Definition
Cost per sale is the amount a dealership spends on marketing for each vehicle sold. It’s calculated by dividing advertising spend, for one channel or in total, by the number of vehicles sold and credited to that spend over the same period. Unlike cost per click or cost per lead, it measures what a sale really costs.
Pasch Group Dealer Glossary
What it means for a dealership
Cost per lead is easier to report, but leads vary widely in quality, and many conversions in ad reports are not sales opportunities at all. Pasch Group’s 2021 Google SEM research found that 67% of Google Ads hard conversions were phone calls, per Dealer eProcess data, and that many agencies counted sales, service and administrative calls alike.
The same report concluded that a sales opportunity from Google SEM costs 5 to 10 times more than dealers think. It recommends reporting cost per sales opportunity in place of cost per lead. Cost per sale goes one step further and ties spend to vehicles delivered in the DMS.
The math depends on the rules. Decide which costs count, including agency fees, software and any co-op reimbursements. Decide how a sale is credited to a source and what time window to use. Then keep those rules the same each month so channels can be compared fairly.
Questions
How do you calculate cost per sale?
Divide the marketing spend for a period by the number of vehicles sold and credited to that spend in the same period. Use total spend for a store-wide figure, or one channel’s spend and credited sales for a channel figure. Keep the counting rules the same each month.
What’s the difference between cost per lead and cost per sale?
Cost per lead divides spend by leads of any kind, including service calls, duplicates and shoppers who never buy. Cost per sale divides spend by vehicles actually sold. A channel can have a low cost per lead and a high cost per sale if its leads rarely close.
Updated October 11, 2026