Skip to content

Island man creates app for car sellers to get better value on trade-ins

AutoBid60 connects sellers with buyers looking for unique features in a vehicle

Selling a used vehicle is not a task many people look forward to doing, but entrepreneur Frank Pecorelli has created an app designed to make selling and buying cars easier.

The app, AutoBid60, allows sellers to get a better value for the cars they trade in by connecting them to a buyer who is looking for niche qualities in a vehicle.

“I created the app with the idea to basically give the public the power back,” said Pecorelli. “There’s been a huge problem in the automotive industry where new car buyers that have trade-ins are basically almost cornered into a lower price than they want. So I was trying to come up with a way to solve that fundamental market problem and give the public back a chance to get better value for their trade-ins.”

With over 10 years of experience in the automotive industry, Pecorelli said the app will simplify selling because, “it has a very unique pool of buyers and watchers that are ready to buy at any given point.”

He added, “a lot of times there are local brokers or just individuals that will actually buy cars that don’t require the same amount of reconditioning so they could sell a car that needs a few smaller things that aren’t safety items that a larger name brand dealership could not.”

Essentially, Pecorelli is trying to get sellers directly in touch with the demographic of buyers who don’t mind having to do a little work on the vehicle they purchase.

The entrepreneur came up with the name AutoBid60 because the app will have 60-minute flash auctions that the public can create for themselves.

“I’m trying to create sort of a mid-market where it’s not a wholesale price and it’s not a retail price because a seller or a trade-in is generally looking for a time-sensitive sale.”

It’s taken Pecorelli a year to create the app. However, it was seven years ago he got the idea for it while working at a dealership.

“I had been working and having a great time with really fun customers and that came to a decision to purchase a new car. When it came time to do the trade-in evaluation, I could just see how the whole aura and the whole environment had sort of died down a little bit. They still bought the car, but they looked really disappointed with that aspect of the process.”

After that day Pecorelli wondered how he could shine a positive light on trading-in vehicles. “I thought if I could figure out a way to have these people that want to trade in theirs specifically, how could we get them more money for their vehicles?”Since then the app was born.

The AutoBid60 was released two months ago to download on iPhones and is free on the App Store.

READ MORE: ‘It’s a pretty cool thing’: Wild ARC volunteers call out for new helpers



About the Author: Ella Matte

Read more