trade vet

Hi Beechwood If it is any help,2 months ago I restarted and set up a pitch after being 7 years retired ( but on the periffery).Everyone said don’t bother because things have changed and I can understand why.Setting it up took long enough from getting BT,Utilities,bank accounts,card machines,new insurance regs,website,FCA stuff,etc,lots of bullshittters letting you down. When you factor in that most people under 40 are either debt ridden or would prefer to rent a new car instead,your target market is now drastically reduced.When you do a deal now,the punters often take a week or more to collect and settle up.I only go in for an hour or so per day but I get very impatient , it has definateley changed.As for getting stock,if you can pay Cap Clean for stuff you will be doing well....being an estate agent sounds better .....Good Luck.

Tip for newbies bidding at the block.Occasionally a clever auctioneer might bring down the hammer on your bid and then say ‘subject’ or ‘provisional’.If that happens go up to the rostrum and tell the auctioneer you have bought it.The fall of the hammer is a binding contract.

If I was bidding and noticed that the other bidder was a private ( who are usually slow to bid) I have sometimes gone and stood next to them.Then whenever they made a bid,I would bid quickly and tell them to hurry up or they will lose it.This usually makes them uncomfortable and they freeze.This works best when there is more than one of them and they are conferring between bids.Another one we did was when you knew someone who was going to bid against you.In the early days of mobile phones when they were like bricks with a loud ring,I would just get a mate to ring the other guy during the bidding to try and put them off.It might have worked once or twice but I do recall getting told to F/off aswell.

Luxury model etc !That is the sort of thing I have been on about with these part time judges.

Interesting AD thank you.If the claim on the summons differed from the letter before action was it not a futile claim anyway.

Anyway James,cracking awards photo on your site,that will not do you any harm.Also,as an example of what is typical with this job.There appears to be a big impressive pitch a couple of miles from you.If you are interested the ‘good ‘ news is that having checked their results,you will be doing better than them.

What ?

If you had a pitch you might take a different view.The sort of thing that happens is that the parts van driver or the dent guy might tell you that X down the road has told him they did 17 over the weekend.You may have done 2 and have several comebacks on a Monday morning.This usually does not make you feel good.However,when you know their business has a negative net worth and a £500k stocking loan based on their last results,you can just brush it off.However,I do like looking at company accounts but not especially our trade. I was pleased to see Motability being slated by the authorities yesterday as I have to admit I did make a complaint through official channels about them 2 years ago.

It’s all in the public domain for free if you know where to look..Directors searches,Companies House,press releases,just searching people’s names can bring things up.I think it is a good idea to try and find out what your competitors are doing and sometimes it is not what it seems.

Everywhere I think except maybe for dealers in East Anglia,if you give me some names of dealers in your area,I may be able to demonstrate.

Hi James The correct answer is not many,that is why I was asking.Net profit in this job averages at between 1p and 2p per pound of T/O.then there is tax to pay on top.So again ,who knows any company doing better than that.( Motability excluded)

Breaking news,Motability have been slated by the National Audit Office.The CEO is going because of his £1.8m remuneration plus his £2m bonus.They have found that Motability are sitting on £2.6b and that they have overcharged customers £390m.I think Motability only have130 employees.How have they been able to get away with it for so long.

What it means is that MAP is a good guy for helping you out.

I would like to hear about actual cases,what was on the charge sheet,what the plaintiff said to the judge and how it was defended,what the judge said etc.......just interested.

Oh dear......he has probably lost them by now.....hope not.

However you interpret CRA, the bottom line is that if you end up in the Small Claims Court defending a case brought by a retail punter,you are most likely to lose.I have yet to see anyone on this forum describe the details of a case where they have successfully defended themselves.I have been involved in several non motor trade small claims cases which we have won,however the two we have lost were with retail punters ( where I thought we had an excellent defence).I don’t think Small Claims judges follow CRA.You can complain about it,but unless things have changed,you cannot appeal.

Brilliant,street food vans are worth good money.I hope you did well.

£950 net on a £600 car as average.It gets better,do you operate from inside Harrods.

Hi James 01 Do I understand this correctly.You have allowed £600 on it,one family since new,it’s an 09 and a nice one.You say, If you can’t get £2395, you are just going to ‘kick it out of the door’ for £1995 ! I am unsure why you need our advice,if £1400 profit is kicking it out of the door,that is unheard of,your average margins must be huge........Well done..

Perfectly normal not to make a profit in this job.In fact can anyone tell me who is making a healthy profit.

That’s the most profitable automotive business anywhere.I think their directors remuneration is several millions.Not many staff,few premises and they are sitting on £500m.I understand Motability Trading Co.only give a small amount of their income to good causes.I don’t know how true it is but I was told it was stated in their flowery financial statements that their remuneration committee were paid a collective £30k to agree their remuneration...It is a scandal.

The charity industry is huge.I think there are over 100 thousand reg charities.There will be many like your Evoque Guy.What annoys me is a lot of them have the nicest people working for them voluntarily but the guys at the top get all the kudos and also pay themselves handsomely......Beware of dogooders.

Hi Tradex I thought you just liked Clio’s Thank you Jimmy As they say ‘I have taken that on board ‘ I have found a SEO company and having checked them out,they appear OK.I am going to try them for a couple of months @ £250 per month,the guy I am dealing with is very young ( with no bullshit) and is confident he can help.

Dealer to Dealer etiquette.....is that not an example of an oxymoron.We do not exactly operate like the medical or legal profession.I still get people calling me asking ‘have you heard any gossip’.

Thank you James,we are going to have to get some specialist search engine people to sort ours.