The Zip Code Lottery: Why Your Car Is Worth More to a Dealer You’ve Never Met
Here is the updated blog post. I have tightened the geography to a 50-mile radius and shifted the examples to "Micro-Markets" (City vs. Suburbs) rather than "City vs. Mountains" to make the logic hold up within that shorter distance.
The Zip Code Lottery: Why Your Local Dealer Can't Pay You Enough
By Alex R. Weinberg Chief Marketing Officer
If you drive your car to the dealership down the street, their offer is limited by one invisible factor: Their local customers.
If you are trying to sell a massive 4x4 pickup truck to a dealer in a dense city center, they won't pay top dollar for it. Why? Because it is hard to park, gas is expensive, and their local customers buy hybrids. To them, your truck is a burden. They have to buy it cheap so they can wholesale it to someone else.
But just 30 or 40 miles away in the suburbs or a neighboring county, a dealer might be desperate for that exact truck. They have a waiting list of buyers who need towing capacity for their boats and trailers.
The problem is, you can't drive your car to every dealership in a 50-mile radius to find the one who wants it most. You are stuck with your local "Zip Code Value."
Here is how the Bidbus digital auction breaks the geography barrier and finds the specific buyer who values your car the most, without you leaving your driveway.
Every car has a "natural habitat." When a car is in the wrong place, it sells for the wrong price.
In major metro areas, the market shifts drastically every 15 miles.
The Commuter Car: A high-mileage Prius might be gold to a dealer near the city center where Uber drivers live.
The Family Hauler: That same Prius might sit for months at a dealership in an upscale suburb where everyone buys brand-new SUVs.
When you trade in locally, you are subject to these micro-climates. You might be losing $1,500 simply because your local dealer doesn't have the right customer base for your specific vehicle.
Bidbus doesn't just broadcast your car to the dealer next door. We broadcast it to over 1,000 dealers.
This creates a phenomenon called Micro-Arbitrage. We move the asset (digitally) to the dealer within driving distance who values it the most.
Your Car: A Honda Civic.
Dealer A (5 miles away): "I have 20 of these on the lot. I don't need it." (Low Offer)
Dealer B (45 miles away): "I just sold my last Civic and I have a customer coming in tomorrow who wants one." (High Offer)
Dealer B is willing to pay "Retail" for your car because they have a buyer waiting. But because they are 45 miles away, you would never have visited them. Bidbus bridges that gap.
Sometimes, a specific car is common in your town but rare in the next town over.
Dealers operate on "Days Supply." If a dealer has a 90-day supply of trucks, they stop bidding on trucks. If a dealer 20 miles away has a 3-day supply, they panic-buy.
You capitalize on their urgency. You don't need to know who needs your car; you just need a platform that reaches them.
Your car's value shouldn't be dictated by the three dealerships within 5 miles of your house.
Stop accepting the "Local Price." List your car on the open market, let the dealers across the entire 50-mile radius fight for it, and sell it to the one who actually has a customer waiting, for $3,000 more than you would have gotten half a mile away.
Sell your car fast,
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Get your top dollar offer fast - We let 1,000's dealers compete to buy your car online.
