Kelley Blue Book Serves 1 Billion Consumer Automotive Pricing Reports

Monday October 28, 7:04 am ET

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 28 -- It took less than seven years for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com to serve its 1 billionth pricing report for automotive shoppers. Launched in late 1995, the Web site has offered a menu of reports to help car buyers and sellers obtain the most current fair market value of a vehicle in any situation. Although it started quietly, today kbb.com serves up an average of 30 million pricing reports per month. "Now we know how McDonalds must have felt when they put up those '1 billion served' signs," said Stephen Henson, vice president of marketing and business development. "Back in 1995 we thought we would just create another way for consumers to get pricing besides our books. It didn't take long to become the No. 1 automotive information site."

Henson cited three reasons for the site's popularity: -- An early decision to offer the information for free -- Making the site simple and easy to use -- A strong trust in the Blue Book name

At first, the company only published new car pricing, including both MSRP and dealer invoice. Within a year consumers could determine what their cars were worth, trading in to a dealer, as well as the dealer suggested retail values on used cars. Private party values were added in 2001. In all, Kelley Blue Book allows consumers to calculate values for more than 17,000 specific makes and models, all the way back to 1982. Today, it's not just cars; more than a million pricing reports are generated each month for motorcycles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft.

The KBB Business Model After visitors complete their pricing research on the site they are sent by Kelley Blue Book to other resources for free price quotes on new cars, financing, insurance, warranties and other services, making kbb.com a one-stop location for car buyers.