Dissertation - Intermediation in the supercar market

[22s]

Hi everyone!

Hope you’re all well.

I’m a keen reader of the FML&B forum (or ‘Supercar General’ as it’s now known), but you probably haven’t seen many posts from me as I don’t have a supercar (yet!). I’m currently studying at the London School of Economics and forming a research proposal for my dissertation/thesis this summer. I don’t have a definite idea right now, but I’m hoping to research something around the potential of using technology to intermediate the supercar market – i.e. matching buyers and sellers.

My question is: would any of the kind owners and dealers of supercars be willing to give up some time (I envisage 20-30 minutes) so I can anonymously interview you about your experiences buying and selling vehicles, sometime before mid-July. This can happen on Skype or in person in London.

Unfortunately, there is nothing I can really offer apart from a completed version of my dissertation, but hopefully this would be something really interesting for you to read as there could be some real disruption coming to the market via technology in the coming years.

If you could either reply to this thread or drop me a PM stating your interest, I would really appreciate it. There is no commitment (obviously) – I just want to gauge whether or not I can access the required data for a really exciting project.

Any questions, post them up here and I'll do my best to answer them too!

Cheers,

22s

[SimonMorris]

I would be happy to help and have bought a fair few cars over the years- if you PM me then we can link up properly by email.

Plenty of people helped my daughter with her Dis so this is payback....

[22s]

SimonMorris said:

I would be happy to help and have bought a fair few cars over the years- if you PM me then we can link up properly by email.

Plenty of people helped my daughter with her Dis so this is payback....

Thanks Simon - that's very kind! I will pop you a PM.

I've had one more kind offer via PM, but ideally need 10-20. If anyone else is willing to spare a few minutes, I would really appreciate it!

[Camlet]

I would have thought technology is more likely to disintermediate? In the 90s there was a London telephone operation called Computacar (they advertised heavily on Capital Radio). It matched buyers with sellers. It handled decent volumes however revenue couldn't cover paid-for media costs. Now media has gone digital and the mobile web is growing dramatically, I wonder how long before someone creates a new consumer- centric transparent marketplace? Anyone buying and selling privately knows the market is distorted. For example one dealer who is part of a group told me how a Ferrari dealer that's privately owned bought 10 CS to help harden the market and release back CS's over time at a considerable profit. And sadly his group didn't allow him to get into that side of the business. Unethical? Maybe. Or just a normal legacy marketplace. But tech should make a marketplace more open, faster, more transparent. Mind you, read Flash Boys if you haven't already - about high frequency trading (HFT) in US stocks. Shocking and fascinating.

Good luck with your work.

[GusB]

I am happy to help out, drop me a PM if you are still looking for people. GusB

[22s]

Camlet said:

I would have thought technology is more likely to disintermediate? In the 90s there was a London telephone operation called Computacar (they advertised heavily on Capital Radio). It matched buyers with sellers. It handled decent volumes however revenue couldn't cover paid-for media costs. Now media has gone digital and the mobile web is growing dramatically, I wonder how long before someone creates a new consumer- centric transparent marketplace? Anyone buying and selling privately knows the market is distorted. For example one dealer who is part of a group told me how a Ferrari dealer that's privately owned bought 10 CS to help harden the market and release back CS's over time at a considerable profit. And sadly his group didn't allow him to get into that side of the business. Unethical? Maybe. Or just a normal legacy marketplace. But tech should make a marketplace more open, faster, more transparent. Mind you, read Flash Boys if you haven't already - about high frequency trading (HFT) in US stocks. Shocking and fascinating.

Good luck with your work.

That's exactly the point of my piece of work. I actually came up with the idea after reading this message board for years - there are always people looking for something specific but struggling to find it, there is the perpetual discussion around CS prices, and there are plenty of off-market deals that happen before the vehicles hit the market.

Regarding intermediate/disintermediate, you're right in terms of the potential for technology to disintermediate the market by removing steps between buyer and seller if you're thinking about SOR sales. However (without getting into too much detail) disintermediation by technology actually restructures the entire market and a 'matching service' is a type of intermediary ('infomediary') in and of itself.

Flash Boys is on my to-read list once I finish my exams. Michael Lewis came to speak at LSE two weeks ago and I wrote a paper on HFT last year - it's really interesting!

Cheers for the info on Computacar!

[Camlet]

22s said:

Camlet said:

I would have thought technology is more likely to disintermediate? In the 90s there was a London telephone operation called Computacar (they advertised heavily on Capital Radio). It matched buyers with sellers. It handled decent volumes however revenue couldn't cover paid-for media costs. Now media has gone digital and the mobile web is growing dramatically, I wonder how long before someone creates a new consumer- centric transparent marketplace? Anyone buying and selling privately knows the market is distorted. For example one dealer who is part of a group told me how a Ferrari dealer that's privately owned bought 10 CS to help harden the market and release back CS's over time at a considerable profit. And sadly his group didn't allow him to get into that side of the business. Unethical? Maybe. Or just a normal legacy marketplace. But tech should make a marketplace more open, faster, more transparent. Mind you, read Flash Boys if you haven't already - about high frequency trading (HFT) in US stocks. Shocking and fascinating.

Good luck with your work.

That's exactly the point of my piece of work. I actually came up with the idea after reading this message board for years - there are always people looking for something specific but struggling to find it, there is the perpetual discussion around CS prices, and there are plenty of off-market deals that happen before the vehicles hit the market.

Regarding intermediate/disintermediate, you're right in terms of the potential for technology to disintermediate the market by removing steps between buyer and seller if you're thinking about SOR sales. However (without getting into too much detail) disintermediation by technology actually restructures the entire market and a 'matching service' is a type of intermediary ('infomediary') in and of itself.

Flash Boys is on my to-read list once I finish my exams. Michael Lewis came to speak at LSE two weeks ago and I wrote a paper on HFT last year - it's really interesting!

Cheers for the info on Computacar!

But doesn't tech, when it matches buyers and sellers, also restructures markets? Look at Google (which openly admits it's business is advertising, especially their core SEM) and what they've done to the travel business for example. Very interesting topic. Please keep me posted on your work; there might be a longer term opportunity for you. As for Computacar, sorry it was the 80s, not 90s. The years fly past.

[22s]

Camlet said:

But doesn't tech, when it matches buyers and sellers, also restructures markets? Look at Google (which openly admits it's business is advertising, especially their core SEM) and what they've done to the travel business for example. Very interesting topic. Please keep me posted on your work; there might be a longer term opportunity for you. As for Computacar, sorry it was the 80s, not 90s. The years fly past.

Yep that's precisely what I mean! Sorry I clearly didn't articulate myself very well - tech works as both an intermediary and a disintermediary, and so the market restructures due to both effects.

Yup Google is a great example of an intermediary that has restructured markets. I'll be working there once I graduate so will hopefully get more of an insight into how it works and where it's going! Will definitely keep you updated.

I have three people signed up to help so far - any others?

[Newc]

PM me, I'm in town so we can sit down. I also ran an HFT related business so we can discuss whether Mr Lewis is slightly wrong or very wrong.

[isaldiri]

Newc said:

PM me, I'm in town so we can sit down. I also ran an HFT related business so we can discuss whether Mr Lewis is slightly wrong or very wrong.

Rather out of topic but I think it's more an issue if Mr Lewis is very wrong or wilfully trying to portray a very biased picture of the HFT business despite knowing what he is saying is incorrect as it fits the preconceived impression by people of the industry much better.. IMO anyway and in case anyone is wondering I am not in the HFT business either!

[22s]

Hi everyone!

I've had a reasonable response from PH and elsewhere (thanks Mark, Simon, and Jonathan!), and have really enjoyed speaking to people so far. As it stands, I need three more people to chat with in order to reach my minimum number of interviews, but unfortunately my contact list has run dry, so if anyone else on here has a spare few minutes over the next couple of weeks, I would really appreciate it. So far, the average length of these chats has been around 25 minutes and they've been really interesting. As before, we can either sit down for a coffee in London (my treat!), and I can also do phone calls if people aren't around. Once complete, I'll send out an exec summary (or full report) of my findings to everyone who has participated!


Cheers!