KBB.com Helps Consumers Sell Their Car Using Social Media, Other Latest Technologies with All-New Seller's Toolkit Featuring LiveValue(SM)

Kelley Blue Book Catapults Traditional Private-Party Sales Methods into 21st Century

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Jul 23, 2010, 02:47 ET

IRVINE, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book http://www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new and used car information, today announces the official launch of its Seller's Toolkit, featuring the all-new LiveValue system, helping consumers sell their car online and in social networks. The first of its kind, Seller's Toolkit is a fully-integrated sales method with the latest online technologies to help consumers sell their vehicles on high-traffic websites, social networks, via e-mail or even a personal blog. With the all-new Seller's Toolkit, Kelley Blue Book catapults traditional private-party sales methods into the 21st century. To access the Seller's Toolkit, users can visit any Private Party Pricing Report on kbb.com.

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According to a recent study(1), about 1.3 million private-party offers made on vehicles via social networking sites equated to 785,000 sales during 2008. In 2009, the number of offers increased to 1.9 million, resulting in nearly 1.3 million sales. Projecting the full year, that means social networking sales will top two million units on 2.96 million offers, making the need for a free, all-inclusive tool like Kelley Blue Book's all-new Seller's Toolkit more valuable than ever before.

With Seller's Toolkit's electronic, customizable and printable window stickers from Kelley Blue Book, private-party sellers can print a "For Sale" sign for the window of their vehicle and also create and send a digital window sticker with customized descriptions and photos to high-traffic websites like Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist or personal blogs. Kelley Blue Book's patent pending LiveValue system also gives potential car buyers' access to real-time, up-to-the-minute Blue Book® Values as listed on kbb.com.

The Seller's Toolkit earns its name with its social media sales tools designed to empower car sellers with the ability to personally sell their car like a pro. Included is a digitally connected window sticker, Facebook integration, an embeddable widget, dynamic images and a direct link users can share online, all enhanced with LiveValue information. Users with Facebook profiles can notify their network of their vehicles for sale via the integrated share feature. In addition, the Seller's Toolkit provides sellers with the option to add a custom tab to their Facebook profile reading "Car for Sale," and features all of the details provided in the digital window sticker. For a blog, online listing or anywhere a widget can be embedded, this interactive module is designed for easy, one-click sharing to a number of online locations such as Blogger or WordPress. For even more digital portability, a dynamically generated image is available for places that feature image linking such as Craigslist, or save the image and upload it directly to sell-it-yourself sites. For e-mail, IM or Twitter, the Seller's Toolkit provides the seller with a direct link feature, generating a shortened URL that takes buyers to Kelley Blue Book's pre-configured Pricing Report on kbb.com. This makes it easy for a potential buyer to reference the vehicle quickly and accurately.

"Before private party sellers spend a dime on online listings (that typically fail to drive interest), they should consider the advantages and capabilities of Kelley Blue Book's Seller's Toolkit with LiveValue," said Justin Yaros, executive vice president of product design and development for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "The easy-to-use intelligent technology and design that supports this product gives sellers the upper hand in online listings. Seller's Toolkit offers sellers an enhanced social method for listing vehicles for sale, while providing buyers with peace of mind that comes with the availability of the most recent Blue Book® Values."

By displaying up-to-date, trusted Kelley Blue Book Values in listings through the aforementioned channels, sellers can instill confidence in potential buyers looking for a fair deal from a name they trust. Kelley Blue Book Values are updated weekly and with the LiveValue system, these values are represented in real-time from kbb.com within the offered tools. LiveValue provides real-time Kelley Blue Book Values via three easy methods integrated into the Seller's Toolkit window sticker: Generated QR Codes, SMS messaging and voice call services.

QR codes (short for Quick Response) are two-dimensional bar codes often used in mobile tagging, and in the case of the Seller's Toolkit, they contain all of the configured vehicle information. Once scanned via a mobile phone, the QR code takes potential buyers to a pre-configured mobile report page for the selected vehicle, containing more information about the vehicle for sale and links into Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com mobile site.

The SMS feature of the window sticker allows car shoppers using a mobile phone to send the provided LiveValue ID to a specific short code number. Once received, the LiveValue system sends a SMS (text message) to the user with the appropriate up-to-date Kelley Blue Book® Private Party Value and other information, such as year, make, model, mileage and condition.

The final integration to the new window sticker is the voice calling service: using any phone, buyers now have the ability to get the Kelley Blue Book Private Party Value via an automated phone service. A user will call Kelley Blue Book's toll-free number, and after a short welcome message, they are prompted to input the vehicle-specific LiveValue ID, followed by the # sign. The system then uses an automated voice to read back the most up-to-date Private Party Value and other vehicle information such as year, make, model and condition.

For more information or to access Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com Seller's Toolkit, visit www.kbb.com/sellers-toolkit or www.facebook.com/kbb.

(1) CNW Research.

About Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com)

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new- and used-vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated website, http://www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Website Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information website among new- and used-vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.

SOURCE Kelley Blue Book