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Online guide assists buyers, sellers

JEFF OSBORNE
The new Car Check Price website is a pricing guide that enables vehicle buyers to make informed decisions

JEFF OSBORNE The new Car Check Price website is a pricing guide that enables vehicle buyers to make informed decisions

25th July 2014

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

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A comprehensive new automotive buying guide provides buyers of new and used cars with greater options, compared with other buying guides, reports online class- ifieds website Gumtree, a division of the eBay Classifieds Group.

Gumtree launched its Car Price Checker website, a pricing guide for used vehicles last month.

Gumtree automotive head Jeff Osborne says the company realised the great potential of its previous automotive classifieds site, which displayed thousands of listings, with significant data attached to each listing. This data could prove useful when gathered and used to provide market indicators such as average prices for different models.

“We used this data to generate some meaningful and user-friendly information,” he says, adding that the large volume of online user traffic on Gumtree showed a popular market segment in used-vehicle sales.

“We understand that any insight that comes from an unbiased source, based on actual data, can be extremely helpful to buyers and sellers,” adds Osborne.

The new website provides nonbiased information on the actual values of used-vehicle prices, instead of information based on computer-generated assumptions. “Used-car buyers and sellers can now access the real value of cars before they buy or sell. This reduces time wasted and promotes a more focused use of the site,” he says.

The Car Price Checker can also be used as a research tool, adds Osborne, as it can assist buyers who may be unaware of alternative vehicles that they could afford, but may have overlooked.

“Traditionally, it is assumed that buyers know the make and model of the car they want, but more often than not, they are not aware of what they could get for a similar price,” he says, adding that when price and budget are the ultimate deciding factors, it makes sense to offer insight into the car market using price as the starting point and scoring system.

The website is especially useful in helping buyers to confirm that any specific car they find is priced reasonably. “Buyers can double-check prices against the market average price range and the website can also assist buyers in getting a fair trade-in price for their old car,” says Osborne.

Previous Pricing Methods
Traditionally, pricing is set by the Auto Dealers Guide and buyers do not know the value of their used vehicle in terms of trade, retail and the value of optional extras.

“Our pricing is based on real-world data, which will naturally reflect the reality of the market and what the relevant cars actually achieve with regard to pricing,” says Osborne.

In addition, the Car Price Checker website can be used to verify a vehicle’s trade-in value, although most used-car dealerships will offer to buy a trade-in for a few thousand rands less than the average price.

By providing data categorised according to the year in which the vehicle was manufactured, the website enables buyers to see if there are any market-determined issues they should be aware of, such as a colour, which can decrease the value of the vehicle as it gets older. “As vehicles are expensive, the more insight and information we can provide, the better educated the buyer will be and the wiser the purchase decision should be,” he says.

Osborne notes that most vehicle classifieds websites are designed to direct buyers to select a predetermined “desired” make and model first before they have time to decide. “This often means that the full menu of cars is not seen,” he says, adding that Gumtree offers a platform where buyers can see what they will get for their money.

“After all, price is the true limiter in the decision-making process of buyers – it makes sense to see everything that you can get within your budget,” he concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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