How Blinker Wants To Disrupt Car Sales

The problem, according to Rod Buscher, CEO and founder of Blinker, is that most Americans need a car — meaning they often don’t feel they have a lot of power to dictate terms when it comes to getting a car.

“Despite the mental image I think people have of a car purchase being a very negotiation-oriented process — haggling with a salesman and hammering out the best deal — that is not the reality a lot of buyers and sellers face,” said Buscher. “Dealerships control an inordinate amount of the process, because for most consumers they are the gatekeepers in auto sales.”

Buyers with a lot of cash and an unimpeachable credit record have a lot of options, Buscher noted, “as they do in almost any situation that involves buying, selling or underwriting.”

For the consumers with less cash on hand, a thin credit file or one that is less than inspirational in places, the situation is a bit different and often a lot more expensive. The average subprime auto borrower pays an average 10.65 percent on a loan for a used car. Incidentally, that 10.65 percent rate in some cases would be an optimistic outcome, as horror stories involve interest rates that push into 24 percent territory.

Prime borrowers, on the other hand (700-738+), are often enticed with zero-interest financing as an an inducement to purchase new cars ” and their upper average for interest rate is 2.9 percent.

The auto market, particularly when it comes to financing, is not necessarily an easy place to navigate, and this is where Blinker is hoping to make a difference ” simply by putting more tools in the hands of buyers and sellers to interact directly.

“If you can snap a photo, you can both sell your car yourself or refinance it,” said Buscher.

Buying And Selling 

Blinker allows users to either buy or sell their car or refinance it. Users upload a photo of a car (any car in the U.S.) and get the year, make, model, mileage and estimated value back from the service. Both buyers and sellers also take a photo of their license (for verification purposes) at which point they gain access to the marketplace for used car sales.

The app also acts as the electronic between for buyers and sellers for purchase offers and payments while making sure that all title documents are taken care of.

“We provide all the tools for free,” Buscher noted. “We are as far as I know the only company on the planet who verifies the buyer, the seller and the car for free and handles every aspect of the transaction end-to-end.”

The app even allows users to arrange test drives.

Buscher said the goal is to provide an end-to-end transaction to make the process friction-free for all parties while also being totally secure. The firm does 17-point fraud checks on the front end on the car’s seller and checks for salvage titles, floods and thefts in the car’s history.

Cars — and helping people buy and sell them — are what the Blinker marketplace specializes in, but financial services is actually how it makes its money. Blinker offers auto loan financing as a service for buyers on the marketplace — and those loans are where its money comes from.

And its financial services ambitions are growing.

Auto Loan Refinancing 

Even consumers who didn’t buy their car on Blinker can still benefit from its financing options.

With the same photo-snap technology that powers the marketplace, those looking for a better deal on their auto loan can take a photo of their car and their driver’s license and then answer a few questions about their current loan. Blinker then spits back a refinancing quote with new payment and cash-back options. If the borrower accepts it, Blinker is then authorized to perform a hard credit pull, access the consumer’s bank account and pay off the existing loan. All documents are signed through the Blinker app.

“People want to finance their car just as easily as they can call an Uber,” said Buscher. “We let consumer do that and offer car loans that are competitive, transparent and easy to complete from anywhere.”

And, Buscher noted, Blinker has its eyes geared toward expansion, both in the number of its employees — currently there are about 50, with that number looking to double by next year— and in the services it offers (like purchasing auto insurance).

But first, it needs to get out of Colorado.

While users anywhere in the U.S. can use the app to snap a photo of their care and instantly learn the year, make, model, equipment, estimated value and mileage, only Colorado residents can actually use the service to buy, sell or refinance their vehicle.

But, Buscher said, that too is soon set to change — and Blinker will be pushing into more states in 2017.

Which states they aren’t disclosing just yet — but we’ll keep you posted when they get there.