Joe's Hot Take:
Many of you have seen the WSJ's article about this guy and his company charging clients $1K to negotiate their car purchase for them. Sounds like an auto broker, right? He claims revenue of $200K per month with 4 employees. While I'm happy for him that he has gotten the WSJ to write an article about him and allow him to do some add'l Q and A here, some of his hype here doesn't make sense. There are more than a few reasons why.
(1) My math indicates that on average, he and his 4 employees are doing 40 transactions per month EACH. Seems hard to believe that in No. Carolina or even in other states, people are willing to fork out $1K for this assistance (that's a lot of money for someone buying a $30K or $40K car) so 40 transactions per month doesn't seem real. Even in CA, where auto brokering is very common, those brokers who charge a fee upfront (we do not), charge, at most, around $700 and it's typically for an expensive car. There's a sliding scale on the fee depending on the car.
(2) It's not just about "haggling", as he calls it, to get the best deal. It's also about the service the dealer to whom you've referred your client provides them.The "lowest" price can blow up in your face the minute the dealer starts to upsell other products to them.
The question becomes - did this broker really do his client a service? For us, it's all about BEST pricing, and best pricing doesn't always mean the lowest price. It means a great price that you, as the client, won't second guess when you get the car. It also means the dealer giving you great service which you, the client, rely on us to make sure happens.