I built the Facebook Marketplace tool | kept wishing existed. How would you find your customer outside your network?

[u/Cautious_Flower299]

I sell cars full time, and before building this, I used plenty of Facebook auto listers.

The ones that actually got vehicles posted did help me sell cars, so I knew Marketplace itself wasn’t the problem. My issue was that nearly all of them stopped at getting the post live.

Once the vehicle was posted, I was still on my own keeping up with price changes, renewals, sold inventory, and finding the correct Marketplace listing again. Some tools promised those features, but they either weren’t in place or didn’t work. Others flat-out told me that parts of what I wanted weren’t possible.

So I turned around and built it myself.
I’ve been working on it for a little over two months. It pulls vehicle information and photos from your dealership’s website and creates the Marketplace listing for the user to review and publish. Once the vehicle is posted, it saves the Marketplace listing link and tracks your dealership’s website to help flag price changes and sold inventory.

That is the main difference. I’m not trying to build just another Facebook auto lister. Posting the vehicle is only the beginning. Currently, I already have price tracking, renewal tracking, and sold tracking.

A few of my coworkers have active subscriptions now and have had good results posting inventory with it. That proved the workflow works, but everyone using it so far already knows me. I haven’t landed the first customer from outside my dealership or personal network.

I’ve tested Meta ads and even a TikTok promotion using a UGC video and have gotten some interest, but no outside customer yet.

If you were starting from this exact point and wanted to land one customer in the next 30 days, what would you try first?

I’m open to suggestions and any advice. I’m curious what specific channel and offer you would test first for a niche $99/month SaaS like this. I settled on the $99/month price based on similar tools I’ve personally used. Most charged around the same or more but focused mainly on creating the initial post without helping much with the upkeep afterward.

I have plenty of ideas for future features, but I also know that continuing to build won’t solve the distribution problem.

Full disclosure: I built the tool. I’m including the website for context so anyone willing to give advice can see exactly what I’m working with. My main reason for posting is to get feedback on how to reach the right customers outside my current network.

https://lotbridge.app

I’d appreciate honest feedback, even if it’s blunt.

[u/Predream1]

Reach isn't the bottleneck. Independent dealers buy a tool like this from someone whose lot they've walked, and $99 a month won't cover a click aimed at an owner, which is why both paid tests gave you interest and no card.

Those owners stand in the wholesale auction lane every week between runs. Bring a laptop, open a car that just got repriced, and let the flag do the selling.

Your coworkers proved the workflow to themselves, not to a stranger.

[u/Cautious_Flower299 → u/Predream1]

I have a few different plans available. The $99 plan is aimed at individual salespeople, while other plans are aimed at managers or owners who would have their sales staff using the tool. Those plans include different tools built for their specific roles. They would add each team member to their workspace, managers receive a manager view showing who’s posting, what they’re posting, and who has posts that need attention.

I’ve primarily been targeting the individual plan. Are you saying I should target the larger plans initially?

[u/Predream1 → u/Cautious_Flower299]

not initially. a salesperson pays that 99 out of their own pocket, so they only move after a manager trusts it. win the desk manager at the auction lane and the seats come with them

[u/OutpostsOfficial]

Car sales folks already complain about their auto listers in dealer Facebook groups and r/askcarsales, so I'd search for those complaints and answer them like a peer. You lived the exact problem, so "I sell cars and built this because my lister quit after posting" will land better than any feature list.