At present, the replacement of cars is getting faster and faster, and the demand for used car transactions is growing rapidly, which has also spawned a new profession - "used car brokers". They provide professional consulting and services for used car trading related businesses, such as brand certification, vehicle testing, entrusted transactions and finance, transfer, warranty, etc., to improve transaction efficiency and meet the public's personalized needs for automobiles.
Today, we approached a used car agent together, Tang Dong. From his daily work, he looks at the similarities and differences between used car brokers and traditional "car dealers" in terms of professional attributes and practice requirements, listens to his new exploration of the used car trading business, and recognizes the prospects of the used car market.
Buy, sell, the car finds a new "home" in his hands
Tang Dong's job is to collect and sell cars. His customer base is mainly oriented to Sichuan, and there are two customer source channels, one is his "fan" conversion on the Douyin platform, and the other is the transfer customers brought by these "fans". This is a major positive for him to target the "cyber track" of used car trading.
"Collect the car, don't understand the car is definitely not OK." Tang Dong takes the door-to-door car, first of all, the basic situation of the car, such as the household, configuration, the reason for selling the car, etc., and then check the quality of the car itself, to see if there is paint, sheet metal and the like, the machine judges by experience, the electrical appliances need to borrow decoders and the like, "make a CT for the car".
When receiving the car, Tang Dong's colleagues will shoot a video for him, record the car condition, test the situation, negotiate the price, and the transaction price, edit it into a short video, and put it on the Douyin platform. His account on the platform had posted 621 works as of noon on April 27, with 1817.6w likes and 196.9w fans.
From vehicle recovery, to showroom for sale. In the three days in between, the car will undergo a "rebirth": the re-inspection is to check the car again, polishing, appearance and other treatments to make the car beautiful and new, and then it is to wait for the new owner.
Vehicle pricing also tests the way used car brokers do. "We must consider the purchase price of the car, the total market situation in the domestic market, and the economic level of Chengdu." Selling cars in the live broadcast room, he also made the mileage, car condition, accident records, maintenance records, illegal records, prices, etc. of the car public, through his short video and live broadcast room, you can even know the price difference between the purchase and sale of the vehicle, "The middleman cannot not make money, but we only make public and reasonable money."
Shoot videos, play live broadcasts, and uncover the "behind the scenes" of used car transactions
"50 cars are traded every day." Tang Dong and his colleagues have achieved remarkable results, "because the Internet has made us."
"In the inherent cognition, the people engaged in second-hand car trading are called 'car dealers', and the second-hand car trade is 'very deep', coupled with the 'face concept' of Chinese, many people dare not buy and are reluctant to buy second-hand cars." Tang Dong said that this is also why China's car ownership ranks among the top in the world, but it is in stark contrast to Western countries: Western countries prefer to buy used cars, while Chinese prefer to buy new cars.
"Traditional second-hand car operation, as long as you understand the car, there is money on the line." In the transaction link, the seller can conceal the car condition, car accident, maintenance records, maintenance, etc. without saying, unless they understand the car, or find a professional consultation, otherwise the seller will not tell the truth, consumers are easy to buy bad cars, coupled with no after-sales service, follow-up rights protection, claims is difficult to achieve. Tang Dong said.
"Old cars and accident cars have high profits, a car of thirty or forty thousand, that's how it comes." It is difficult for quasi-new cars to achieve such profits, because the price of quasi-new cars is transparent, and customers will compare prices everywhere. "The quasi-new car in Tang Dong's mouth is the car that is still within the warranty period of the manufacturer." In the field of second-hand car segmentation, Tang Dong mainly does quasi-new cars, the way to profit depends on the volume, and the winning path is the "network track".
"Through short videos and live broadcasts, the use experience, archival data, trading process, and transaction price of used cars are disclosed, and the 'behind-the-scenes' of second-hand car transactions is moved to the 'front desk', so that the transaction links are fair, open and transparent, and customers can buy and sell with confidence." Tang Dong said that another reason for the good volume is that buying a new car has a price advantage over the new car, and the after-sales service is guaranteed, which is naturally attractive.
From quantitative change to qualitative change, the second-hand car market will usher in great development
"The used car market is a big market." When Tang Dong entered the industry in 2009, the annual trading volume of used cars in China was less than 6 million. According to the data of the China Automobile Dealers Association, in 2021, the national second-hand car trading volume is 17.5851 million units. Tang Dong said, "The used car business is undergoing a change from quantitative change to qualitative change, tending to be standardized and large-scale."
On the sales side, used car brokers can keenly perceive the market winds. "People's consumption concepts are changing." Tang Dong said that the acceptance of second-hand cars is increasing, and the post-90s have become the main body of consumption, pursuing fashion and personality, shortening the cycle of car use, increasing the frequency of car changes, "up to one person changes six cars a year." Tram is also the future consumption trend, the service of the second-hand car market is also maturing, from the previous simple engaged in vehicle trading, to the current second-hand car brokers mainly provide assessment, trading, finance, transfer and other business "one-stop" services, the second-hand car market will usher in great development.
Tang Dong's views have also been recognized by industry experts. "In the mainland, the high-speed growth period of new cars was from 2001 to 2010, with a compound growth rate of 24.2%. The period of rapid growth of used cars is from 2011 to 2020, with a compound growth rate of 8.6%. Compared with new cars, although used cars are in a period of rapid growth, they have not yet reached the growth rate of the rapid development period of new cars. This shows that mainland used cars have not yet reached the theoretical growth rate, and there is still a lot of room for development. An industry expert said.
"The professionalization of used car brokers indicates that the second-hand car policy and market service system are gradually improving." This will play a positive role in promoting the improvement of the second-hand car trading process and standards, the increasingly standardized second-hand car business, and the development of the second-hand car market. "This is the consensus of many used car brokers.
Chengdu Daily Jinguan News Reporter Meng Hao Intern Reporter Chen Qiuyu Tang Xiaowei Part of the material provided by the interviewee Responsible Editor He Qitie Editor Wang Juan Pictures Interview subjects
![Expert interpretation | analysis of the trend characteristics of the second-hand car market[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)