Free audit — takes 2 minutes

What does Auto Trader really cost you?

Fees rose 8% last year and another 5.5% lands this April — and Deal Builder is becoming mandatory. Put your numbers in below and see your real cost per sale, your exposure, and what downgrading a tier could put back in your pocket.

Your numbers

Rough figures are fine — nothing here is sent anywhere, it all stays in your browser.

Your current monthly advertising package, ex-VAT.
60%
Think about your last 10 sales — how many buyers found the car on Auto Trader vs walk-in, repeat, referral or Facebook?
£21,000
Annual Auto Trader spend
Rises to £22,155 after April's confirmed +5.5%
£117
Cost per Auto Trader-attributed sale
15 of your sales each month start there
£4,275/yr
Deal Builder exposure
If the 0.25% transaction fee applies to your Auto Trader sales
51/100
Marketplace dependence score
Moderate
The scenario

What if you dropped a tier?

Hundreds of dealers downgraded after the November protest. Here's the honest maths on what that move looks like for you — including the sales you'd put at risk, not just the saving.

30%
15%
An assumption you control — be pessimistic if you like.
Your own site, Google Business Profile, free vehicle listings, Facebook Marketplace feed, reviews + fast lead response.
Cash freed by the downgrade+£525/mo
Owned-channel plan−£299/mo
Sales at risk from reduced visibility2.3 cars/mo
Sales your own channels must recover to break even2.1 cars/mo

Recover the at-risk sales through your own channels and you bank £2,712/yr in cash — and every direct sale also side-steps Deal Builder's 0.25% and builds an asset Auto Trader can't reprice: your rankings, your reviews, your customer list.

Three-year view

Stay as you are Downgrade + own channels
Year 1Year 2Year 3
You keep ≈£9,200 over three years — before counting a single extra sale from your own channels.
The plan

Where the replacement demand comes from

Six things that move the needle for an independent dealer — all of them yours, none of them rentable back off you at +5.5% a year.

Local search ownership

"Used cars [your town]" — Google Business Profile, reviews and local pages that put your forecourt above the marketplaces for buyers on your doorstep.

Free vehicle listings

Your stock syndicated to Google's vehicle listings and Facebook Marketplace — channels that cost feed-setup, not commission.

Speed-to-lead

An AI responder answers every enquiry in under a minute, evenings and weekends included — because the first dealer to reply usually wins the buyer.

Part-exchange funnel

A "we buy your car" page that sources stock straight from the public — skipping auction fees on the way in, not just commission on the way out.

Review engine

Every happy buyer asked at the right moment, on the platforms buyers actually check — the trust signal that compounds month after month.

One honest dashboard

Leads, sources and cost-per-sale across every channel — so the next time Auto Trader raises prices, you'll know exactly what you're paying for.

Next step

Get your tailored action plan

We'll review your numbers, your website and your local search position, and send back a one-page plan: what to downgrade, what to build, and what it's worth. No obligation, no retainer pitch.

Done — request received.
We'll be in touch within one working day.
Assumptions & sources
  • Auto Trader raised dealer package prices ~8% in 2025 and has confirmed a further 5.5% from April 2026 (AIM Group, Car Dealer Magazine).
  • Deal Builder exposure is modelled at 0.25% of sale price on Auto Trader-attributed sales, per reported plans to attach a transaction fee as Deal Builder becomes mandatory (AM Online).
  • The three-year projection assumes Auto Trader package prices keep rising 5.5% per year on both paths; the owned-channel plan fee is held flat.
  • "Sales at risk" from a downgrade is your assumption via the slider — it is not a measured figure. Default is a deliberately cautious 15% of Auto Trader-attributed sales.
  • The dependence score weighs the share of sales starting on Auto Trader (70%) against package spend as a share of gross profit (30%). It's a conversation-starter, not an accounting standard.
  • All calculations run locally in your browser. Nothing is stored or transmitted.