Max Branning

Unit just come up to let nearby i may be interested in to do a few higher end vehicles from...very good location on a very nice clean roadside estate...nothing has been available here for years. Only problem is its not massive around 1000 sqft, with frontage for 2 spaces...just wondering how many vehicles could fit in realistically ? im guessing no more than 4 or 5 ? anyone operating out of anything this sort of size ?

You would need to be picking up / delivering a lot of cars to warrant the cost of a truck, plus the time involved is time could be spent buying and selling, unless your employing someone and again more costs... And unless your only specialising in small stuff most 3.5t trucks are useless !

Try Anyvan, i used these now a few times and excellent service. Vehicles are loaded not driven and full tracking on where car is at all times !....i would avoid tradeplaters like the plague after bad experiences, they just do not care for any vehicle and will rag it about use every last bit of fuel overnight doing 100 extra miles. I would rather pay an extra £60 quid and have a bit of peace of mind.

Pop the bonnet, be wary of anything that has a broken bonnet release ! When the bonnets up and a small crowd gather round shout " headgasket " then slam the bonnet down and walk away....might put a few privates off !

Dont feel like you have to keep replying back and forth, this could go on and on. You said your bit in your email and that should be it. Sometimes trying to help being reasonable just causes you more grief. Why not just call the guys bluff and make no further contact...leave the ball in his court.

someone selling 3 or 4 cars a month from home with a 4-500 margin per unit could quite easily be making as much if not more than a small 10 car pitch looking for usual margins when you consider overheads.

I personally would not contact them anymore. You did more than enough by paying a specialist garage to remedy any faults and now more problems have come up. This is an 11 year old car sold for banger money really... whats to say you spend another few hundred quid on it and next month something else goes wrong ? If they contact you then tell them its not your responsibility anymore and if they want to pursue matters then put it in writing. Do not ring them and try to be reasonable as they will take that as you are paying ! My bet is they will not pursue.

In those examples i would be inclined to offer to help out in some way, maybe not full cost but would ask for a copy of repair bill from a vat registered garage to be emailed to me. I would then decide if works and price was reasonable and offer compo from there. Just putting the shutters down and saying wear and tear just leads to grudges and ultimately bad reviews...for the chaps who are building there businesses on the back of online videos etc reviews are essential so keeping a few people happy will pay dividends me thinks...

The problem with warranties is your typical buyer does not understand the law around buying used goods. Some still believe that a used car always comes with 3 months warranty by law, some understand the CRA but the majority do not. When they ask what warranty does it come with they just need reassurance that it is not "sold as seen " and as soon as they drive away any fault is now their problem. Most buyers would feel really well protected with a 3 month insurance backed warranty but we all know this is not worth the paper. It really is up to you how you run your business and how you want to deal with aftercare...remember a warranty is not required by law. I do believe that since the days of online reviews dealers in general are more likely to help buyers out when previously they would not....a £100 repair bill rather than a terrible review could be priceless.

Yes but was you then charged £40 for fuel, and the car delivered next day with an extra 200 miles on clock ??

Yes someone else mentioned anyvan, just had a quick look at website seems easy enough to load job. Quoted £116 for a 70 mile job which i suppose is about right, Would rather pay a bit extra to be fair than have a cowboy turn up with a rusty old transit....

My usual chap has just retired, been excellent service for last 2 years never let me down once. I previously stuck them on Movex and let the quotes come in, then check reviews and chance the car would arrive safely ! was ok had a few minor let downs but overall was not too bad. Who are you guys using ? Any recommended companies ? Or is Movex still the best ?

On interior i used G101 for a long time but cheapskate option is well watered down fairy liquid in a spray bottle...will clean off most things.

Ok fair enough, i suppose as long as you can see proof its left their account you are ok...I usually check my account and make sure its sitting there before letting them go, luckily i have never had a delay but guess its only a matter of time. Bank transfer is definitely the way forward, most people seem savvy with it these days.

I agree but what happens if a customer drives 200 miles to you then does the transfer, but it does not hit your account straight away? I know it is usually instant but there must be delays sometimes ?

He should of checked with you first before going ahead with any repair. Depends a lot on how much grief you want to deal with really, a lot of traders would just refuse to pay out, i personally would probably just offer half towards the repair which is roughly what it would of cost you to sort it yourself. Customer will probably be happy and then move on.

I do not agree at all. Messers are part of the game, always have been and always will. But certainly not 80% of email enquiries are from dreamers and timewasters. We are now in the age when an email is seen as a viable means of contact, solicitors, accountants, estate agents even doctors email day in day out, there is no need to pick up the phone for general enquiries these days. If you sent me that cut and paste message as a potential customer i would certainly not want to deal with you.

Not everyone on ebay is an idiot though. The way people post on here its like every single buyer that enquires from ebay is a time waster when from my own experience its not true. Yes you will get messers, thats part of the game, but how long does it take to reply to a message or email, maybe a couple of minutes and you have done everything possible to build confidence in your potential customer. This then either leads to a sale or it leads to nothing, at least you have done your bit. Just putting a barrier up telling people to ring only is not a good way to build initial confidence from a customer and more likely they will go somewhere else.

Reading some of these posts i cannot understand why you would want to put a barrier up for a potential customer. Yes a lot of email enquiries are no goes but a lot lead to sales. Not everybody wants to talk on the phone, some people get nervous or are worried that a dealer will try and talk them in to something, just because we are confident doing deals over the phone does not mean everyone is. I will always respond to an email and try and answer as many questions as possible, normally ending with "if you would like to discuss in more detail feel free to give me a call " I have sold many many cars off the back of email conversations so blocking people makes no sense to me.

Some people just cannot handle a conversation on the phone anymore. They want all enquiries done via email or text message actually speaking to someone is just so old fashioned now. When a customer turns up and looks sheepish the first thing that often bumbles out of their mouth is "whats the best price" not because they are rude just because they have no idea how to communicate. Out of curiosity though, could you have not valued the p/x by email conversation, asking all the questions needed to value it ?

Buying at auction has always been a gamble, with experience you will learn which cars to avoid and things to watch out for. Unfortunately whether buying live or online you will always be taking a bit of a punt, and without doubt you will lose money on some cars.

£568 for a 20 car package seems a bit harsh. I remember only a couple years ago ebay pro was about £150 a month for 25 car package

If its a nice enough car then just retail it as usual, make sure the buyer is aware that is been accident repaired. Cat d could be as simple as a cracked bumper ! No structural damage so not necessarily a bad car at all. As for price on an 07 its not going to make a massive difference maybe £300 less than a normal one.

If you are vat registered then yes you claim the vat back separately through your vat returns. If you are not vat registered then you would just claim the full cost including vat as an expense.

unless its seagulls. They really do not give a shit about doing a shit.