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Not being rude and admire someone trying to do something, but the best deal for a customer and dealer is direct between them, a broker will take a margin from somewhere, I hate to say it but think your barking up the wrong tree. If you like the idea of brokering, become a salesman and have the luxery of someone providing you with stock, a desk and a database You will make a lot more money this way and have some colleagues to enjoy beers with.

I have never & will never source a car for anyone, if it's something I'd buy anyhow then I've bought one & one the few occasions I've offered it it has never been what they wanted - they ALWAYS want something else OR they then check their insurance with the inevitable result. 2 tales; I once suggested (to a reasonably wealthy friend wanting a daughter's first car in the £3K range) that he gives me a list of MUST HAVES and MUST NOT HAVES, I'd tell him the maximum price, he'd then have to take the car or he would forfeit the deposit - which I said would be £500. This is a man who is NOT tight-fisted, who I've looked after his home when he was earning big bucks abroad, throws me the keys to his expensive car, we drink together, known each other for decades but when it came to the subject of a non-refundable £500 deposit you'd of thought I'd threatened to rape his daughter. A V70 D5 I bought & advertised normally. A flurry of interest. One chap says he definitely wants it cos it's bright red. I answer it's shiny but I'd describe it as a wine red. Anyhow, I confirmed the colour name to this Volvo "expert" (if memory serves it was something like Ruby Red Metallic) and even gave him the colour code. The old chap drives 200 miles to be with me by 9am on the Saturday morning. He sits for a few seconds clearly "having words" with his wife and gets out with a face like thunder - clearly he's not happy. To cut a VERY long story short, we get into an argument over the colour & eventually he gets his copy of the advert that he'd printed. LO & BEHOLD!! HIS PRINTER WAS FAULTY & MY RUBY RED CAR APPEARED BRIGHT RED WITH A BLUE HALO AROUND IT & BROWN TYRES!!!! When he still continued to chew-on (about 15 minutes of me being polite in deference to his age) I showed him the advert on my phone and eventually had to point out that "NONE OF MY CARS COME WITH A BLUE HALO & BROWN TYRES. YOU ARE WRONG, IT'S YOU WHO'S FUCKED UP NOT ME". I pressed his Mrs. for an answer, laughed in his face & told him to leave. So Matt, if you REALLY fancy risking your redundancy go for it. But honestly, please DON'T.

Just out of interest, with a 'brokering deal' who takes responsibility if there are issues down the line. Can the broker sidestep any responsibilities? Are warranties given? Who does the inspections and are they insured against the usual? If that 'Ferrari GTO' turns out to not be a matching numbers car who is liable? Vendor, broker, inspection agent, warranty? I was also under the impression that 'brokers' tend to operate in the upper price levels of classic cars/boats/planes

Matt, turn the tables on yourself and have a think as though you're a potential customer. Why would someone looking for a car come to you to find it? The internet's a powerful tool that is available even to someone living in a mud hut in the middle of Outer Mongolia, never mind punters in the U.K. No one buying cheap bangers or run of the mill cars has a use for this service and more importantly for you, if you even managed to source cheap new cars through the dealer network (highly unlikely) then the profit isn't there for you. As for high end motors, lets say Porsche/Ferrari. Why would a prospective purchaser come to you rather than a dealer? and good luck getting a discount there. Then as you'll only be taking a deposit how are YOU going to finance these new(ish) cars to get them from your supplier to the customer? If you're expecting to get a sale or return deal then you don't know this game very well. Finally, (and I'm making an assumption here) if you haven't had experience of the general public & how they behave regarding money then you're in for an awful surprise - they'll fuck you around until the cows come home UNTIL it's time to show some financial commitment and it's that time that sorts the wheat from the chaff. Even assuming all of the above paragraphs fall into place for you then you've got this paragraph to deal with! Honestly Matt, save your time & redundancy money. Go & buy a few from the auction & then you'll get some real experience in this game from purchase through to sale because believe me, there's plenty inbetween 'the purchase' to 'the sale' that anyone new to this game really doesn't appreciate.

I am sorry,the bottom line is,you cannot be a successfull broker if you are not an ex dealer.You need to talk the language for a start,that takes years.You have to be able to get a better deal on swappers,finance,warranty and have contacts for better value aftercare/servicing etc.For doing that you should be able to charge a flat fee as you will get FA from the retailer as net margins are too low.You may be better off doing something else.