name: MarketCheck API FinOps Framework description: >- FinOps guidance for managing MarketCheck API costs using the FinOps Foundation Framework 1.0 FOCUS-aligned principles. MarketCheck's blended pricing model (flat subscription + per-call data costs) requires active cost visibility, allocation, and optimization practices to avoid unexpected overages. version: '1.0' framework: FinOps Foundation Framework 1.0 (FOCUS-aligned) url: https://www.marketcheck.com/apis/pricing/ # ── INFORM ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── inform: costVisibility: description: >- Establish real-time visibility into MarketCheck API spending across both subscription fees and per-call data costs. actions: - Enable quota alert emails at 75%, 90%, and 100% thresholds via the MarketCheck Universe Portal (https://universe.marketcheck.com/) - Tag API keys by team, product, or environment (production vs staging) to attribute data costs to business units - Export monthly invoices from the Universe Portal for reconciliation - Track per-endpoint call volumes against per-call pricing to identify high-cost endpoints (e.g., Dealer Inventory Syndication at $1.00/call) pricingModel: subscriptionFee: description: Fixed monthly fee governing access tier and rate limits tiers: - name: Free monthlyFee: 0 - name: Basic monthlyFee: 299 - name: Standard monthlyFee: 749 - name: Enterprise monthlyFee: custom dataCosts: description: Variable per-call charges on top of subscription fee range: low: 0.001 high: 1.00 currency: USD unit: per API call highCostEndpoints: - endpoint: Dealer Inventory Syndication pricePerCall: 1.00 - endpoint: CarsXE Plate to VIN pricePerCall: 0.70 - endpoint: VINData Title Check pricePerCall: 0.49 - endpoint: OEM Incentive Search pricePerCall: 0.20 earlyBillingTrigger: threshold: 1000 currency: USD note: >- Accumulated data costs exceeding $1,000 within a billing cycle trigger early billing. Monitor closely to avoid unexpected mid-month charges. budgetAllocations: - category: Subscription Fee costType: fixed billingCycle: monthly note: Predictable fixed cost; plan upgrades trigger immediately - category: Data Costs costType: variable billingCycle: monthly note: >- Variable based on call volume and endpoint mix. High-variance category requiring active monitoring. - category: Third-Party API Pass-Through costType: variable note: >- AutoRecalls, VINData, and CarsXE calls carry premium per-call rates as MarketCheck passes through third-party costs. # ── OPTIMIZE ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── optimize: endpointOptimization: description: Select the most cost-effective endpoint for each use case recommendations: - useCase: Bulk inventory retrieval recommendation: >- Use /v2/search/car/active with pagination rather than Dealer Inventory Syndication ($1.00/call) unless bulk delivery format is required. - useCase: VIN decoding at scale recommendation: >- Use Basic VIN Decoder ($0.0015/call) unless enhanced build data is required; avoid NeoVIN ($0.08/call) for standard spec lookups. - useCase: Price prediction recommendation: >- Use MarketCheck Price US USED Base ($0.07/call) for simple valuations; upgrade to Premium Plus ($0.13/call) only when comparable vehicles are needed by the end user. - useCase: Vehicle images recommendation: >- Prefer Cached Images ($0.001/call) over live image fetches for repeated display of the same listing. caching: description: >- Cache frequently accessed data to reduce redundant API calls and associated data costs. recommendations: - Cache VIN decode results (vehicle specs rarely change) - Cache dealer profile data (update daily, not per request) - Cache Market Days Supply (MDS) values for non-real-time dashboards - Cache OEM incentive data with a TTL of 24 hours (programs change daily) - Set appropriate TTLs for inventory searches based on freshness needs tierRightSizing: description: Match subscription tier to actual usage patterns recommendations: - Free: Suitable only for evaluation; 500 calls/month exhausted quickly - Basic: Appropriate for low-volume apps under 5,000 calls/month needing third-party API access - Standard: Cost-effective at 40 RPS once data costs exceed the $749 subscription fee breakeven point vs Basic overage patterns - Enterprise: Justified when radius restrictions (500 miles) block business requirements or when bulk data delivery is needed rateLimitManagement: description: >- Implement client-side throttling to stay within tier rate limits and avoid 429 errors that waste retry budget. recommendations: - Implement exponential backoff with jitter for 429 responses - Use token bucket or leaky bucket algorithms for client-side rate limiting - Distribute requests evenly across the second window; avoid burst patterns - Monitor X-RateLimit-Remaining response headers to throttle proactively # ── OPERATE ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── operate: governance: description: Establish policies for API key management and cost accountability actions: - Create separate API keys per environment (production, staging, dev) - Rotate API keys quarterly and immediately upon team member offboarding - Assign API key ownership to a named team or cost center - Set budget alerts at $500 and $800 to intervene before $1,000 early billing anomalyDetection: description: Detect unexpected spikes in API usage that signal bugs or abuse signals: - Quota consumption reaching 75% before mid-month - Sudden increase in high-cost endpoint calls (Syndication, VINData) - 429 error rate increase indicating client-side throttling failures - Per-call volume spikes on third-party endpoints (CarsXE, AutoRecalls) reporting: description: Monthly FinOps review cadence for MarketCheck API spend cadence: monthly metrics: - Total subscription fee paid - Total data costs by endpoint category - Cost per business unit or product line (via API key tagging) - Calls per endpoint vs prior month (volume trending) - Average cost per API call (blended) - 429 error rate (efficiency indicator) - Third-party API spend as percentage of total data costs unitEconomics: description: >- Map MarketCheck API costs to business outcomes for ROI measurement. examples: - metric: Cost per VIN decoded formula: total_vin_decoder_costs / total_vins_decoded - metric: Cost per inventory listing retrieved formula: total_inventory_search_costs / total_listings_returned - metric: Cost per price estimate generated formula: total_price_api_costs / total_estimates_generated - metric: Cost per vehicle history report formula: total_history_api_costs / total_reports_generated contacts: support: https://www.marketcheck.com/support/ portal: https://universe.marketcheck.com/ enterpriseSales: https://www.marketcheck.com/apis/pricing/