That is the main way to dispose of the car. If the public wants to also make an "offer" they can. But the model is similar to Lending Tree where the dealers bid for your business.
I think that the business-model has to have high conversion for the consumer and dealer.
Dealers are frustrated by "tire-kickers." Lots of wasted money following up on email. We hope to take this up another notch by having a bona-fide consumer walking in with an offer in hand.
I agree the competition can become very stiff in this space.
We're looking to bring in personal data (financial) from Neustar to qualify the seller along with carfax data to verify the quality of the car prior to the bid.
I see having to have some sort of dispute resolution or mitigate that risk like eBay Autos does. Like Gazelle does I believe they have right to modify the trade-in price upon inspecting the gadget.
This was born out of personal frustration and gap we saw with the online lead generation services in the auto space.
Dealers wanted a qualified ready buyer. A used car seller (or trade in) wants to know what they can get for it.
If we can make it a guarantee (like Truecar) that you'll get that price when you visit the dealer, then wouldn't you try it and visit the store?
Would like to get feedback from the HN readers.I have founded UnloadYourCar.com. This service helps you get the best price for used car. [Think Gazelle, eBay and Lending tree for cars.]Primary User: General Car Owners Primary "Customer": Auto DealersEnter your car and mileage then up to 20 dealers or private buyers make you an offer. You choose the best offer and get a voucher commencing the...