Market Now: where your price sits in the market right now
Market Now lets you try a price before you change it and shows your position on each website — Cars.com, Autotrader, CarGurus — against live listings near you.
Every manager asks the same thing before touching a sticker: where does my price sit in the market right now? Market Now answers it for one vehicle. It takes the comparable cars advertised for sale today, inside the radius and trim match you set on the filter bar, and lines them up cheapest first with yours in the row. The cars that already left the market live on Market History; this tab is only about today.
The first line says how many other vehicles are for sale and which place yours holds, with a Prices checked chip for when we last read those prices. If your radius held too few cars, a note explains that we stepped out to the next one, with a Change my radius filter button. Then Where you stand gives the verdict: how far you sit from the typical price (the middle one, half ask less, half ask more), how many cost less than you, and four tiles for your price, the typical price, your place and the price your pricing plan aims at, all drawn on one price scale. Try a price follows, then Your position by website with the actual cars behind your rank, and Price range on each website.
A common weekday routine is to open the cars that have sat longest, read the verdict, and drag the Try a price slider or tap Typical price, Your pricing plan or Just under the next cheapest. The What changes rows redraw as you move: for example, a cut of five hundred dollars might move you three places and put two more cars behind you. Nothing is saved until you press Change my price, and that only updates the price this tool ranks against; it never touches your website or feed. The steps below walk each block in the order the tour shows it.
01 Market Now — today's market
- Market Now answers one question: where does your price stand today?
- The badge counts the comparable vehicles for sale right now.
- Radius, trim match and options come from the filter bar above.
Use this tab to set today’s price; Market History for what already happened.
Transcript
Market Now answers one question: where does your price stand in today’s market. The badge on the tab counts the comparable vehicles for sale right now, say a hundred and forty-one, inside the radius and trim match set above. Use this tab to decide today’s price, and Market History for what already happened.
02 Where these numbers come from
- The vehicle we compared, and the radius the numbers came from — measured from your store.
- The Prices checked chip on the right says when we last read these prices.
- Hover the radius — the miles are straight-line from your store’s ZIP.
Transcript
This line says what the numbers below are about: the vehicle we compared, and the radius they came from, measured from your store. For example, within two hundred miles of Lexington. The Prices checked chip on the right says when we last read these prices.
03 When we had to look further
- Too few comparable vehicles sat inside your radius, so we stepped out to the next one.
- The chips show the areas we tried; the blue one is where these numbers come from.
- Change my radius filter opens the filters so you can set it yourself.
Cars with enough comparable listings nearby never show this note.
Transcript
This note appears only when your radius held too few comparable vehicles, so we stepped out to the next one. Every number below now comes from that wider area, and other regions price differently. The chips show what we tried, two hundred miles then five hundred, and blue is the one in force.
04 Where you stand
- The headline: how far your price sits from the typical one, and how many cost less than yours.
- Typical is the middle price — half of these vehicles ask less, half ask more.
- Four tiles: your price today, the typical price, your place, and the price your plan aims at.
Transcript
This block is the verdict: how far your price sits from the typical one, and how many of these vehicles cost less than yours. Typical means the middle, so thirty-six of fifty-eight costing more puts you in the cheaper half. The four tiles hold your price, the typical price, your place and your plan’s price.
05 The market as a ruler
- Every comparable vehicle on one price scale, zoomed onto the busy middle.
- The diamond is you, the triangle your plan, the bar the typical price.
- The cheapest and the priciest are printed at the ends, outside the rail.
- The last line is what vehicles that sold or were delisted asked last.
Transcript
The ruler puts the whole market on one price scale, zoomed onto the busy middle so the crowd stays readable. The diamond is you, the triangle your plan target, the bar the typical price, and the shaded band the middle half of the field. The cheapest and priciest, say fifty-five and sixty-one thousand, are printed at the ends.
06 Try a price
- Drag the slider, or tap a chip: Typical price, Your pricing plan, Just under the next cheapest.
- What changes redraws as you drag — your place, how many cost less, the gap to today’s price.
- Nothing is saved until you press Change my price, and that never touches your listings.
Transcript
Try a price before you commit to it: drag the slider, or tap a ready-made chip. The What changes rows redraw as you drag, so a cut of five hundred dollars shows how many places it moves you and how many cars it puts behind you. Nothing is saved until you press Change my price.
07 Your position by website
- The chips split the same market by website — one car can sit on several, so they never add up.
- The table ranks them cheapest first: price, vs your price, odometer, distance, Days listed.
- Map pins the same cars; Columns picks what the table shows.
- Around my price jumps to the page holding your own car.
Transcript
Here are the actual cars behind your rank, cheapest first, with price, the gap to yours, miles, distance and days listed. The chips split them by website, and because one car can sit on three sites the counts overlap and never add up. Around my price jumps straight to your own row.
08 Price range on each website
- One bar per website: the price range there, the average line, and you as a diamond.
- your worst spot names the website where the most rivals sit under you.
- Rows with fewer than five vehicles are shown for completeness, not for pricing.
Transcript
This block compares the websites themselves: each bar is the price range there, the line its plain average, the diamond you. Fix the site named as your worst spot first, because that is where the most rivals are advertised below you. A row with fewer than five vehicles is too thin to price on.
Frequently asked questions
How do I see where my price sits in the market right now?
Open a vehicle and pick the Market Now tab. The first line tells you how many comparable vehicles are for sale inside your radius and trim match, and which place yours holds when all of them are lined up cheapest first. The Where you stand block adds the gap to the typical price, the number of cars that cost less than yours, and one price scale with you as a diamond, your pricing plan as a triangle and the typical price as a bar.
Can I check my price position on Cars.com, Autotrader and CarGurus separately?
Yes. Your position by website splits the same market with one chip per website, and the table under it ranks the cars on that site cheapest first with price, vs your price, odometer, distance and Days listed. Price range on each website draws one bar per site with its average line and your price as a diamond, and names your worst spot, the website where the most rivals sit under you. One car can be advertised on several websites, so the counts overlap and never add up.
Can I try a price before changing it?
Yes. In Try a price, drag the slider or tap a ready-made chip: Typical price, Your pricing plan or Just under the next cheapest. The What changes rows redraw as you move, showing your new place, how many cars would cost less and the gap to your price today. Nothing is saved until you press Change my price, and even then the tool only updates the price it ranks against; it does not push anything to your website or feed.
What does "typical" price mean on Market Now?
Typical is the middle asking price of the other comparable vehicles for sale: half of them ask less, half ask more. It is not the plain average, which is why the per-website bars, which use an average line, can sit in a different spot. All prices are what dealers advertise online today, checked at the time shown on the Prices checked chip.
Why does Market Now say it looked further than my radius?
When too few comparable vehicles are for sale inside the radius you set, the tab steps out to the next one, for example from 50 to 100 miles, and says so in a note with the areas it tried. Every number on the tab then comes from that wider area, which can price differently from your own. Change my radius filter opens the filters so you can set the radius yourself, and cars with enough comparables nearby never show the note.
See it on your own inventory
A demo runs on your live listings, not a sample lot: your cars, the competitors around your store, and the target price for each one.