Dealers have three ways to move stock today: messaging groups, open retail portals built for end customers, and a dedicated dealer-to-dealer network like CarsBook. They are not the same thing - and only one of them is built for dealers.
Audience: who are you talking to?
A group is whoever joined it. A retail portal is end-customer buyers and brokers. CarsBook is only approved dealers - a business name, a city and a phone number behind every listing. If you sell to end customers, a retail portal is the right tool. If you trade with other dealers, that audience is the whole point.
Verification: can you trust the other side?
A group has no gate. Retail portals verify little. CarsBook reviews every dealer registration before the account can open the marketplace, so the person on the other end of a conversation is a business that has been through review. More on why verification changes the deal ->
Discovery: can you find the exact car?
- Messaging groups: scroll by hand, from memory. No filters.
- Retail portals: consumer-oriented search, noisy results, broker leads.
- CarsBook: filter the dealer network by make, model, year, fuel, transmission, ownership, kilometres, price, city and state.
Documents: are they public?
On an open listing, paperwork often sits in plain view. On CarsBook, a listing can be visible to the whole dealer network while its RC, insurance, PUC and service records stay private until the selling dealer shares them. How document privacy works ->
Cost: who keeps the margin?
Retail portals take a percentage or charge per lead. Groups are "free" but cost you hours of scrolling. CarsBook is a flat monthly plan sized by listing capacity - 1, 3, 7 or 15 live cars - with no commission on any vehicle you trade. Current plan prices are confirmed by the CarsBook team, since they are configurable. See the plans ->
Where CarsBook does nothing
Be clear about this: CarsBook is an introduction and record-keeping layer. It does not process vehicle payments, does not inspect cars and does not transfer RC. Those happen directly between the two dealers, which is why there is no CarsBook fee on the transaction itself.
The verdict
If you sell to end customers, retail portals have a place and you should keep using them. If you trade with other dealers, a verified network is faster, cleaner and easier to trust - and the free plan costs you nothing, lists one car for you, and never expires. Start free, see what is actually being listed, then decide.
Also read why groups fail dealers.