tradegirl

You're right, it absolutely is. Sometimes working all the time is a necessity though. I made a lot of bad job decisions in the past, and I'm playing catch up now. Plus bad decisions in this job, and I honestly can't see how I'll be (business) debt free and finally buy a house any time soon. It seems like a lot of traders in here are saying the same thing as you are though. That health and family come first, and that they ran themselves into the ground in the past. I suppose realisation always comes at a price. But the silver lining in what you want through, was that perhaps had you carried on, the heart problem could have been a lot worse.

I hope so, XFS, I really hope it doesn't knock me. Out of the 14 left, the 9 customers would literally have their travel time doubled to come to me. So places like Worcester, Kidderminster and Pershore, I think I'd lose. And the remaining 5, it's a 15-20 mins increase in a longish travel time, so the jury is out on those. For instance 1hr55 to 2hr13, or 2hr30 to 2hr45. I think I'm winding myself up looking at this. Also 6 hours?!

Done a spreadsheet of 30 cars with locations, distances from Bromsgrove where they were sold from, and distances to Walsall (where I am/going to be). Trying to insert an image but it's not working. Out of 30 cars, 10 are closer to Walsall, and 6 are similar distances, so I'd like to think I would have gotten the sales anyway. It's worrying how many people travelled only half an hour though, or how many people the travel time is literally double that to come to Walsall. Got 4 cars up for sale at the moment (around 2 weeks now), all 4 advertised in Walsall. Enquiries on all, but only 1 viewing and no sales so far. Wondering if it's price, price bracket, location, or just quiet. Do I drop prices, do I change sale location to Bromsgrove, or do I just wait? Pretty frustrating.

Depends if you like having a wage or not. Wow ok...well that puts things into perspective. Although....what does a 2016 1 series auto go for? £10k-11k? I know you said they were on PCP though.

Jesus...sorry for your friend, but I suppose we learn from other people's pain sometimes. And for you to realise that while it's still early, is a blessing. There's a lot to be said for living, that unfortunately many of us (myself included) don't do. It's a Friday night and I've spent it on Car Gurus. On the one hand at 35 I'm still young enough to HAVE to work and make it happen, and get my house and be financially ok. But I'm 40 in 5 years and life has flown by...if I die tomorrow, all I'm going to remember is work and home, and worrying if my car photos are alright, and when the cars will sell. I've missed so many of my nieces' and nephews' moments, it's heartbreaking. So doing it small, and being less stressed, and having time for your parents and to get your health and fitness back, is probably the best way to do it.

Ok I understand. We do get caught up in work sometimes and forget about balance and that we don't get that time back. And what you said about seeing your parents...well that's priceless. It's not about millions, it's about being happy. Success is happiness isn't it? I think a lot of the older traders have mentioned about health, stress levels and spending time with their families. I think every self-employed job means you work longer hours than others. But...as long as we strike a balance, and not let quiet periods, comebacks, and blown engines affect us, then...it's alright.

Oh ok I see what you mean. Yeah some people selling their non-runners, only basically factoring in the repair. For example BMWs with engines gone, literally for only £1500-2000 below normal retail. Why would anyone buy a car and go into the trouble of rebuilding an engine, when it'll cost them the exact same money to just buy a normal one?

Casper, depends on the spec though IMO. For example, is a basic S/SE spec (dependent on make) is £9k, and the higher specs AMG/M Sports etc, start at 10500/11k, and your write off is the higher spec, then you're not going to price it £7k in line with the basic spec. You'll price it 8500/9000 in line with the better spec. At least that's what I do. Because when it comes to write offs, people are only buying them because they can get more car for less money. Having said that, I have seen what you mean with smaller cars like Fiestas/Corsas, where the different in price isn't that much. And let's face it, you don't get much premium spec in a Corsa either.

Wish I had the money for properties! 6 years in. Years 1-3 were the golden age, years 3-6...not so great, but have to plan, work, and figure it out. Have to keep swimming at this point.

Hi Grant, no website. Bought the domain but never got around to building it. Based in the Midlands. I have a LOT of work to do until I complain again about "woe is me"

I take £1000-2000 off normal like for like retail, depending on the price.

Rory, honestly, not by a long shot. Barely any online presence, just a Facebook page that gets updated once every 3 months. No reviews, nothing. As far as prep is concerned, I'm doing more than before. There's no way a customer will come and see a dirty car, whether inside or out. But...do I refurb the alloys if they all have slight kerbing? No. I probably should. That's not laziness, it's about the profit margin. So far back in arrears with £1500 going out each month on credit cards, we're constantly playing catch up and never coming close. Those 2-3 months with those crap Japanese purchases of mine didn't do us any favours. Anyway, I just need to work harder, and make sure all cars are on all sites, good photos and videos. You did say I have to put the hours in, and at the moment there are still hours in the evening I'm not putting to good use. @NOACROSS, I don't know about necessity. I see trader's pages where they're posing with young lads and girls with Seat FRs or BMWs. Or look at Rory's stock. They're not "necessity" cars at all. Necessity is an SE spec, but it seems everyone wants bells and whistles these days. I was offered a 118i SE as a non runner with a good profit, but I passed it up because of the SE spec. Who wants plain cloth seats on a 1 series these days? Minimum has to be sports seats. Anyway, I'm bringing this thread down haha. Just have to work harder and smarter, and do something about the funding situation.

Haha! No need for those extremes these days. More like "my one yr old had my phone." Nephews came around the other day while I was bidding Copart. Made sure they stayed well away from the laptop!

It's months like this where I wonder if this job is sustainable for me, if I'll ever get a unit, of I'll ever buy a house, or if I should just get a plan B and work towards something else. Then there are those who are doing well, and I wonder not me?

It doesn't owe us much. So it's either flog to eBay or drop the price. I expect as BHM says there will be some crap buyers. I also didn't know about the 20% fee. Might just kill it off and sell it cheap

@Nick M.K. you're a genius! Thank you!

I'd gladly pay, Casper but it's only 2 services on a 2011 car. If it was FSH I'd pay no problem. It's a Williams dealership, if it was a Sytner I've got loads local to me. Written to the previous owner in the hope they're kind enough to send it to me.

I know now. We got it cheap, bought as a quick small profit car. Impossible to shift.

Called a dealership to find some service history that isn't on the database. Found 2 services, apparently it's now £54 due to the time they spend giving service history to customers? Regardless of if it's a trade or retail enquiry.

Oh ok different one. Will check him out thank you.

Who's your BMW guy? He might be the same as ours.

Yeah mk6. I know what you mean, but still...for a cheap runaround you'd think someone would want it. Might auction it off on eBay.

Thank you, I'll check them out. Also need a good mechanic in the Walsall/Birmingham/Bromsgrove area if you know one!

LIKE! Especially the price part! Got a silver 2008 Fiesta 1.6 Ghia 76k. Had it since March. Started at 2500, had a couple of bites. It's now at 1695 and nothing. Even when I accepted "best price" they never showed. Sick of the damn thing.

You seem like a sound guy, Casper. It's good having you here.