roadside pitch

[little spender 1]

I'm interested in anybody with a roadside pitch or a trading pitch in a estate or area known for selling cars under 3k

my question is do you get many walk in sales ? in these times of internet sales

There's a garage close to me I cant find any online presence

[ASP 1]

I don’t have any first hand experience, but I know from talking to the garage down the road to me, he has no website and advertises nowhere online, yet turns over, at least 3 a week. They are a family run petrol station/MOT testers/repair garage so I assume will rely on customers word of mouth (same family director for the past 30 years)

I spoke to him recently actually, and said that he purposefully avoided the Internet because of customers ability to compare similar cars and their prices. He openly admitted that they are marked up far too high for net advertising. For him, he can mark up a car probably £500-£750 more than I could on the basis that the customer has probably brought their car for MOT’s with him for 20 years, isn’t comparing prices and trusts him with their life! 

[little spender 1]

Thanks ASP that's good info

[Tom 164]

I have a roadside pitch and comfortably sell cars for more than the internet price. 50% of sales come from walk ins/people driving past. 

[ASP 1]

I guess a fair amount of thought needs to go into what you stock. For example, the guy down from me sells odd ball stuff, cars that I can imagine I'd be stuck with for a while. But he's in a small rural village, with plenty of families and older people and they obviously go down well. For me, the first time market works well for me. Plenty of fairly well heeled parents around these parts who don't have a problem spending up to £5000 on a first car for their son/daughter.

Out of interest Tom, do you think the sort of stock you sell through walk on's differs to what you sell through online enquires?

[Tom 164]

Yes the bigger more expensive cars come off the internet, the cheaper cars under £5,000 from walk ins most of the time. 

[little spender 1]

Thanks I'm going to look at a roadside pitch tomorrow it holds about 22 cars outside and 5 inside on the outside of a town, the  rent is a grand a month

the town is a not poor but not rich by any means, affordable rents and cheap morgages id say

I will be selling stuff under 3k

I'm thinking the walkins should pay the rent over the month with a couple of sales a week and the rest can be internet based sales

 

[Tom 164]

Everyone says its all internet based nowadays buts its not. Open forecourts still work very well. 

[sparky 274]

8 hours ago, Tom said:

Everyone says its all internet based nowadays buts its not. Open forecourts still work very well. 

Indeed. As an example a dealer in my town was offered big money to sell his pitch when a new retail park came to town as he was right on the edge of it.  He declined, it was a busy pitch anyway but now he rally is having away through pure footfall. No online presence at all (he never did) and everything is top dollar. In fact i'd say in my area the vast majority are traditional pitches and have little online presence and is often viewed as the short straw by AT reps

[Mojo121 229]

We have a roadside pitch. While walkins are no where near the majority of sales it does offer a nice pick me up from time to time. The sweetest sales are the unexpected ones and as people said you can get a little more. What’s best though is that we often sell the ‘undesirable’ cars we’ve had no interest online for to walk in customers.

With a pitch the size you say it should generate a couple a month.

[little spender 1]

Couple a month !

Id lock the gates and use it purely as a lock up 

Thanks for input

.. I'm still waiting for a call to veiw

[ASP 1]

I don’t have a pitch, but with my margins, a couple a month would pay for rent and rates at the pitch figures you stated. Surely that would make it worth while in itself?

[It's me 615]

49 minutes ago, little spender said:

Couple a month !

Id lock the gates and use it purely as a lock up 

 

Your failing to grasp that a walk in pays more bills,ive had a walk on this morning who.s left a deposit i see it as free advertising and more importantly it was also a referral from a friend of theirs who suggested they came to see me for a car for their son,this is the second referral ive had today,madness to say i would lock the gates

80% of this job is a wait and see game

so you spend your time as best you can where the stock is because customers who phone from adverts have short attention spans and need immediate attention when they arrive vis an advert,hell some might as well have a flashing light on their heads saying im here i here

the traders who prefer to spunk up at the auctions but who are always on the phone are full of bullshit unless they have someone at base who can deal

there was a post yesterday about service history/paperwork etc in a locked office well that pitch may as well shut and the guys get jobs unless it was one of those money fraud pitches that cleanses cash so didnt really want the mushes money

[grant8064 219]

We're a roadside pitch and find it's a mix of online and walk on. Some will simply walk on and buy but the majority will have done a bit of research or found the car online to begin with. I find having both strings is the key. Having no online presence to me just seems crazy these days, it gives you a cheap shop window and backs up your stock on the forecourt.

Get some decent signage done that matches your website logo & colours and make the place look good if you do take it on, nothing too OTT but a pile of batteries and discarded mats in the corner isn't a good first impression. 

[little spender 1]

S&b at 2 a month walkins wouldn't be paying any bill but I get what your saying 

How many cars do you hold and how many sales do you think are walk ins ? You can pm me if you like

I'm just trying to get a few ideas thanks

[It's me 615]

17 minutes ago, little spender said:

S&b at 2 a month walkins wouldn't be paying any bill but I get what your saying 

How many cars do you hold and how many sales do you think are walk ins ? You can pm me if you like

I'm just trying to get a few ideas thanks

hi

no pms from me i stopped mentoring ages ago

with regards 2 a month not paying bills i dont understand you

 

forgot to add walk in customer now paid and gone,im only typing this as i taxed it online for them and saw your post click up

Edited November 6, 2017 by s and b

[ASP 1]

Little Spender, if the rent on the pitch you’re looking at is £1000 a month, how would two sales a month not be worth it? I would have thought that margins smaller than that, you’ll have an uphill battle

[little spender 1]

What I mean is rather than spend 60 hours a week in the lot for for 2 sales a month id rather lock the gates and just use it as a lock up and be there as and when I need to be and work the internet harder

there will be a fair margin on the cars but some cars will be under a grand

id be hoping to do two cars a week off the road not two a month

[Mojo121 229]

How many cars are you expecting to sell a month? 

The top and bottom of it for me is at 30 cars and a £1000 a month rent you should make money as long as you don't rush out and buy a load of shite and you're careful with your advertising spend - working the internet hard (which I interpret as spending more money?) isn't necessarily sound strategy because you don't have a baseline to work from (what can you do with basic advertising? Low cost!).

Aim to get to 30 cars over 3 months. You should be able to sustain yourself with 10 in the first month, making a little loss, then add to it as you go. Trust me, it's better to make a little loss in the first month than to have cars you'll be sick of looking at for three! 

Ultimately everyone does it differently though! Good luck! 

[Tony F 38]

Agree with mojo, just don't rush out and try and stock up too quickly, and try and avoid going too cheap, or you will just store up a load of problems. Other than that, a grand a month is for nothing for a main road site that size. Its a no brainer. Just go for it. Apart from the passing trade, you will also more than earn the rent back just from the walk ins that want to sell their car. Even better if you are close to or on route to a wbac depot.

The only downside is if you have been used to working from yard/internet/ appointment only, is that you will have to be open every day, and have the forecourt manned. But just bear in mind also that customers don't need to make an appointment to visit you with any problems either....they just turn up!!!

good luck mate

 

[little spender 1]

Cheers guys 

I'm hoping to do 4 a week of there with some advertising know it will be up and down 

Good advice on the stocking up I have 7 car's now to get me away im holding back on a couple off as I have no where to put anything yet

Trying to get a viewing on this pitch is the hardest bit .. the guy is just to busy by the sounds of things 

Edited November 7, 2017 by little spender

[trade vet 702]

Could you not share this pitch,that would make it very cheap and you could invest less in stock.I was thinking of someone who might sell vans for instance.Another thing you could do,is check out the demographics for the catchment area.Councils hold all sorts of information like average incomes,employment,home ownership,crime,traffic flow and plenty of other stuff that might help.It could be available on line.Where is this pitch or what is and how far is the nearest big town,someone on here may know a bit more about the area.