Cameesa - The Blog

My wife, Ariel, and I went to CarMax tonight to sell her 1999 Oldsmobile Alero.  We’ve had the car about 4 years, and it is fully paid off.  I’ve attempted to sell my own used car in the past, and it was a terrible experience.  The biggest issue for me was determining value, and getting someone else to agree with that value.  There are things like the Kelley Blue Book, to use as a starting point, but the unique deviations in a car’s history make the price vary greatly.

In general, the CarMax experience was very pleasant.  Disclaimer: I am not a natural salesman, and I don’t enjoy haggling.  If you enjoy the thrill of talking someone down (or up), then CarMax is probably not for you.  What I actually love about CarMax is how systematic the entire experience is.  There are soo many human emotions present in a private party sale which are absent with CarMax.  This makes the transaction swift and painless.

You walk in and a receptionist greets you, puts your name in a salesman queue, and you go watch TV.  Five minutes later, you meet Steve who walks out to your car with you.  Steve doesn’t actually do the inspection and put a price on your car, he just makes sure that you have the keys.  You go back inside with Steve and he tells you how they value cars.  He enters an inspection work order in the computer with you, and someone who you haven’t met yet actually performs the inspection to value your car.  You go watch Dancing With The Stars on an LCD TV.  Twenty minutes later, Steve comes back and you walk with him back to his desk.

Now this is the most volatile (and well thought out) point of the transaction, because, chances are, you will not be pleased with the offer.  Here is how they reveal their price: you sit down with Steve at his computer and he brings up your car details.  Then he clicks a button to reveal the offer, and it seems like he is now seeing it for the first time with you.  If you don’t like the offer, you can’t really be angry with Steve, he has just received the same information you have.  In addition, he is not the person who made the estimate, so it doesn’t make sense to project your disappointment on him.  And the best part: if you don’t like the offer, then tough crap, there is no negotiation.

The point I am getting at is that CarMax has successfully systematized a once soft and wild varying process.  In the past when I was selling my own used car, it took 30 minutes to advertise it, plus four 40 minute meetings and plenty of awkward negotiations to actually sell it.  Then I had to deal with actually getting the money in a guaranteed form and depositing it.  Such a waste of time and brain power.

I think there are huge opportunities in developing systems which remove the guess work and systematize traditionally “soft” markets.  I love the thought of data acquisition and data mining of areas with currently little metering.   CarMax’s appraisal system is just one example.  I know plenty of developers who work at futures trading firms here in Chicago who develop automatic trading systems.  Is there a CarMax for homes?  Would any company be so bold to assume that many liabilities?  Can the algorithm be developed?  Does it make sense to remove the human element from all transactions?

Just thinking out loud, incoherently.  Time to sign off.

Here at Cameesa, we are creating an online community to connect apparel designers and design lovers. However, we STRONGLY believe in the value of real human relationships.

Many web-based companies rely on tools like Google Ad-words to get the word out about their company. There are even companies who will help you to figure out the best way to utilize the money you spend on Ad-words.

All of this feels insincere. Like, you don’t really know your intended audience, but hope that if you throw enough money at Google, they will figure it out for you.

Rather than throwing money at Google, I would prefer to take those ad dollars and spend them on creating REAL relationships with people. When was the last time you heard someone say: “Once I saw that ad in the right column of the search page, I knew BusinessX was a great company“. But you can imagine that after meeting a company face to face, you might walk away being an instant brand ambassador.

Pictured here are two of the Cameesa street team best, out and about in Austin, TX for St. Patty’s Day. (Notice the random Cameesa business card found on the telephone pole.) Thanks for sending in the pic Jeff.

There are obvious limitations to this “old school” approach, such as time and reach, but this is how Cameesa is interested in reaching and educating the public. Although we are web-based, we are fortunate that a real community exists in the world today, who we are simply bringing together. We would like to meet them, too.

And it might already be working. That Cameesa business card found on the telephone pole above might have been the reason for the extra number of signups today.

That’s viral. That’s guerilla. My friend, that’s downright orangutan. That’s something that you just can’t buy.