History of Kelley Blue Book

Everyone who is looking for a used car has heard about Kelley Blue Book. KBB is the authoritative guide to used car pricing. KBB provides a benchmark to both sellers as well as buyers against which they can compare the price of their car. Just imagine how difficult would it have been if no one told you what is the correct price of the car you are buying. Thankfully, KBB is present for our rescue. How did it all started? How did KBB come into being? Let's find out:

In 1914, Less Kelley made his way to California at the age of 17. He did not have money or job, but he had an old car which he had overhauled himself. He sold that car, and bought another one with the money. Soon he was making enough money by this buying and selling, and in 1918 he decided to establish himself in the business. He started Kelley Car Company in LA with three cars for sale. His brother, Buster, joined him at age of 13. Their business did really well.

In early 1920s, Les wanted to acquire new inventory. He distributed to dealers a list of automobiles he wanted to buy, and the money he was willing to pay for that. That list caught everyone's attention and all the dealers started requesting him that list for their personal use. In 1926, Les Kelley decided to publish the first Blue Book of Motor Car Values. It was named as Blue Book after the Social Register, as it meant that there is valuable information inside.

Kelly Car Company used innovative way to sell cars. They started paining cars Pink when cars were available only in Black, and sales soared immediately. They had to progressively move to larger sites as their business flourished. They took almost an entire block for their used car dealership business, which was to become the largest in the world. And their body/paint shop at another location employed more than 100 mechanics. Buster eventually became general manager of the dealership and publisher of the Blue Book. Kelleys also started their insurance company and auto club and sold the entire package with the car.

Soon, they started Ford dealership for new cars and by 1950s this had also become the largest in the world. By late 1950s, Kelleys decided to cash in on this success, and they completely sold their dealerships and spend full time on Blue Book. Buster became the publisher, and Bob (Buster's son) became the assistant publisher.

For next 30 years, Blue Book was sold only to businesses involved in the automotive industry, such as car dealerships. It continued to evolve, and Kelleys started publishing a lot more guides, such as A New Car Price Manual. All of these were instant success. Les Kelley died in 1990, at the age of 93.

In 1993, Kelleys published the first "Consumer Edition of the Blue Book". It soon became nation's largest selling automotive guide, often making it to USA Today's best seller list. In 1995, KBB.COM was launched. Initially, it charged $3.95 for a pricing report. But when consumers said that information on internet should be free, they made it completely free within three weeks, and started running business using advertisements.

KBB has continued to grow ever since. They exited insurance and auto club businesses long ago, but they are always looking for innovative ways to provide more values to the customer. The website gets more than seven million visitors every month. And many more view KBB values on other websites, such as used car sites, dealers' sites etc. KBB.COM has fueled the biggest growth in the history of KBB. As per the surveys, one out of every three people who buys a used car in America visits KBB.COM, and KBB.COM gets more visitors that any other three automotive sites combined together! That's quite a feat.

2006 marked the 80^th anniversary of Kelley Blue Book. It was definitely an eventful innings. They started right from the scratch, and became world leaders in whatever they did. To this day, people buying or selling the cars ask the question, "What is Blue Book Value of My Car". And KBB.COM is just a click away to answer this question.

(Above history has been compiled from www.kbb.com)