
Is Black Book Better than Other Car Valuations? It should be noted that while KBB is consumer-oriented, the platform can serve as a reference for dealers, especially smaller ones unwilling to pay for Black Book’s services. BB doesn’t offer any connection to car listings, as it assumes that the industry operator already has the vehicle in stock or is about to purchase it from an owner or supplier, such as an auction house. After learning the basic value of their target car, a buyer can be connected to listings armed with essential market information.īlack Book, on the other hand, is a starting point for industry professionals looking to strategically set retail prices on their vehicles to generate profits and make their businesses competitive in the marketplace. In this sense, KBB is a starting point for consumers looking for a particular car brand or model but do not know what it should cost. This brings us to another key difference: KBB also acts as a linking platform to car listings, allowing consumers to find offers on cars they are interested in purchasing. KBB, similarly to other consumer-oriented platforms (such as ), has a service through which users can get an instant offer on their vehicle after learning about their car's trade-in and private sale values. Regarding interaction and access, KBB differs from the Black Book because users can gain offers for their cars via the platform. Users enter information about their vehicle into the platform and can get their
BLACK BOOK VALUE OF MY CAR FREE
KBB, on the other hand, offers a free and open online platform and previously sold a publication targeting dealerships, but that was discontinued in 2017. The subscription model costs around $65 per month or $700 annually, which would be a lot to pay for the average consumer. For example, we mentioned in the previous section that BB data is unavailable to the average consumer unless they are signed up for the service on their platform. In other words, KBB is a consumer tool rather than an industry tool.Īnother difference is in how people interact with these services.

On the other hand, Black Book focuses on retailers in the marketplace. As we touched on in the introduction, KBB helps private buyers and sellers understand the market value of their car as a base point to formulate a fair and competitive price for their vehicle. Foremost, KBB is focused much more on the consumer level of the market. How is Black Book Different from Blue Book?ĭespite the similar names, the Kelley Blue Book and Black Book are very different in terms of their usage and the type of provided information. In essence, it's an indispensable tool for those in automotive sales and marketing, providing the critical figures they need to formulate vehicle sales strategies. Offers valuations and a host of other services to those working within the automotive sales industry, including trade appraisals, market research and data, depreciation trends, risk assessment, and residual forecasting. This model differs from other popular valuation platforms like KBB, but we'll cover those distinctions later on. Subscribers have to sign up and pay to gain access to this data. Using this information, a dealer can determine a retail price on a used car that will ensure a profit or perhaps set an appealing price that can be boosted by profit-making extras like accessories and financing.īlack Book prices are not readily available for anyone to look up. BB is focused on providing car wholesale and auction values to dealerships. Put simply, a Black Book number is a valuation of a vehicle according to the organization Black Book and based on its own data. Besides their age, the two have other essential distinctions that many don't realize. KBB is the "senior" of the two, founded in 1918, compared to 1955 for Black Book.

This comes from many popular publications and listings, including the The way around this problem is for buyers and sellers to have a common pricing reference. As a seller, it's challenging to determine if you're lowballing the car or pricing yourself out of the market.

As a buyer, it's hard to know if the vehicle you're looking at is priced fairly. When you're either buying or selling a used car, determining a reasonable price is a frequent stumbling block that people encounter.
