Selling your car is a hassle, but there’s an easier way that’ll get you the price you deserve. We spoke with Olivier Vincent, CEO of Autozen, to learn more about them.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Autozen is an auto-tech startup where sellers can confidently sell their cars to reputable buyers. Autozen brings the “zen” to car selling. It works as a facilitator between the buyer and the seller, while ultimately looking out for the seller’s best interest. Originally from Vancouver, Autozen has expanded its services to Toronto and Seattle. Autozen’s unique differentiator is the auction platform. Once someone’s car is evaluated, it’s listed on a unique auction where over 150 pre-qualified buyers compete for the car, driving up the price. Once the offer is submitted to the seller, it’s firm.
What made you want to do this work?
I was dating this woman who had recently sold her car privately and she described to me all the awkward interactions she had to go through, how she had to ask a friend to be with her every time there was a test drive and the serious concerns she had at the time of payment. It was very inspirational for creating Autozen. And she is now my partner!
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
Selling your car isn’t easy – dealing with hagglers, lowball pricing, safety concerns, etc. Selling your car shouldn’t be stressful, and realizing the gap in the market, I created Autozen to eliminate the stress and anxiety of selling your vehicle.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
– Ages: 26-54
– Lives in a major metropolitan center such as the GTA or Vancouver
– Owns a car
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We charge the buyers a fee to buy from our exclusive auction, eliminating the price from the seller and offering the service for free.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
We offer our services in Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, Okanogan, Calgary and Edmonton
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
Question: What is the difference between Autozen and other online services like Canada Drives, Clutch or MintList? They all claim to be the best.
Answer: Each of these businesses operates differently than Autozen. Canada Drives & Clutch, for example, operates as an online dealership. You are only selling to them directly, and there’s no competition. You’re only getting one offer, which may not be the best price available.
Mintlist is ultimately an inspection app where the consumer has to do the work of taking pictures of their car on their own. Once the photos are submitted, MintList hands the seller off to the dealership directly. The company provides no personal inspection, and they don’t capture everything about the car since, ultimately, the process is heavily reliant on technology. When the dealership finds something wrong, they will haggle the price down, meaning the seller may not get the original price quoted to them.
We do it all – We evaluate the car properly and provide a more accurate representation of it, so once it’s listed on the auction, there is no question about authenticity. We bring the competition to the seller, driving up the price and ultimately getting the best price available. Once a price is offered, it’s firm and paid to the seller immediately.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part is making the lives of sellers easier.
The best Best part: Our first batch of consumer reviews. It is very good when the reviews are good and clients are happy. But it is much bigger when you actually surprised them at how good and easy things were – Surprise is the ultimate delight. Having been here from the conception of the ideas behind Autozen, the building of the team and of the technology and delivering an experience that makes people’s lives easier and more pleasant is definitely creating triumph feelings.
The worst part is having to deal with the real-world constraints around rapid growth. It is not easy to find great people, yet we can only hire great people in order to maintain the highest level of consumer satisfaction. and we are not just in the digital world – we deal with moving cars, made of real atoms, so we can’t cover the whole world quite all at once.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
My best joke about disruption and innovation: “Tradition is peer pressure from the dead”
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Youtube
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
Pure bread – one of my biggest loves
