BHM 994 Posted December 18, 2017 I wouldn’t say 10% private with the remaining 90% being dodgy on eBay - there are plenty of genuine traders describing vehicles accurately. My car’s aren’t brand new but neither do I describe them as such. I trust you’re not holding up every advertiser on AT being whiter then white! I know of two “proper” pitches who advertise on there & they go through more Blu-Tak than me hiding dashboard bulbs. I’m not on Facebook but the couple of times my better half has shown me the ads many did look suspicious to me. Gumtree & Shpock. What do you expect from sites advertised as bargain basement & “Boot sale app”? On reading an advert & after a phone call I think if you trust your gut you’ll be fine. Personally I got sick years ago trying to source stock because every private seller I visited seemed to be a lying twat hiding faults hoping to shaft another private buyer - I trusted my gut & now only buy out of the trade unless it’s a p/x. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grant8064 219 Posted December 18, 2017 On 18/12/2017 at 1:20 PM, BHM said: I wouldn’t say 10% private with the remaining 90% being dodgy on eBay - there are plenty of genuine traders describing vehicles accurately. My car’s aren’t brand new but neither do I describe them as such. My bad...I meant if you took the 'private' ads as a whole that are online I reckon about 10% to be ACTUALLY private and 90% to be traders purporting to be 'private'. There's barely a genuinely private car out there, in our local area anyway. I've no issue with any of the genuine trade advertising anywhere so long as they're advertised as trade. Point in case: guy near us had rented yard, bought junk from auction, threw a bucket of water over it and on sale on facebook. Had over 30 listings at one point...every single advert 'my wifes car is now no longer needed' 'i have got a company car so must sell...' 'moving so in need of quick sale'. All the usual rubbish but people were jumping over themselves to buy from him. Utter scum IMO posing as a private seller. Pays no tax, no VAT, no comebacks and good luck trying to and find him when the brakes fail because he'll be back in the midlands or the desert when you do. Thank fully he was evicted and sold a car to the wrong person judging by the bruises he had last time I saw him but they'll be another. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted December 18, 2017 6 hours ago, trade vet said: I have to disagree.If you want to be successfull buying from auctions but you don’t have the confidence to buy on line,you have to ‘get on your bike’.If you work at it,you will find auctions that regularly have the stuff you want.You may have to travel long distances but it pays dividends.I can think of one guy from Brighton who would buy Motability small autos in the North East.Then there was a North East guy who would only buy manual Motability stuff but needing paintwork from B/bushe etc.When you get it right,you can then just buy your stuff on line,it’s the best thing that has happened for us. have wagon will travel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted December 18, 2017 1 hour ago, twerp said: Take RS Direct in Bristol for example. It seems most of their stock is sourced from enthusiast owners forums and collected by themselves from across the country. Follow their Facebook/Twitter and you can see their pickup up and down the country weekly (and often sold in the same week!) https://www.facebook.com/RSDspecialistcars/ wowsers some deap pockets there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arfur Dealy 823 Posted December 18, 2017 4 hours ago, grant8064 said: My bad...I meant if you took the 'private' ads as a whole that are online I reckon about 10% to be ACTUALLY private and 90% to be traders purporting to be 'private'. There's barely a genuinely private car out there, in our local area anyway. I've no issue with any of the genuine trade advertising anywhere so long as they're advertised as trade. Point in case: Middle Eastern guy near us had rented yard, bought junk from auction, threw a bucket of water over it and on sale on facebook. Had over 30 listings at one point...every single advert 'my wifes car is now no longer needed' 'i have got a company car so must sell...' 'moving so in need of quick sale'. All the usual rubbish but people were jumping over themselves to buy from him. Utter scum IMO posing as a private seller. Pays no tax, no VAT, no comebacks and good luck trying to and find him when the brakes fail because he'll be back in the midlands or the desert when you do. Thank fully he was evicted and sold a car to the wrong person judging by the bruises he had last time I saw him but they'll be another. Grant, show a link and I’ll personally report him to HMRC and Trading Standards. These scumbags give us all a bad name and need to be stopped. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted December 18, 2017 1 hour ago, Arfur Dealy said: Grant, show a link and I’ll personally report him to HMRC and Trading Standards. These scumbags give us all a bad name and need to be stopped. Maybe Not a good idea Arfur ! get someone else to do it. The council guys who probably have to promote diversity might find your complaint racially motivated.HMRC won’t bother unless there are visible assets and funds to go for.They could decide to run a check on you in stead and open a ‘random enquiry ‘, you don’t want one of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted December 18, 2017 I don’t think anyone in (alleged) authority gives a stuff what Johnny Foreigner gets up to. There are easier targets. That means “US” if I need to spell it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 142 Posted December 18, 2017 12 hours ago, trade vet said: I have to disagree.If you want to be successfull buying from auctions but you don’t have the confidence to buy on line,you have to ‘get on your bike’.If you work at it,you will find auctions that regularly have the stuff you want.You may have to travel long distances but it pays dividends.I can think of one guy from Brighton who would buy Motability small autos in the North East.Then there was a North East guy who would only buy manual Motability stuff but needing paintwork from B/bushe etc.When you get it right,you can then just buy your stuff on line,it’s the best thing that has happened for us. I did it a few years ago, spent time driving all over the place looking at badly described shonkers, so decided to stick to 10 mile radius. Nothing worse than spending time and money on goose chases. That said all my VW Transporter searches are national! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted December 18, 2017 1 minute ago, MrC said: That said all my VW Transporter searches are national! thats because youve found your market 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scooby-doo 1 Posted December 19, 2017 On 17/12/2017 at 0:14 PM, BHM said: The trade’s changed quite a lot over the years, in addition to the reputable Asian dealers you’ll no doubt remember from years ago you’ll now find we have the pleasure of hosting many Eastern European dealers on these shores. You’ll find the Romanian, Polish & Lithuanians, not to mention the Bulgarians, Latvians & the occasional Belarusian - let me categorically assure you that all of these nationalities have keenly embraced our traditional values of fair play & common decency in business. You are virtually guaranteed a fair deal and they delight in offering first class cars at second class prices. They are particularly helpful to greedy, gullible trash expecting to ‘nick’ a cheap car & suddenly start trading for BIG BUCKS. However, due to language barriers occasionally you may find that a “Business” advertisement has been inadvertently uploaded as a “Private” advertisement. In order to circumvent this error you may find cars being sold on behalf of a friend/relative/neighbour/the-next-door’s-dog etc. and strange meeting places that look suspiciously like a knackered old unit on an industrial estate although, they are in fact the sellers private address (or should that be the other way round!?!!) I’ve confused myself now so I’m off for a lie down. In my 20 years in the business I have come across plenty of native English car dealers who also 'embrace our traditional values of fair play & common decency in business'. Being a numpty (to put it politely) is not defined by race, faith, colour, gender, sexual orientation, geographical location, place of birth or anything else like that. People who wear Hawaiian shirts however... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted December 19, 2017 ok then buy 10 cars from Birmingham and see how you get on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trade vet 704 Posted December 19, 2017 12 minutes ago, andymc1973 said: ok then buy 10 cars from Birmingham and see how you get on We still buy from Birmingham,we just don’t go there.Mind ,I would not like to buy over 8 year old stuff from down there.If I was buying older stock,like small clean stuff,I would be using West Oxford ! Anyone go there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RH Trading 80 Posted December 19, 2017 I'd steer clear of eBay, I have bought privately before but only to order. did look at ebay and whilst the cars looked very cheap, I didn't trust the people who were selling them and doubt very much they were privates, looked more like traders not wanting to retail, trying to pass on problem cars with no comeback. Noticed a lot of the main franchises round here keeping hold of older stock with more miles than they usually do, this to my mind will be the biggest issue next year. I used to pick up a decent amount of part ex's in the past from local main dealers but its getting less and less and relying more on auction or decent part ex's (unfortunately) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted December 19, 2017 4 hours ago, trade vet said: We still buy from Birmingham,we just don’t go there.Mind ,I would not like to buy over 8 year old stuff from down there.If I was buying older stock,like small clean stuff,I would be using West Oxford ! Anyone go there. Not for a long time. Seemed to be a decent stand up independent auction to me, or at least it was back then. I keep meaning to go back for a look see. The old boy that started it was quite a character! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted December 19, 2017 12 hours ago, scooby-doo said: In my 20 years in the business I have come across plenty of native English car dealers who also 'embrace our traditional values of fair play & common decency in business'. Being a numpty (to put it politely) is not defined by race, faith, colour, gender, sexual orientation, geographical location, place of birth or anything else like that. People who wear Hawaiian shirts however... ABSOLUTELY. As I wrote, I believe the vast variety of nationalities who’ve made the UK their home have “embraced our traditional values etc. etc.” and I’d like to add that I wholeheartedly welcome these people and have found they are an unalloyed joy to conduct business with due to their openhandedness and honesty. Indeed, I’d be more than happy to send someone else’s Granny to buy from them. 11 hours ago, andymc1973 said: ok then buy 10 cars from Birmingham and see how you get on Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scooby-doo 1 Posted December 19, 2017 2 hours ago, BHM said: ABSOLUTELY. As I wrote, I believe the vast variety of nationalities who’ve made the UK their home have “embraced our traditional values etc. etc.” and I’d like to add that I wholeheartedly welcome these people and have found they are an unalloyed joy to conduct business with due to their openhandedness and honesty. Indeed, I’d be more than happy to send someone else’s Granny to buy from them. Almost as much as I’d send a schoolgirl to Rochdale to deal with a certain section of “their” community. Closet racists, they're the funniest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Entwistle 96 Posted December 19, 2017 Whilst we encourage debate and honest opinion on all our forums. We won't accept generalised racism or bigoted comments. I've had to delete some of the comments from this thread for this reason. You are all of course entitled to your views on the world, but we will not accept any comments that are generalisations of race. Please remember, there are many users of this forum from all parts of the world and we should be embracing dealers who do a proper job and help reinforce our industry. Those that are disreputable come from all walks of life, all colours and all countries. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
have a word with the wife 299 Posted December 19, 2017 On 17/12/2017 at 10:57 AM, Grantlfc81 said: Hi guys. Been out of the motor trade for about 12 years but have had heavy experiments in the past. im finding it extremely difficult sourcing good stock. ive seen some lovely vehicles on eBay that I could get cheaper than the advertised price and mark them up. All the best, Grant why would you get them cheaper than the advertised price ? a proper genuine seller selling a car with a fault will "auction" the car, and, in my experience will achieve a good price, and i repeat, a proper genuine seller ! if you cant differentiate between a proper genuine seller and a trader then you need to look again at your plan, sorry, but only if life was that simple ! as recommended, stick to looking within ten miles, gain some viewings, and youll see its just a nightmare, good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lakeside 94 Posted December 20, 2017 I’m not sure where everyone has got this idea that any car cheaper than a dealer or auction must be scrap has come from? Or the fact that every car on eBay must be a dodgy lay-by dealer? I've bought many cars privately off eBay/Facebook/schpock that have been genuine fault free private sale cars at a lot cheaper prices than I could of got them for from auction. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andymc1973 199 Posted December 20, 2017 19 hours ago, Andy Entwistle said: Whilst we encourage debate and honest opinion on all our forums. We won't accept generalised racism or bigoted comments. I've had to delete some of the comments from this thread for this reason. You are all of course entitled to your views on the world, but we will not accept any comments that are generalisations of race. Please remember, there are many users of this forum from all parts of the world and we should be embracing dealers who do a proper job and help reinforce our industry. Those that are disreputable come from all walks of life, all colours and all countries. is that you Mr Blair? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites