What a dealer trade should cost in 2026 (and why ours is $199 flat)

What does a dealer trade cost on Locates.io? Selling is free. The buyer pays the platform fee: $199 per unit, one time, locked at terms and charged only when a trade happens, with no monthly fee. Freight is separate. It starts as an estimate range and locks at terms at the carrier's quote per unit plus $75.

Every dealer trade costs something, even the ones that look like they cost nothing. When two managers swap a unit, nobody invoices the phone calls, the texts, the driver, the deal jacket or the follow-up when a check is late. Those costs land on people instead of on a line item. This post explains what a trade costs, what a fair price for running one looks like, and why we charge per unit instead of a percentage or a subscription. See also pricing.

What costs do dealers never write down?

Time to find the unit. Someone has to know which store has the color, trim and package you need: calls, group texts, or a locator screen that shows you every store's inventory and shows every store yours.

Time to agree. The back-and-forth on price: invoice, invoice plus something, who pays the driver. Without a relationship it can stall for days.

Freight and drivers. A porter drives the unit (and someone drives the porter back), or a carrier picks it up. Both cost money and can go wrong.

Paperwork. Dealer trade forms, title or MSO handling, floor plan payoff and new floor plan, and accounting entries on each side.

Money risk. The unit moves before the money more often than anyone admits. When it goes wrong, a manager spends a week chasing a check.

None is huge alone. Together they are why many trades that should happen don't.

What costs do get written down?

• Freight, either a carrier's charge or a driveaway cost.
• Any fee charged by a service in the middle: a percentage of the deal, a monthly subscription, a per-search charge or a listing fee.
• The price itself, which is between the two dealers.

The third is the trade. The first two are the cost of doing it.

What makes a fee for running a trade fair?

We think a fair fee should pass four tests.

1. It should be the same every time. A fee that changes with deal size turns every trade into a negotiation about the fee. A percentage also punishes expensive units, often the ones that most need to move.
2. It should only be charged when a trade happens. A monthly subscription asks you to pay for months when nothing moved.
3. It should be visible before anyone signs. If you can't see the full cost before you agree, you're not really agreeing.
4. It should not hide inside the vehicle price. A fee tucked into the price isn't really the fee.

How does Locates.io charge?

Free to sell. $199 per unit for the buyer, one time. The platform fee is locked in when a deal's terms are set and charged only when a trade happens. Not when you list, not when you search, not per month. No deal, no platform fee. No monthly fee. If you list fifty units and none trade this month, you owe no platform fee this month.

Freight is priced separately. If you want delivery, you see a freight estimate as a range first. At terms, ops enters the carrier's real quote, and your charge is that quote split per unit plus our flat $75 a unit. It is locked. If the carrier's cost moves later, we absorb or keep the difference. If you pick the units up yourself, there is no freight charge.

The delivered price is simple. The buyer's delivered price is the seller's price, plus the freight charge, plus the platform fee. From terms, the price, the freight charge and the fee are itemized.

What does the $199 cover?

• Finding the unit through a blind marketplace. Buyers see the vehicle, a distance band and an anonymous dealer profile. Nobody sees your name, city, VINs or full inventory until both sides have signed.
• Agreeing on terms without phone tag. There is no dealer-to-dealer messaging. Locates.io is the rep for both sides, and each side sees only its own numbers.
• The agreement. Both dealers sign the same version, in either order. If anything changes, both sign again.
• Settlement. Units transfer at invoice by floor plan swap or check, directly between the dealers. The difference over invoice runs through Locates.io: whoever owes pays Locates.io, and Locates.io pays whoever is owed. We never record a payout before the money it depends on has arrived.
• Freight. We book the carrier and record pickup and delivery, with damage documented at both. Nobody at your store chases a truck.

For how the steps fit together, see how it works.

What does a trade look like in numbers?

A made-up example, not market numbers.

The buyer sees the itemized price, freight charge and fee before signing. The seller sees their own side. Neither sees the other's name until both have signed.

When is $199 the wrong answer?

If you and the store across town trade weekly, you trust each other, and you don't mind them seeing your inventory, keep doing that. It costs some time, and that is your call.

A flat fee earns its keep on the trade you wouldn't otherwise make: the unit you need from a store you don't know, the aged unit you don't want the local competition to see, or the month-end move you need done in two days. Compare every exit in what each exit really costs.

The short version

A trade costs time, freight, paperwork and some risk. We charge a flat $199 a unit to take on the time, paperwork and risk, and we price freight in the open. No monthly fee, and you see every number on your side before you sign. Questions? Read the FAQ.