Max Branning

Maybe you should stick the car in your name and sell it to WBAC ? Extra 1100 quid?

Why on earth are you diving into a 30 car forecourt with no experience? Recipe for disaster if you ask me, sorry to sound harsh but whats wrong with getting a bit of experience and then expanding rather than diving in at the deep end in a climate that is not exactly great at the moment?

What is the car? How much did it sell for? Did you PDI the car before sale? Do you know how much mileage has been covered since it left you?

Time and space has to be factored in. If i have several bangers sat in the way rather than spending hours prepping them and dealing with inevitable issues i would rather sell them straight on to another trader and make a few quid in the process.

As long as your customers have not got to traipse through piles of horse shit to get to the cars !

Nice roadside sales plots cost a lot of money. The reason more and more people are trading from home / unit / farm is simply lower overheads. One bloke on here said he has 10 lock up garages probably rented off the council ! Try getting planning for that as a car sales !

Try and find a local trader that is happy to deal in the dog end of the market. There is plenty out there ! If you can nick 50 - 100 quid on each car and he takes the lot, then happy days surely ?

Good news !

If the unit is known to be used for motor trade use as in repairs then you should be ok, the problem starts when you line 6 or 7 cars up in front of the unit with sale boards in the windows, then you are obviously operating as a "car sales"

Surely cleaning windows is easier money than car dealing ? Much lower overheads for a start !

I take it this ground has permission for retail use ? If not the council will close you down fairly swiftly !

you could always stick the pair on ebay sell them as a trade sale. Make sure they take both cars and get a proper trade receipt. If you can out them both at once and nick £100 on them then all is good. Maybe even make a new contact to take all the dog stuff off you in future? I have a bloke now that i ring with anything for under £500 he will buy virtually anything as long as there is still a bit of profit for him at the end. Met him off ebay when i sold a p/x on there, nice and easy i try and nick £50 - £100 on anything i offer him.

I do still discount on cars as i believe its part of the banter of dealing. I usually work so much in to the price to start with that i can work with. I must admit i am always disappointed with customers that do not try and get a bit off as i will negotiate on virtually anything ! I managed to get £200 knocked off some carpet last year in the shop after the salesman told me it was just not possible sir, manager comes out and after a bit of tip tapping on his computer he managed it somehow ! If the customer drives away feeling like they have saved money and got a great deal they will be less likely to come back moaning, that is my opinion but i am sure others will disagree. Any customer that gets aggressive in any way is told to leave, luckily it does not happen often.

The problem with doing this is even if you are able to find someone who owns a plot of land who is willing to do it on this basis, then you have absolutely no security for your business. For example Mr land owner says "sure fill it with cars mate and just chuck me £50 a car sold" Now you go out and stick 10/15/20 cars on the pitch, business starts ticking along nicely and then Mr land owner changes his mind and says he wants his land back ! Where does this leave you ? If you are going to do it properly from premises then you really need some security by way of a lease agreement, it is possible to get a flexible lease arrangement with most landlords especially on industrial units if you need flexibility. As said earlier though unless trading from home is causing a nightmare with lack of space / problems with neighbours / wife threatening to leave you etc etc then i would stay as you are and earn as much as possible while you have low overheads. Selling 2 or 3 cars a month from home may well make you as much net profit as doing 10 a month from a pitch.

If trading from home is working and you are making money then why not just carry on as you are for now? Dont be fooled into thinking that operating from a pitch suddenly makes you a "proper" trader. It can really hurt when you have a £1000-£2000 a month to find for rent, yes you will turn over more money by holding more stock but your net profit may well be no better off than as a small outfit from home. And that is all that really matters.

Depends where in the country you operate. A unit in south east big enough for 10 cars may well cost £2000 + a month where as the same size space in the north may cost £500.

Things never change - Have just spent the last 3 days having an email conversation with a chap over a motor he is really interested in. Obviously does not like to talk on the phone and get all the questions over and done with in 5 minutes. After having answered all mechanical questions, sorting out a rough price for his p/x, sending extra photos of interior and engine bay that he asked for.... He finally sends one last email " Whats your postcode so i can see where you are" Yes Yes Yes you guessed it - i am too far away. Do love a timewaster !

Doing a price comparison is sensible but when taking in a p/x it is good to sit the customer down do a HPI check on the trade in - and then a CAP valuation of their p/x and show them what it books at for trade. I have had to pick people up off the floor several times after showing them what their car is really worth to the trade !!

Im not on a plan as far as i know ! When i originally opened an account with them these were the prices quoted and have been the same ever since, they may have increased prices slightly i am not sure on exact figures as they do not provide a statement for some reason. I do not pay more than around £1 for a basic ID check + CAP valuation. Yes it jumps to around £4 for full HPI check, but i have no minimum requirements at all. Like i said speak to them and see what they can do, The prices you have been quoted seem a bit extortionate. Maybe some other traders can confirm what deal they are on with HPI...?

I would talk to them and tell them you will be doing maybe 20 price checks and a lot of HPI checks and see what they can offer you. I only pay around 40p for a basic vehicle check and then another 40p or so for each valuation and have been doing this for years?

Sign up for a HPI trade account, you can then do price checks with either CAP/Glasses or both at a small charge each search. You do not have to do a full hpi check in order to do a price check. you can do a basic vehicle hpi search which costs around 40p and then i think its around 40p again for CAP valuation.

Do you not fancy actually dealing in cars yourself? If you have contacts as in mechanic friends etc and also you have a pot of cash to get started then i would of thought it makes sense to just take the plunge and start dealing. Brokering i cannot see any sustainable income from, unless as i said earlier you are offering a service to certain groups of people. To get to that level i would think could take years, where as starting out as a dealer could be profitable almost instantly.

For bread and butter stuff this wont work, no one is going to pay you to find them a ford focus. It is just too easy to go online and find it yourself. If you are looking at the prestige or classic market then it may be viable, but you would really need to know your stuff and have contacts. If i was buying a 200 grand ferrari why would i come to you? what can you offer me ?

Every dealer is different. What works for one does not necessarily work for another. Only you can decide if the cost is worthwhile after trying it out for several months. After say 6 months you should definitely know if its producing a good enough result or not and can then say for sure. You can always cancel it. If the cost they have quoted you seems affordable then give it a go...

I think taking card payments more than pays for itself in the long haul. I have had many situations where people have test driven and then had a little hum and har and then just looked at the wife and said shall we...ok stuff it yeah stick it on the credit card ! I am pretty sure if those customers went away to think about it and get cash out of the bank they would change their mind.