Type a car in once, and choose where it goes.

1. 01

   Where it goes

   Your own website, at once. A feed for MOTORS (with Cazoo and eBay), CarGurus (with PistonHeads) and Gumtree, in the file each asks for, with every car you have not unticked for it; each portal decides when it starts reading it. Auto Trader works through your own Auto Trader account, once Auto Trader has approved the connection.

   Each car carries its own list, so a part exchange you would rather move quietly can go on your own site and nowhere else.

2. 02

   Where it already goes, checked by hand

   Before a dealer joins, their existing stock is matched across the portals on registration, price and exact mileage — not by searching the business name, which finds pages that mention you rather than listings that carry your cars.

   On the audit we ran for Tickhill that turned up two cars on their own website and on none of the four channels they were paying for, a finance broker advertising three of their cars with no link back and no telephone number, and an old lapsed seller page still returning an error.

3. 03

   And the day you move

   If the system you use now can give you a CSV or Excel file of your stock, it comes in from Settings, each car with its line in the stock book. Your customers, suppliers and past invoices can come in the same way. Photographs are added to each car from your phone or computer.

From the blog

• Shoot once, sell sooner, a stock photo routine for busy forecourtsA repeatable stock photo routine for a used car forecourt: one spot, one shot list, honest pictures of marks, and photographs kept with the car's record.→
• Car dealership management software vs spreadsheets, which is better for your forecourt?What a spreadsheet does well for a small forecourt, where it starts to cost time, and when car dealership management software is the better fit.→
• Looking for used car dealer software? 10 things to considerTen things to ask when choosing used car dealer software, from registration lookups and portal feeds to the stock book, working offline and your local area.→
• From spec to sale, writing a used car advert buyers will readHow to write a used car advert from a confirmed stock record: what buyers scan first, the details that build trust, and a six-step routine to check it.→

Read next

• A dealer management system that does the remembering.Stock, invoicing, the VAT margin scheme stock book, handover packs, a test drive diary and history checks: one back office for independent used car dealers.→
• Car dealer websites, with the back office built in.A used car dealer website designed for your dealership, not picked from a template, with the stock, invoicing and paperwork behind it. One dealer to an area.→
• £179, £279 or £449 a month.No build fee. £179, £279 or £449 a month by forecourt size, website and vehicle lookups included. Checks and valuations pay as you go. No VAT charged.→