Low offers

[Max Branning 149]

I have been inundated with emails lately all seem to be asking the same thing " Whats the best price you can do on this car " When replying unless i am prepared to knock stupid amounts off the price they just do not seem interested.

I have always had these type emails but lately seem to be getting them every day, is anyone else experiencing this?

I wonder if it is just a sign that there is no money around at the moment and maybe this so called slowdown in the economy is really starting to bite people?

Sales seem to be dropping off as late but the enquiries are coming in thick and fast only they just all want something for nothing !

 

 

[justina3 518]

I have seen this also, i just reply your more than welcome to pop down and make us an offer, 7 times out of 10 they dont bother, the price starvers i can do without anyway so no loss from what i have seen of them there the worst possible customer to have. 

 

[Jamie Edmonds 28]

As a private seller this is even worse - last time I sold a car in the UK it was the cheapest in the country for spec, age and miles and sold in two days but I still got 18 calls and texts from people offering 50% of the asking price.  I strongly believe this is what has driven the growth of the likes of WBAC - dealing with these types of idiots takes so much time and energy it isn't worth the hassle.

 

Don't confuse them with genuine buyers, most are just trying their luck and will only respond if you accept a stupid offer which would allow them to run the car for six months and sell it for a profit after that.

[It's me 615]

I ignore them because otherwise i find i get even more spam from them asking silly questions when all the detail is already in the advert anyway,ive yet to make a sale to an idiot,am i doing something wrong?

[GreenGiant 287]

Why is it that nearly all of these 'enquiries' (separate debate about definition needed) end up going nowhere?

It's got to the point where I don't even reply to the obvious timewasters any more; it's just not worth it.

Remember the Golden Equation of Motor Retailing (and there are some of you out there who should pay attention here):

Maximum Profit = Minimum Aggro

The reverse of this is also sadly and painfully true.

[Max Branning 149]

What annoys me is if you have a car advertised at say £3995 and they email you saying that they can only get their hands on £3000 then surely they should just be looking at cars for £3000 rather than expecting you to feel sorry for them and cut your own throat !

I had one recently looking at a £3295 car wanted to give me 1500 and an x reg scenic ffs.

[Tom 164]

Some people will genuinely come in and just buy a car, others will try to knock loads of money off because they don't really want the car unless it's cheap. I dont deal with the latter. 

[James Bush 95]

I've been seeing an influx of these and I personally think its the Google generation who sit and find something they want at the cheapest possible price. I find it hard to deal with them, always explain we'll never be the cheapest but will probably be the best prepped cars they'll find with the best aftercare service, 9 out of 10 I never hear from again.

I'd be interested to see the stats from autotrader, ebay, motors etc on how many cars an individual enquires on. I would hazard a guess that the ones that enquire on 1 or 2 cars buy and the ones that enquire on 4, 5, 6++++ are still driving around in their £150 scenic!! 

[SC Derby 259]

Just had eBay enquiry offering £1800 on a £2490 - 'for a quick cash sale'.

 

lol.

[GreenGiant 287]

Shouldn't be a problem soon - there's a fine (!) article in What Car telling Joe Public how to buy a car at auction, because that's where those nasty dealers buy their cars from and anyone can do it. They only sell them on to you for a vast profit, so you can 'cut out the middle man' buy buying from the auction direct. I sh*t you not. So that's where the VoucherCode lowballers will all be heading. Hooray!

Here you go:

buff.ly/1SruLtT

[Phil H 124]

for years joe public have had it rammed down their throat about never paying full price as we have a vast margin what they fail to tell joe public is that we have to put a vast margin across the car to pay for all of the extortionate fees associated with buying and selling cars, buyers fees, advertising fees, vat etc etc makes me laugh, 'save money by going direct to the auctions and cutting out the middle man', is it not the auctions who have become the biggest middlemen of all by buying and selling their own stock whilst flouting the consumer rights act with their cash for cars and auction operations.

[Steve92 80]

It's only cars they seem to want reducing, they don't barter with tescos or offer 50% off their iPhone from the car phone warehouse. We do get it where they want to get retail money for their car and pay trade price for our car.

this week we had someone say our £21500 a6 was only worth £19500 because he had done on online valuation I bet he never did the same valuation on his car.

i still reply to every low ball offer as some are genuinely trying it on, some still come off.

[countryman 13]

Received this 'enquiry' on a car this week that I have advertised for £11,495:

' Hi there would you consider an offer of £8000 cash live local genuine buyer thanks '

Do I win?

[SC Derby 259]

How on earth can you claim to be a genuine buyer and in the same breath as for that amount off?

It's crackers!

[Steve92 80]

8 hours ago, countryman said:

Received this 'enquiry' on a car this week that I have advertised for £11,495:

' Hi there would you consider an offer of £8000 cash live local genuine buyer thanks '

Do I win?

You should have said yes and added then we can take credit card plus 2% For  the remaining  £3495 

Edited April 30, 2016 by Steve92

[bestprice4cash 20]

I've seen low ball offers work when buying less desirable cars from motivated private sellers so I can understand a bit where the mentality comes from.  What I don't get is why people expect to pay trade for their new car and receive top retail price for their trade in.  

It is definitely the google generation though.  Emails offering 50 - 60% of the advertised price are not uncommon in my experience. 

Edited May 2, 2016 by bestprice4cash

[bestprice4cash 20]

On 29/04/2016 at 6:51 PM, GreenGiant said:

Shouldn't be a problem soon - there's a fine (!) article in What Car telling Joe Public how to buy a car at auction, because that's where those nasty dealers buy their cars from and anyone can do it. They only sell them on to you for a vast profit, so you can 'cut out the middle man' buy buying from the auction direct. I sh*t you not. So that's where the VoucherCode lowballers will all be heading. Hooray!

Here you go:

buff.ly/1SruLtT

I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of 'how to' piece is actually sponsored by the auction companies themselves.   They really seem to want to attract private buyers and why not?  It is funny when you see they pay retail money and retain 0 consumer protection because it must be better than going to a nasty car dealer who dares to try and make a profit!

[GreenGiant 287]

Trouble is, when it all goes tits up and the hidden fault on the car they bought manifests itself a week later, they come banging our door down demanding instant attention, loan cars, zero cost and then give us a crappy CSI score as a thankyou. And we have to just bend over and take it!

Gotta love the Motor Trade.

I think it's getting near the time when we should stop whining and start doing something.

Phil?

 

 

[Phil H 124]

2 hours ago, GreenGiant said:

Gotta love the Motor Trade.

I think it's getting near the time when we should stop whining and start doing something.

Phil?

Couldn't agree more GG the time is coming we just need a few more like minded dealers like ourselves who've had enough and genuinely want to make the trade better. Without divulging exactly (and make it easier for the big and greedy to try and combat our measures) how collectively the balance of power in our industry is well and truly going to change and lye with us hard working, risk taking, respectable dealers who play by the rules and aim to give 100% customer satisfaction.  

For those of you want to do something and get involved in making our jobs easier here's a taster of one of the 3 things that we'll be launching very soon. 

http://screencast.com/t/aXxsTdATiBa 

Find out how you can OWN a part of this and a lot more by joining the independent dealers section on Jim's forum www.twittercardealers.ning.com 

It's time to collectively do something and stop moaning, time to prove to people that WBAC doesn't stand for some dodgy car buying website but for WeBringAboutChange.co.uk - WBAC.co.uk for short. Just one of a few websites which are ran by respectable dealers who are committed to changing the motor trade for the better whilst slashing many of our costs. 

Join GG and other big names in the industry who've already shown their support by clicking here