Mad Mark

How are things going now with your new business Heco? Glad you could get insured.

Wow 50k, I think you'd have more than enough for that but I think it would be best doing what other guys are saying on here in regards to starting from home for a good while. I'm going to be starting with £5k from home try 1-2 first month and keep building it from there. Will let you know how I get on, with the prices I'm buying for 1k profit would be a dream will be looking at £300 - £500 profit on average although I'll be reaping the rewards of being under the VAT threshold for a likely very brief period.

Great topic, hows things going now six months down the line @Marian TDM ? What would folk suggest as the best way to value a car, would it be using something like CAP or Glass app? Sounds as if your pups have done well @David Horgan - would like to do things similarly to the way your daughter started.. but with most of the comments on here are talking about the industry it would put anyone off just as well I've got a passion for it lol.

sure would get some strange looks if I whipped them out an auction and asked them to tell me a cars value

Thanks everyone for your feedback really appreciate it. Just getting round to reading the comments on here. I would like to have it done right if I was going to do it all and was genuinely curious so would be making sure to have the correct insurance and trade plates in place. I've took a very small first step you could say in purchasing the car dealer magazine for traders which has been an interesting read. In terms of the hard work required that doesn't generally phase me I've been working for myself for the past 5 years averaging around 70-80 hour weeks and I'm pretty thick skinned. So not sure if that along with having an idea of how to do my accounts, dealing with customers daily and having to be self-motivated may help. I wouldn't expect it to be a walk in the park by any means, and to be honest most self employed folk or people who run businesses I automatically assume its not easy and have huge respect for anyone doing that. On top of that we have the luxury of no holiday pay, sick pay and other perks, wonderful! In terms of what David said I was thinking it would definitely help to be mechanically able like your son. Unfortunately I'm not quite as skilled as him and have very basic knowledge when it comes to mechanics. I do have good sales skills though as that has been one of the main things I've been doing for the past few years. I could also go to auctions for example with a set figure in mind for a car and if it went over my price I'd be willing to pay I could go home empty handed without feeling the need of getting something for the sake of it. I can also see a lot of people commenting seem to be doing fairly well or know of people in that position, seeing some comments for people with 100's of cars in their stock. To clarify, I'm by no means trying to be a mini Arnold Clark (not yet anyway), I'm just a guy who's always had a passion for cars and I do enjoy buying and selling things. Mainly looking to do this on a small scale to bring in even some extra cash a month and I'd rather take the knowledge and experience that comes with it first than thinking about any big bucks that can be earned as experience is invaluable in my eyes. Would be trying to go for selling 4 cars a month (probably a laughable target for most here) but I'm just trying to start small and try lower value cars of the buying price of £1000 - £2000. I could be wrong and hoping it wouldnt come to that but I imagine its something that happens in the business - if I can't get something shifted then taking a couple hundred £ loss for that vehicle at the end of the day wouldn't be the end of the world. I had a few questions if anyone would be kind in helping with (hopefully it helps others too): 1. I've read that a car stays in a dealers stock for an average period of 55 days, would you guys say that is accurate? I'd be looking to carry out intensive research on the cars before buying and try to only go with vehicles highly in demand. 2. Are there any apps or guides you'd recommend to use when trying to find the true valuation of a car your looking at purchasing? I was looking at CAP If I can begin to make an extra £1k - £2k a month between now and six months down the line while gathering the experience I'll be happy with that. Not sure if its important to mention but as I'm starting small I wouldn't be looking at an expensive forecourt or anything, I'm fortunate enough where we stay we have a small bit of land we could get around 5 cars on at a time so hoping that would cut some overheads out. TIA

Cheers I'll take a look at the how to be a car dealer guide. I watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTBicGsgHXo and he made £900 profit (before tax) on the car, for a car he bought for £1000. Would you say profits like this on a £1000 car at auction or bought privately are few and far between, if so what would you say are more realistic profit figures for buying a car for £1000? Are there any insurance companies you'd recommend for cheap motor trade insurance for new dealers? Sorry for all the questions. I've fired in a few hearts for your help happy to keep them coming!

You seem to know your stuff which is helpful. Do most buyers want to test drive the car I take it? Was thinking of offering at least a 3 month warranty to cover them for any issues. But I can only afford a car for £900 - £1000 at auction. With expenses and tax taken into consideration I'd be looking at £300 - £500 profit per car and that's hoping nothing major needs done to the car. Guess a mechanics and condition report at auction would help to prevent any extreme costs, if it didn't show anything major? Thanks

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by proper insurance?

Hi guys, I hope you're all well. So I'm new to the business and looking to start out with maybe 1 car at a time in the hope to sell 3-4 cars a month, however I've hit a major snag after putting in the research for the last 2 weeks I probably should have checked motor trade insurance prices first - bummer! Phoned up Bollington insurance which I've read people got good deals from on here and was quoted over £3,000 for the year, which I just can't afford. The kind chap however did say that I'd be maybe best going down the temporary insurance route for each car I get so it allows me to drive it home etc for around £50 a car. The only issue I then seen was what if a buyer wants to test drive the car, would they require to be insured or do most buyers just chance it? As I'm sure there are many private sellers out there just selling the odd car without motor trade insurance. And if the buyer did just chance it on a test drive and we got pulled over by the police who would be at fault and be hit with the points? Appreciate any feedback.