eBay is acquiring a new advertising startup as it looks to ramp up growth for its web-based used and new car emporium, eBay Motors. The marketplace giant said Tuesday it is buying Cargigi, a startup that provided online advertising services for car dealerships.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cargigi helped dealers post car sales listings on online classified sites such as Craigslist. EBay (EBAY) said that Cargigi’s technology would be used to help add auto dealers’ inventory onto eBay Motors and will replace eBay’s Dealer Center.
For more on Cargigi, watch this video:
eBay Motors has been struggling as it faces competition from Craigslist and a number of upstarts in the used car business including Beepi, Shift, and Vroom.
Many of these startups provide more services than eBay for dealers and consumers when listing cars online. For instance, instead of simply charging a fee to list a car online, these companies visit a seller’s home to inspect the car, set a price, and list it for them.
Since many car dealers are using online sites to sell cars, Cargigi could be a valuable service for eBay to get more professional car salespeople to sell on eBay Motors.
