Most used car marketplaces in India are built for the person buying the car: a retail portal. CarsBook is built for the person buying and selling repeatedly: a dealer. Those are different products, and choosing the wrong one is expensive.
Who does a retail portal reach?
A retail portal reaches end customers. That is its entire purpose, and it does it well for some dealers:
- You want walk-in traffic and phone enquiries from consumers.
- You are happy with a portal commission or a per-lead fee.
- Your cars are priced for a retail buyer, not for another dealer.
The cost is arithmetic, not opinion. A portal takes a percentage or charges per lead. If a car turns over four times a year, that cost is paid four times a year, on a margin that a dealer has already worked hard to create.
Who does a dealer network reach?
A dealer network reaches other dealers. That is a small audience, and that is the point:
- Every viewer is a business that buys and resells cars for a living.
- They arrive with a budget and a purpose, not with curiosity.
- They are in the habit of buying from dealers, so the paperwork conversation is short.
- They are geographically spread, so a car in one city can reach a buyer in another.
Most dealers need both. A retail portal for consumer demand, and a dealer network for the churn: the cars that need to move this week to fund the next purchase.
What is different about the two, side by side?
- Audience. Retail portal: end customers. Dealer network: approved dealer businesses.
- Counterparty trust. Retail portal: largely unverified. Dealer network: every account is reviewed before it can see inventory.
- Search. A dealer wants a specific variant with specific kilometres. A dealer network filters by make, model, year, fuel, transmission, ownership, kilometres, price, city and state.
- Cost. Retail portal: a percentage or a lead fee, recurring on every car. Dealer network: one flat monthly plan with a fixed number of listings.
- Documents. Retail portals often show paperwork on the listing. On a dealer network, documents stay private until the seller shares them.
- Negotiation. On a portal, price is usually a comment thread. On a dealer network, offers and counters are recorded against the vehicle.
The full comparison, including what a messaging group gets wrong, is in CarsBook vs WhatsApp groups and retail portals.
How much does a dealer network cost?
CarsBook plans are sized by listing capacity rather than by feature tier. Every plan includes the same features; the only difference is how many cars you can have live:
- Starter - Rs. 200 for 1 car listing.
- Basic - Rs. 500 for 3 car listings.
- Broker - Rs. 1,200 for 7 car listings.
- Dealer - Rs. 2,500 for 15 car listings, which is the maximum.
There is no commission on any vehicle you trade, and no charge when a deal closes. See the full plan comparison.
How many cars should I list at once?
List the number of cars you can actually service, show well and respond to, and no more. A listing with eight clear photos, a clean specification and a fast reply is worth more than five thin ones. If you have more cars than your plan allows, you can end or swap a listing to free a slot, or move up a plan. The documents you attach and the photographs you take are what decide how many listings you really need.
Is a dealer network enough on its own?
For stock movement, yes. For reaching consumers, no, and it is not trying to be. CarsBook is deliberately a closed network, which is precisely why the conversations on it are worth having. See how dealers use CarsBook for the workflow.
More from the blog: why dealers use CarsBook, CarsBook vs groups and retail portals, why a verified network wins, why groups fail dealers, how dealers move stock faster.