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SaneLot vs doing it by hand
SaneLot is the walk-away number and the same-day listing: ranked exits, named photos, an honest ad, a lot page, feeds, and leads on that car — instead of twenty tabs at 9pm.
The short version
DIY can be the right answer for a tiny lot. Count it honestly: repeated VIN entry, pricing research, photo scheduling, copy, website and feed updates, lead follow-up, and sold-state cleanup. SaneLot Standard is $99.99/month with 10 vehicle report credits; High Volume is $329/month with 50. Both include the same full features. The card-on-file 14-day trial includes one lifetime vehicle report. Add 25 credits for $149; included credits reset monthly, purchased credits roll over, and reopening a saved report uses no credit.
At a glance
| SaneLot | By hand | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash cost | Standard $99.99/month with 10 reports; High Volume $329/month with 50; same full features; card-on-file 14-day trial with one lifetime vehicle report | Your current vendor costs plus operator time |
| VIN to live listing | About five minutes when the workflow completes normally | Depends on your checklist and handoffs |
| Pricing a trade-in | Prices from cars you've already sold — not a live book feed; you stay the appraiser | Twenty tabs and a gut feeling |
| Listing copy | Fact-checked AI draft, you edit every word | You, at 9pm |
| Vehicle checks | NHTSA recall + mileage-vs-age checks, plus the plan's title/history report allowance | Separate lookups and repeated VIN entry |
| When a car sells | Sold state drives buyer-facing inventory | Every destination must be updated |
| Leads | Attached to the vehicle for dealership follow-up | Voicemail after 6pm |
DIY cost and turnaround vary widely. Time your own intake-to-live path and count every update destination after price, hold, sold, relist, and archive decisions.
When DIY is the right call
The same honesty applies to us too: a five-car lot moving a couple of units a month runs fine on hustle and a phone camera. No tool required — ours included. If that's you, bookmark us and get back to work.
The line where it flips
The flip happens quietly: a trade-in sits a week unphotographed, a priced-wrong car eats sixty days of holding cost, a 9pm website browser calls the number on a car you sold Tuesday. Every one of those is margin leaking through process. The DIY hours weren't free — they were just unbilled.
What the app actually changes
Scan the VIN once, follow the guided photo walkaround, review vehicle evidence and pricing context, then approve the buyer view. SaneLot publishes the dealer website, QR sticker, and feed files from that same record. Buyer inquiries return attached to the vehicle for dealership follow-up, and sold-state updates keep the public inventory current. You still buy on the auction you already use, recon the car in the shop, and close the deal in your dealer management system (DMS).
FAQ
- Is SaneLot worth it for a small lot?
- Not automatically. A tiny lot with one operator and a disciplined manual process may not need it. Evaluate SaneLot when handoffs, stale inventory, repeated entry, or unclear ownership become the bottleneck.
- What does DIY actually cost?
- It varies. Measure repeated entry, pricing research, photo scheduling, copy, feed updates, lead context, and sold-state cleanup in your own operation.
- Can I keep posting inventory manually?
- Yes. The operational risk is drift because every destination must be updated after a price, hold, sold, relist, or archive decision. SaneLot generates feed files from the reviewed vehicle record.
- When is DIY genuinely fine?
- A handful of cars and a couple of sales a month? Keep your money. Start the card-on-file 14-day trial when the evenings start disappearing.
See it on your lot
Start the 14-day trial. First car: Price it on the run list, photograph it, approve the write-up, publish before you leave the building.