12 • June 19, 2017
WHOLESALE MARKETS want to get more higherJim Clark, general man- end consignment. We want ager, Center Point Auto to bring in some more outAuction, Birmingham, side dealers. We’re changing on June 29. Ala.: “Our conversion rates are “We’ve been in business right around 75 percent. since 1993. We have just one “We average, in a given lane. “On average, we run about night, 85 to 90 bidders in 125 units. This year has been the lanes. That’s about the off a little bit. We’re down same as this time last year. probably about 5 percent. I It’s holding up pretty good. “A lot of our dealers have really don’t know why. “Everybody I talk to says been talking about the tax the same thing: they only season and saying it was off say their sales are down a a little bit this year. “We don’t have many relittle bit. In our business, a lot of the dealers are keep- pos. However, we have a ing the nicer stuff and trying salvage sale that we run every other week. That’s salto retail it. “Our owner has 10 or 15 vage and in-ops. We avernew-car stores, so we run a age about 12, but sometimes we’ll get as many as 25 to 30. lot of his cars. “Our average price (on “About 70 percent of the volume is from his dealer- the block) is $4,200. That’s ships and we have about higher than last year. I think 30 percent from other deal- the average price then was about $3,800 or so. ers. “We’re running more “We’re going to change the day of our sale and go (higher-priced) cars in the after some more new-car $10,000 to $15,000 range dealers. So we’re changing and selling more. seems dealers have from a Monday night 1sale2/16/16“It 4:04 UCN-9x6-Feb.pdf PM to a Thursday day sale. We a better attitude this year
ALABAMA
compared to the last couple of years.”
WASHINGTON
David Blake, general manager, DAA Seattle, Auburn, Wash.: “We just celebrated our fourth year anniversary. “We’re running all six lanes. “Our dealer consignment is strong. We ran almost 800 units (on June 2) and then during a promo week we’ll run over 1,000. “We were hovering in the low 60s (conversion rates), but dropped a little (at the end of May, early June). “We’re in the mid-400s in bidders. That’s climbing. “We’re up 20 percent for consignments compared to this time last year. We have increased our lease portfolio and our commercial account relationships. We’ve been able to leverage our relationship with Kansas City (KCI) and Spokane (DAA Northwest). “We’ve also been able to identify a market in need in the Seattle area. Having an
USED CAR NEWS
Compiled by Jeffrey Bellant
independent in town really helps give these national accounts another option. “We’ve also been able to begin building dealer consignment relationships. They’ve seen us run for a few years and know we’re not going anywhere. “They get to experience – from an independent auction – customer service, personal approach, on-site decision-making and operational care and passion. “We’ve seen our largest growth in dealer consignment. But 25 percent of the sale is Canadian units. We also have a ‘heavy metal’ (salvage/in-op) sale every other week. “We just started organizing a specialty sale – a video screen sale – for all of our oversized units and motorsport products. Our first sale will have about two dozen. Those will be motorcycles, RVs, boats, box trucks and oversize units. “Online we use Edge Simulcast. We’ve been getting really aggressive to
(improve the) experience for our online buyers. The objective every week is to get 100 percent of our vehicles with pictures and 75 percent of those units with condition reports online, based on the time they drop it off. We sell 20 percent of our units online. “Our average price on the block is $11,000. “Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a truck market. Out here, even soccer moms drive jacked-up pickup trucks. “Last year was a year of growth. We even expanded eight acres and renovated an additional two acres. There was a lot of focus and energy to get us prepared for this year. “Regardless of what’s happening with volumes nationally, we’re kind of an anomaly. We’re in a strong market. I heard on the radio recently that (the Seattle market) could be one of the strongest economies globally.”
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