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Web Exclusive: Online car bidding website launched
October 6, 2009
By Thabiso Mochiko
South African consumers can from Tuesday buy and sell used vehicles through the country’s first live online car bidding website that was launched by Online Car Bid.
Online Car Bid’s director Chregan O’Flynn believes that the initiative would revolutionise the local car sales industry. The aim is also to attract a wider market.
“We recognised the potential of combining the concept of a traditional auction with the benefits of online functionality, selecting South Africa’s automotive space as the ideal platform to merge the two,” he said.
Online Car Bid has already secured partnerships with several car dealerships allowing consumers to have a wide variety of brands to choose from.
Consumers will be assisted by “Auction Ambassadors” who will act as middle men, by providing a sales representative to sellers and buyers to assist with arranging safe meetings and test drives.
General manager of Online Car Bid, Simon Nainkin says the service model allows consumers to safely purchase cars from the comfort of their own home, while receiving personalised face-to-face service, a necessity for e-commerce-type business models today.
The benefits of buying a car online using Online Car Bid according to Nainkin are: “For buyers, the fact that bids can be placed online 24/7 in real-time makes our auctions more accessible and reduces the pressure and effort of attending an actual auction. It also provides buyers with a far wider selection of vehicles… If there are no vehicles on auction that meet your requirements, we will source the vehicle for you. Finally, buyers are not tied into a deal, as they are allowed to walk away from the sale within seven days if the vehicle has been misrepresented by the seller.”
However, the low internet users in South Africa could also hamper the uptake, but Online Car Bid expects growth to continue and reach nine million in the next five years from 4.6-million last year.
“We believe that live 24/7 online car auctions will become the preferred method of used car transactions in the foreseeable future, with South Africa leading the way in this auction format,” concludes O’Flynn. Online Bid Car will also launch on social media platforms Facebook and Twitter.
www.onlinecarbid.co.za
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