With the rise of car negotiation services, we have been getting a growing number of requests from these services to register on Leasehackr Marketplace. We are also seeing more new users make “wanted” posts, asking someone to handle a deal for them, even though that’s not how we envisioned the forum to work.
Historically, we have kept the Marketplace pricing driven, though we understand why some folks would want to hire a car shopper as a buyer’s agent. Car shopping is time-consuming and some would like to outsource that labor.
So we want to hear from the community: should we open the Marketplace to negotiation services?
If we do, one idea is to limit these services to advertising the quality of their service only. Those who want to post pricing would still need to register as a broker.
I don’t particularly like the idea. Would these guys be operating as un-licensed brokers? Any liability for Leasehackr?
If people are just advertising the quality of their service, It would be difficult to maintain transparency in terms of fees.
Ursus and anique hit the nail on the head. These people are brokers by definition. Take a look at various state definitions of brokers – Michigan for example requires brokers to obtain a dealer license, and classifies a broker as anyone who brings a buyer and seller together for compensation. That is exactly what Delivrd and co do, no matter how they try to brand themselves.
At this point he has to be a registered broker by now right
I think opening the forum to “buyers agents” cheapens its value and transparency. If you want more revenue streams just point buyers to already registered brokers and collect a fee from them/us if it converts a sale. I have no problem paying for quality leads.
I was thinking more in terms of those searching for a specific car not on the Marketplace, or living in an area where there are no existing brokers or dealers who can help. The best we can offer is the wanted thread.
Another argument I’ve heard is that because “buyer’s agents” collect a fee directly from the customer, they’re incentivized to be on the side of the buyer, not the dealer. As to whether this arrangement actually translates to more savings compared to an open Marketplace, I’m not too sure.
And prove they’re licensed/bonded to operate in their state, not operating from a state where that is explicitly not allowed. The legit ones can give you their inspector’s phone number and tell you when their police book was last reviewed.
I wouldn’t bother even creating a separate tag or label for this type of broker, their marketplace ad can just list the parameters of their service (cost, brand(s), how to submit leads) and troll the Wanted thread to their hearts content.
It’s up to them to tag state(s)/region(s) in their marketplace post, and there’s an opportunity to coin a term if one doesn’t exist: vin/unit broker? Buyer’s Agent/Buyer’s Broker?
I don’t think it necessarily leads to a better/worse/more transparent deal, but if people want to pretend “their” broker is a fiduciary — to the extent they have any relationship to the customer, it’s what the state says an auto broker is (what @Bumboola pointed out). But if those services want to register and participate in the community, we can encourage them to contribute to Signed/Signed Deals and see how they compare.
I can assure you that those companies have the same loyal dealers feeding their customers as we do. I know for certain bc there’s lots of overlap with us using the same dealerships. The illusion of them negotiating deals is just that, an illusion for their tik tok and instagram views. They also get paid on the backend from certain dealers as well.
At the end of the day it’s up for the customers to decide if a deal is good, and the best way they can do that is by getting pricing upfront before they pay us. Those companies charge before you get a price, so buyers cannot compare pricing like they can with us brokers.
— to the extent they have any relationship to the customer, it’s what the state says an auto broker is (what