Scalpers Want $200 for Spotify's Failed CarPlay Killer, and Users Jump at the Offer

Spotify launched Car Thing with a simple goal in mind: it wanted to bring its service to cars where running the app otherwise wouldn't have been possible.

Car Thing was a device whose only role was to provide users with access to Spotify, displaying a UI that closely resembled the mobile app running on Android Auto and CarPlay. It included intuitive buttons, a simple design, and a small form factor to fit most cars.

Spotify targeted older vehicles where functionality like Android Auto and CarPlay wasn't available, with the company hoping its customers would buy Car Thing as an alternative to getting a more expensive aftermarket head unit.

It was a way to compete with Android Auto and CarPlay, and Spotify believed the price factor would make a major difference. An Android Auto and CarPlay receiver typically cost at least $200 for a basic model, and paying half the price to get access to Spotify made sense. In Spotify's mind, at least, as the strategy failed in the most obvious way.

Customers weren't exactly interested in a device that only offered access to a single app. Paying extra for access to Android Auto and CarPlay, where they could get a significantly upgraded experience, made more sense from an investment perspective.

Car Thing didn't make sense for most users. Using their mobile phones, where the app was already running, with a Bluetooth connection to the vehicle speakers, was the logical and more convenient choice.

Car Thing eventually failed, and the worst thing is that Spotify picked the most horrible way to retire the device. The company won't offer refunds, so starting in December, Car Thing is gone for good. Spotify also doesn't want to open-source the device, despite users requesting this approach, as they would continue to maintain Car Thing with community support.

Here's the odd part.

With Car Thing biting the dust, many people are looking for ways to get their money back. Some say Spotify offered them one free month of premium service, which is ridiculous, considering they spent $90 on Car Thing.

You'd normally expect Car Thing buyers to be outraged with Spotify's way of handling the product's demise, but this isn't exactly what's happening.

Scalpers are trying to get rid of the device online, asking for ridiculous prices that go as high as $200. This means that anyone can still get the failed device, albeit not from Spotify, but they must pay nearly double the launch price.

Ask anyone you know, and they'll tell you this doesn't make any sense, especially given Spotify has already retired Car Thing and has recently announced the complete demise of the product. As a reminder, starting in December, Car Thing will be as useful as a rock, as the device will no longer connect to Spotify (despite the company's original claim that its product would remain operational after the end of support).

Yet, people online jump at the opportunity of buying Car Thing. Several listings on eBay have attracted tens of bidders, with users willing to pay as much as $100 to get factory-sealed units. One listing has 23 bids, with the price already surpassing $70 and two more days remaining until the auction ends.

It's hard to find a reason to get Car Thing today, especially because the device will soon go dark, but customers seem to have a very strong desire to get their hands on it. One possible explanation is the effort to bring Android to Car Thing, which would essentially breathe new life into the device.

However, one thing is clear: Spotify's experiment failed, but customer interest existed to some extent. The company never shared any sales numbers, but it claimed the slow demand and the supply chain challenges made it difficult to keep Car Thing on the market.

The company tried all kinds of approaches to make Car Thing successful, including even pulling the car-optimized interface bundled with its mobile app. Nothing worked, as customers expressed strong resistance at first, but now that Car Thing is no longer a thing, the device is in hot demand.

The best thing Spotify can do now is open-source the device and allow the community to improve it. It's a failed product, and the company acknowledged it, but pulling a $90 device and not even refunding or finding a way to make up with your customers could hurt sales in the long term.

Did you purchase Car Thing? What's your opinion about this device, and how should Spotify handle its demise? Let me know what you think in the comment box after the jump, and maybe we can help Spotify find the right way to get over the failed experiment.