Many independent auto dealers are hesitant to show pricing information online—and we can’t say that we blame them.
After all, buyers have access to many online resources that show them manufacturers’ recommended pricing as well as wholesale pricing—so if your own prices aren’t competitive, buyers can usually figure that out.
Yet, some dealerships feel like they need to list price, for one simple reason: It makes their listings feel more credible, more trustworthy. And in auto sales, trust is obviously critical.
This puts dealers in a bind: They want to be transparent, but also want to avoid turning away buyers who are skeptical over high prices. So, what’s the solution?
Why We Recommend NOT Including Prices
Ultimately, Get My Auto recommends not including price information—unless you are absolutely sure that your price is the best buyers will find. (And very few dealerships will be in that position.)
Here’s why.
When you display pricing information in a Craigslist ad, you run a major risk that you’ll never have a sales conversation at all—and there are a couple of potential reasons for that. The first is that the price you display doesn’t fit into the buyer’s budget, so he or she just never reaches out to you. The second is that the price is okay, but the buyer wonders if he or she can shop around and find an even better deal.
You can avoid both of these possibilities by simply eliminating price from your Craigslist ads.
But What About Tire-Kickers?
Now, a common objection is that by removing price, you’ll just be inundated by tire-kickers—but that’s not the right way to look at it.
What it means is that you’ll get a lot of calls from folks who may not be the best fit for the vehicle in question—but at least you’re getting calls, and meaningful opportunities to redirect those buyers to over vehicles on your lot, vehicles that may fit their budgets better.
So what if the buyer calls you, asks for the price, and then finds that it’s outside his or her budget? That’s your chance to swoop in with a more tempting offer—a lower-priced car in the same basic category, discounts, incentives, or whatever else.
Something else to note is that, with more and more websites that display vehicle pricing—sometimes offering conflicting information—buyers are actually pretty likely to call your dealership for accurate details. Again, there are great opportunities here to generate leads and nurture them through the sales process.
Do Craigslist Ads the Right Way
This is, of course, just one aspect of Craigslist postings. We’d love to walk you through the rest—and in fact, we have a Craigslist Wizard app that will do just that. To learn more about Craigslist ads and what they could mean for your dealership, we invite you to contact Get My Auto right away.