SCIENCE

American automobile dealers can use a newly launched iPhone application to determine which vehicles to buy at auction based on customizable criteria.

Bidzpin was launched Wednesday (Sept. 7). Shawn Foster, inventor and president of Bidzpin, partnered with Purdue Research Park-based Allegro Dynamics LLC to develop the application. He says it allows users to buy cars that match their dealership's genetic makeup.

"Every dealership has its own DNA, or 'Dealers Known Ability.' It is made up of a dealer's customers, cars, lenders and their books," Foster said. "This DNA is unique to the dealer, and matching it to cars on the auction block can be very difficult. At Bidzpin, we have developed a way to map a dealer's DNA, which may substantially increase profitability."

Foster said dealers traditionally have not been able to determine if an auction vehicle fits their criteria until it is brought to the dealership. He said mistakes made at the auction will kill a dealer's bottom line.

"Every lender has a different program, and dealers don't find out if a vehicle doesn't fit until it has been bought and brought back to the dealership," he said. "Bidzpin can match a car at the auction block with the dealership's DNA before it's bought."

Charley Moore, director of operations at Allegro Dynamics, explained how dealers can use Bidzpin to learn if a vehicle fits their program.

"When users open the iPhone application, they can enter a Vehicle Identification Number or a vehicle's production year, make, model, series, and exact or approximate mileage. This information provides the user with the vehicle's National Automobile Dealers Association and Black Book values," he said. "Once the values are displayed, the screen shows a list of lenders on horizontal tabs, which highlight the gross profit a dealer will earn if the vehicle is purchased at the chosen bid; the numbers adjust as the bid changes."

The lender tabs change color - green, yellow or red - as the user scrolls through a list of incrementally increasing bids.

"A green tab shows that the lender will finance the vehicle and the dealership will make more than its profit minimums," Foster said. "A yellow tab shows that a deal will be profitable, but the profit potential is less than the dealership had targeted. A red tab shows that the vehicle either is a profit loss or does not qualify for the dealer's program."

When the dealer touches the lender's tab, it shows information about the deal including fees, terms, the amount financed and the payment.

Dealers can adjust settings including documentation fees, reconditioning fees, down payments, minimum profit, minimum number of lenders shown on the tabs and more.

"By adjusting the minimum profit settings, which influences the dealer traffic signal, it can feel to users as if the dealer were with them at the auction," Foster said. "Green, yellow and red lights tell the buyer to buy the car, be cautious or pass on the unit. By watching the light, the user knows what the dealer would do in a given situation. This gives the user supreme confidence to buy cars knowing it's a perfect fit every time."

Customers must visit http://bidzpin.com to subscribe for the application. After the payment information has been processed, the username and password are enabled. The customer then downloads Bidzpin for 99 cents from the App Store and can log in immediately.
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