A listing represents a vehicle record available for sale by a dealer on their website. Key characteristics include:
id) composed of the vehicle's VIN and a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), which remains constant throughout the listing's lifetimeVehicle attribution is the process of identifying which dealer actually has physical possession of a specific vehicle when the same vehicle (identified by VIN) appears across multiple dealer websites or domains. The system analyzes various data points to identify the "true owner" and marks only that dealer's listing as "searchable".
When a car with VIN "ABC123" appears on 5 different dealer websites, attribution determines which of those 5 dealers actually has the physical car on their lot. Only that dealer's listing gets marked as is_searchable=1, while others remain is_searchable=0.
For buyers & market clarity:
For data analytics & downstream processing:
For sales attribution & dealer performance:
For business intelligence:
The attribution system uses a 8-level hierarchical process to determine which dealer website should mark a car as "searchable" (visible to buyers).
Data Collection
When the same car (VIN) appears on multiple websites, we extract vehicle details from each listing's Vehicle Detail Page (VDP).
For example, if a car appears on 8 different dealer websites, we collect information like location, seller name, and address from all 8 listings. Often, 4-5 of these listings will indicate the car is "available for transfer from" or "available for sale at" a specific location/dealer, while others may show different details.
Attribution Decision
The system uses this collected data from all listings to assess ownership. It then applies matching criteria across 8 levels to determine which dealer listing should be marked as searchable.
Below is a breakdown of each attribution level, along with the logic and fields involved:
| Level | Name | Matching Fields | Logic Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Single Listing | N/A | Only one listing exists |
| 2 | ZIP Code Matching | zip, car_zip | ZIP codes match |
| 3 | Seller Name & City Matching | seller_name, car_city, car_seller_name | Seller name and car city match |
| 4 | Seller Name Matching | seller_name, car_seller_name | Seller names match exactly |
| 5 | Address & Seller Matching | seller_address, car_address, unformatted_address | Address components match |
| 6 | Domain & Seller Correlation | domain, car_seller_name | Domain correlates with seller name |
| 7 | Brand Matching | make, car_seller_name | Dealer specializes in the car's brand |
| 8 | Latest Published Date Comparison | scraped_at_date | Earliest legitimate listing date |
The level_ss field indicates which attribution level successfully matched the car to a dealer, helping you understand the reliability and method of attribution. Lower level numbers indicate higher confidence matching.
In data feeds:
is_searchable columnis_searchable=true: Car attributed to this dealer (appears in search results)is_searchable=false: Car not attributed to this dealer (hidden from search)In API:
Getting all listings (deduplication override):
nodedup=true parameter to get all listings for a VIN regardless of attributionInferred Sales is MarketCheck's system for identifying when vehicles have likely been sold, even when dealers don't explicitly mark listings as "sold". It uses vehicle listing activity patterns to mark a listing as "sold" based on absence and timing.
This system complements attribution by tying the sale to the same dealer who was previously identified as having physical possession of the vehicle (i.e., the searchable listing).
A vehicle (VIN) is considered sold when:
status_date of any listing for that VIN is older than a set threshold, currently 7 daysstatus_date and compare gapstatus_date, calculate the number of days since that date, and, if the gap exceeds the 7‑day threshold, mark the VIN as soldSuppose VIN VIN123 meets the following conditions:
status_date is 2023-08-01today_date) is 2023-10-16is_searchable = 1, meaning attribution applied and this dealer was identified as having physical possessionis_sold_listing = 1is_searchable = 0 (i.e., not attributed to physical possession) is not marked as soldThis process ensures that only the dealer who was most likely in possession of the vehicle at the time of sale is credited with the inferred sale.
In data feeds:
is_sold_listing column only in historical data feedsis_sold_listing=true: Vehicle inferred sold by the attributed dealeris_sold_listing=false: Vehicle not inferred sold by this dealer or still activeIn API:
sold=true parameter to filter for listings that are inferred to be soldMarketCheck's inventory data primarily revolves around VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) listings, which are unique identifiers for each vehicle. However, there are also non-VIN listings where VIN is not available or not provided.
include_non_vin_listings=true parameter in API calls.Overview
Complete overview of MarketCheck's automotive inventory data collection across US, Canada, and UK markets, including our crawling methodology, quality assurance processes, and data access options.
Listing Lifecycle
Learn how MarketCheck tracks vehicle listings from discovery to expiration, and understand the key date fields that govern a listing's status.