Carsales.com.au has the option for its users to pay $20 to have their contact details behind a privacy screen. Its the modern day “business model” popular in gaming where you pay for something that should really be free and something that is free in alternative services.

Carsales can run their website as they please, but its in this manner that is annoying, frustrating and motivating to think poorly of them. Its a cash grab and given the circumstances of making users pay for privacy it really makes Carsales seem like the don’t care about their users.

Its called privacy protect and is alongside Carsales other packages, which you pay through the teeth for. It really does help to be in a monopoly as you can get away with blatant rip offs, shoddy service and unethical behavior.

$20 for privacy protection though, cmon that’s too much for an addon that could easily be argued should just be standard. It really does make the base level Carsales experience rubbish as you have to pay for all these addons and packages before you can get somewhere.

One things for certain with these types of packages, if no one buys them then they get removed or price dropped. But if its anything like the pay 2 win situation in gaming these types of addons have no issues in selling, which is sad because consumers can set the precedence for allowing organizations to do these things.