which consists of over 15 years transporting cars, both new and used, junk and salvage, new from plants and rail yards or ports and used from auctions across this country. I've been to and hauled cars in to and out of at least 25 different major auction facilities, both Manheim and Adesa, have hauled cars out of at least 20 different assembly plants in the US and delivered to literally hundreds of dealerships.
I spent 12 years working in the motor racing industry in the marketing and brand awareness segment, operating display and technical support vehicles representing various major automobile manufacturers.
The reason I mention all this is so you can know that I have a modicum of experience in the marketing and movement of automobiles and as such, I kind of know what I'm talking about.
Fair enough?
So if car sales fall to 2 million a year, who will pay the cost of producing the publication and maintain the website?
Autotrader via the fees they charge to advertise on their site. If they can not maintain enough revenue from the fees they charge, they'll go under, it's that simple. However, that's not a likely scenario and you know it. And FWIW, the vast majority of their traffic is via the internet now, not a paper publication.
They do get the money to support their business from somewhere. "Their commission is the fee they charge to advertise."
Asked and answered.
So higher car prices enable them to charge more, or sell more ads, because there's more money flowing through the system.
Perhaps, but not likely. They have to compete for advertising dollars with several other online venues including Craigslist and now, Facebook Marketplace which allows people to put up an ad for just about anything
for free and the ads will be specific to your chosen geographic area.
I would say "open cry" auctions are the most visible way of determining prices being paid in that specific market of buyers and sellers. They can vary location to location, day to day, and month to month. As for the value of what's changing hands, that depends on the condition and mileage of the merchandise involved.
EXACTLY!! And Autotrader, KBB and the NADA guide all account for geographic location as well as every other parameter you mentioned. There is no doubt that a guy in North Dakota selling an 8 year old F-150 with 45,000 miles on it could expect a different price than the guy selling the exact same unit in Dallas. Autotrader will tell you all this if you set up a search parameter to include those specifics. So will Kelly and NADA.
Debeers controls, or did control, the primary market in diamonds. The secondary market on used diamonds is not controlled, and the example he cites seems genuine to me.
Fair enough. But it is a fact that Diamonds as a commodity are SERIOUSLY overpriced when purchased new, and a stone that retailed for say...$2,000 wouldn't bring HALF that if sold back to the original retailer. The rest of that paragraph could possibly be argued to the extent of it's accuracy, but I am not a jeweler and have bought exactly ONE diamond in my 59 years on this planet. My expertise in this subject is admittedly non-existent.
If J.D. Powers were a market research firm, no one would ever have heard of them.
Except that people HAVE heard of them because they do what they do; Conduct surveys, provide reports and information gleaned from them and give awards.
They would quietly serve their customers instead of propagating the headlines - like a PR firm.
Ever heard of
Proactive Worldwide? How about
Radius-Global? Or any of the DOZENS of
MARKETING firms that come up with a simple Google search? The point is, I said specifically "The two business lines
may intersect, but calling JD Power a "PR Firm" is disingenuous." I do not think that is an inaccurate statement and that is based on reading
JD Powers own website. They do marketing research. They are not in the business of Public Relations.
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