.
Touting the uniqueness of a car auction online is odd to me. The more effective here message is “it is free.” No listing fee is a good idea, and I like the way they are pushing it. While Perry is correct that this blend of an auction and a free listing is one of a kind, (the same NYT article says) eBay is the most popular automotive website and Autotrader is the seventh.
Six months ago I explained why I think Google will soon become a serious competitor in automotive classifieds, and I also expect the Goo to continue free listings as most of their services are delivered free with a side of text advertisements.
Will Autotrader make a splash in the auction market with free listings? Can Google seize the market by placing their own car ad listings in search results before links to Autotrader? How did Speed Racer defeat the mammoth car?
It will be interesting to see what they do. Autotrader had an auction style listing about 5 years ago that they literally gave away to dealers who wanted to try it and it fizzled out pretty quickly. I’m not sure they can compete with eBay in the auction market, and I’m not buying the “unlike anything currently in the industry” comment. I guess we’ll see…