New member wants to start trading

[nedtom 0]

Hi All,

I'm 35 & currently working full time, but I hate my job, for many reasons, but mostly as there is no prospect to move up the ladder and earn a proper salary where I am now. 

I've previously worked as a new car sales exec for franchised dealers and have 2.5yrs under my belt. Not the most experience ever but a good grounding I feel.

My gut feeling is to go into the £8k-12k market and deal in semi premium models; VAG, VOLVO, BMW, Lexus. Going for that market could yield serious buyers, with a good margin in the cars. If I was able to make £1k per unit profit, 2 cars a month would see me earning more than I do now.

I've seen lots of posts on here warning against trading (cheapies) from home, as the buyers can be quite troublesome at times, as can the cars; but I've good off road parking space(room for 3 cars easily) and in this marketplace if I buy right I think it could be happier days than with cheaper cars. I know a mechanic very well who would charge me £20 p/h for any remedial mechanical works, but i don't have a body shop to go to. 

My issues mainly revolve around actually getting the cars to sell in the first place. Having been looking at some auction sites (actual car auctions not ebay), and checking the reserve prices against private cars on autotrader, the reserves are the same price. So how do any of you make any money buying so high from the block?

Other issues are getting trade plates, insurance and warranty cover; and actually getting into the car auctions in the first place.

If there are any experienced traders who can offer me any advice on this I'd be much obliged, if I'm p!ssed aiming at that market/margin I'll not take it personally & would rather an experienced head told me straight than jump into the unknown and lose ten grand on a donkey of an idea.

Many thanks,

Neil.

 

[Mark101 536]

13 hours ago, nedtom said:

Hi All,

I'm 35 & currently working full time, but I hate my job, for many reasons, but mostly as there is no prospect to move up the ladder and earn a proper salary where I am now. 

I've previously worked as a new car sales exec for franchised dealers and have 2.5yrs under my belt. Not the most experience ever but a good grounding I feel.

My gut feeling is to go into the £8k-12k market and deal in semi premium models; VAG, VOLVO, BMW, Lexus. Going for that market could yield serious buyers, with a good margin in the cars. If I was able to make £1k per unit profit, 2 cars a month would see me earning more than I do now.

I've seen lots of posts on here warning against trading (cheapies) from home, as the buyers can be quite troublesome at times, as can the cars; but I've good off road parking space(room for 3 cars easily) and in this marketplace if I buy right I think it could be happier days than with cheaper cars. I know a mechanic very well who would charge me £20 p/h for any remedial mechanical works, but i don't have a body shop to go to. 

My issues mainly revolve around actually getting the cars to sell in the first place. Having been looking at some auction sites (actual car auctions not ebay), and checking the reserve prices against private cars on autotrader, the reserves are the same price. So how do any of you make any money buying so high from the block?

Other issues are getting trade plates, insurance and warranty cover; and actually getting into the car auctions in the first place.

If there are any experienced traders who can offer me any advice on this I'd be much obliged, if I'm p!ssed aiming at that market/margin I'll not take it personally & would rather an experienced head told me straight than jump into the unknown and lose ten grand on a donkey of an idea.

Many thanks,

Neil.

 

Hi Neil

Obviously the higher the car value the higher the margin but also the risks.  Rather than aim for £1k per car, work out a margin to work to (it's how I operate). (Take your value and divide by 0.8)

IMO - £1k out of a £10k car is not enough. You should be aiming at 20% margin from £5k and above - this is my opinion and I am sure someone will hammer me for saying this.

Yours costs will be:

Hammer Price + Indemnity + Assured + PDI + Service + MOT? + Warranty + VAT Margin + Transport + Fixed Overheads and only then + Your Margin.

This will inevitably put your car above the cost above the cheapest on other websites.  My advice, don't try and be the cheapest - prep right and use your skills to sell.  A sensible buyer, the type we all like to deal with, will not mind paying a little more for the right car and they will buy from you. 

The only way to sell cars cheaply is to buy cheaply, often meaning lower quality, higher miles and less prep = more screamers - that's not where I want to be, especially as a home trader myself.

Sell fewer, sell smart - that way, you will not be a busy fool.

Also, I think anything much north of £5k and you need to be thinking about finance and/or card payments - perhaps another issue trading from home.