Nick M.K.

White Q5 from Porsche Retail?

Bingo!

Normally in the summer prices are super low. Interesting how the market became alive after March this year.

I've never sold this way but have bought a few locally responding to these ads, usually from a private mature owner who was "giving up" driving so no possibility to p/x it.

Just looked at another forum thread about MINIs and how fragile they are and it got me thinking about Makes / Models I don't like to stock. I don't mind Minis but I wouldn't buy a Skoda or Renault for example and except MX5 I don't buy Mazdas. I know they sell ok but I never liked them. Oh and old Japanese 4x4s in the £500+ tax bracket...

Wouldn't you feel too much pressure to be super successful after all this information and advice very few people had when they were starting? I can't imagine the group disappointment on this forum if one day you were to start a thread about "my last sale, taking a break from car sales" ...

I sell quite a few on eBay (classified, not auction) and my buyers from there are two types: 1) old chaps (I can't comment on the Altos because I've never sold one) 2) 25-45yo blokes who don't bring their wives with them when they buy Both types are very sensible to deal with.

+1 You should always keep things tight but as Newbie one thing comes above all else: learning. You can certainly ask questions on a forum but you'll need to do a lot of experimenting yourself, especially with advertising to find out what works for you and how. I could pick up the phone and call you right now (on the number ending 366) and tell you in a 40 minute call most of what you really need to know but I'd be robbing you of the unrepeatable opportunity to learn it all yourself :-)

I used to worry about stuff like this but now all my stock goes virtually everywhere and the truth is the response is quite unpredictable. AT performs best for me, by miles, irrespective of models. CarGurus worst. I am sure that other people here will report the complete opposite.

I get what they mean, they mean to say that the plate shouldn't be facing the sky stuck on a flat bonnet or boot lid but vertical is a daft word to use for this.

You are a dealer, not a marriage counsellor. You get a customer that wants what you have - you deal! If they both like the car - Good! If only he likes it - Still OK - you sold to him. If they both hate it - Offer to buy it back at a lower price. Hold the V5 notification after the sale for at least a month so there isn't another keeper on the record and when selling it insist that taxing it by direct debit is the greatest method of them all. None of us want aggro but it does look like the majority of us forum members here are self employed business owners in a business full of aggro so we can take it sometimes :-)

Do you cover the plates with the suction holder? You may as well keep them in the windscreen as both are forbidden. I have attached the DVLA guidance note VTL301G section 4:

You can buy caravan or trailer plate holders for around a pound or two each and adapt them to do exactly the same job. I used similar to fit trade plates covering the current plate of the car but this was forbidden a while ago. I just display in windscreen again. I think (not 100% sure) that cars IN TRADE will not get fined, only SORN cars. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trailer-number-holders-stainless-LMX1867/dp/B00W9P88W6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1529914014&sr=8-3&keywords=caravan+plate+holder

The journey IS the reward.

Yes, you can. The key is not to stand in the back footwell, shout at the crowds and keep your arm in a straight extended position :-)

West Oxfordshire Motor Auctions: WOMA

Compared to others my journey will probably seem shorter and I still to this day advertise on eBay in their classified ad format but yes, majority of my new customers come on the back of my AT advertising. I also have a package with Motors.co.uk and a medium package with CarGurus (for which I have given them a cancellation notice). Do you think the lack of previous (especially MAIN dealer) experience might actually be an advantage in this trade?

In 2004 I was working full time for a health and safety consultancy in Southwark in London. Had been in the country 4 years (I am Bulgarian), just learnt the language and had no real interest in health and safety. Had a nice sideline selling iPod cases on eBay that I was importing from the US and I had gained very high eBay feedback score. I was always interested in cars but at that point didn't even know the difference between a brake disc and a brake pad. Ignorance is a bliss they say. I bought a BMW 518i E34 from a private seller for £800 and listed it on an eBay auction with a reserve of £1100 to see what will happen. Sold in 7 days for £1950, I'll never forget my first customer, Tony from Leeds. He said he saw my feedback score and decided he wanted MY car. The name of the BMW colour was Dunkelblau. Similar to 90 day blue but more like 150 day blue. From that moment on I was never seriously interested in doing anything else, watching the bid increases on my cars on eBay was addictive. Quit the day job in late 2005 and soon after was selling 11-12 cars a month from a "stock" that never exceeded 4 or 5, delivered them for a nominal charge and did so little "prep", it was shocking. Ignorance WAS a bliss... the eBay frenzy died down eventually, the novelty wore off, I also tried Gumtree for a while but in London the response was overwhelmingly idiotic so I moved on to AT after the crunch of 2009-10.

No, I don't do DA. Did it seem a tremendous bargain? Maybe it didn't have the Range extender...

Yes. A £150 Auto with a half empty tank :-)

Hats off to you for being a risk taker, fortune favours the brave :-) Hopefully there is buyer out there that "always wanted one"...

Jay, when he comes to do the deal 1) Help him retain his private plate online. Takes 2 minutes, costs £80, he pays it and he will automatically receive a new V5 with the age related reg for his part exchange. 2) Keep the V5 of the part ex (now obsolete) BUT also charge him £100-£150 refundable deposit to ensure he sends you back the new V5 for the part ex. This will take 3-5 days. 3) On the day of the handover tell the DVLA (also online) that he is the new keeper of the car you are selling him and at the same time tax it, he pays it. 4) He will receive both V5s. He sends you the one for the part ex, you refund his deposit. He uses the new V5 to assign the private plate online to the newer car. He can then display his private plate and again in 3-5 days he will receive yet another V5 :-) This is the fastest way of doing it with a used vehicle.

That's exactly how I spent my Sunday but because I don't have enough stock to attract so many buyers on a single day I had to invite some family friends over at our local pub. All they were buying were drinks :-)

On a related note: Do you think that WBAC, WWAC and similar companies were partly to blame for the end of "the good times" by steering the selling public away from the local trade and taking away opportunities??

"Commission bid with me. Still with me! Still with me!" :-)