Why do you mark your cars as SOLD

[Nick M.K. 574]

As per the title: 

Why do some dealers put NOW SOLD on their adverts?

I use a lot of photos and a customer will sometimes ask me to leave the advert running so they can still look at the pictures after they've left their deposit. On those cars I'll write Reserved. The only time I will write that a vehicle is sold is if I have a similar car still in stock or to use the ATs price indicators to my advantage if there is any.

I've always thought that if you leave a car marked as SOLD you are just giving away too much information to your direct competitors and when they identify the good fast sellers they'll be bidding against you at the same auctions for the same stock. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Nick M.K.

[Tom 164]

It's 50/50 yes you're showing other dealers what sells well but, you're also showing potential customers we sell lots of cars look at us!  

[Earunder 69]

Never done it apart from on our website with ClickDealer.  I also don't get it.  Why pay AT to advertise your sold cars?  Why not advertise a few less and have some in reserve for that reason.

There is not too much to give away anymore as everyone (if they actually had the time to) can find out anything anyway.

[Nick M.K. 574]

2 minutes ago, Tom said:

but, you're also showing potential customers we sell lots of cars look at us!  

Would the NOW SOLD make the potential customers not to call you? Would it not be better to have them call you first so you can tell them you've sold one but you have a much much nicer one which you can let them have for a price similar to the first.?

[Tom 164]

5 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

Would the NOW SOLD make the potential customers not to call you? Would it not be better to have them call you first so you can tell them you've sold one but you have a much much nicer one which you can let them have for a price similar to the first.?

Not really they will ring you anyway and ask if you have any others I've found.

[Nick M.K. 574]

3 minutes ago, Earunder said:

There is not too much to give away anymore as everyone (if they actually had the time to) can find out anything anyway.

I do really well out of 3 car models that sell fast and with a very nice margin. I often buy them at ££££ below book in an auction hall full of dealers that don't know what I know. Otherwise why let me buy them so cheap. The models are: now sold of course. 

[Earunder 69]

8 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

I do really well out of 3 car models that sell fast and with a very nice margin. I often buy them at ££££ below book in an auction hall full of dealers that don't know what I know. Otherwise why let me buy them so cheap. The models are: now sold of course. 

It's great finding little niche ones no one else has picked up on yet 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

Why advertise something you cannot sell, you just annoy potential buyers. There's a seller in Cheshire who's website shows 24 in stock but its just pages of sold... when you look at his actual stock its only 6 cars.

[grant8064 219]

We mark ours as sold and then they disappear off the website after 7 days so it's not clogged up with sold stock. The solds get removed from AT, eBay & other feeds automatically so we're only paying to advertise available stock.

I think it creates a bit of demand from people viewing if they see something sold each day, stops them umming and ahhing for weeks on end. Also it's nice stick two fingers up at that time waster from two days earlier that wouldn't commit or tried to chip on price even though you told them you had someone else on it.

Our local rival has 40 odd on his website but only 10 in stock and he's doing it wrong IMO.

[Nick M.K. 574]

25 minutes ago, grant8064 said:

Also it's nice stick two fingers up at that time waster from two days earlier that wouldn't commit or tried to chip on price even though you told them you had someone else on it.

Ah yes, with you on this one. Sometimes said time waster will actually call to enquire again :-)

[EPV 631]

When I started out I only had 3 in stock so  to make myself look “busy” and not Mickey Mouse I marked them as sold. I’ve grown things so they “sold” ones will be phased out. 

[have a word with the wife 299]

put sold in advert and raise the price a grand, competion will follow, expecting a good profit, sheep bahhhhhhhh 

[Ocsltd 133]

38 minutes ago, have a word with the wife said:

put sold in advert and raise the price a grand, competion will follow, expecting a good profit, sheep bahhhhhhhh 

Or drop it a grand and make their's look expensive..... 

[BHM 994]

I do it as my attitude is it shows stock is moving so ‘suggests’ to punters to get a move on & buy before I sell out (If only! ).

It also keeps a few extra adverts ‘live’ as I like to have 16-20 adverts ‘live’, making me look like a proper trader rather than the half-wit I really am. As a one man band if I have a few cars awaiting jobs plus get a sudden rush of customers then I can find I’ve only got single figures of cars which (in my opinion) makes me look more doorstep trader than some of those Gumtree chancers at the block.

Plus, as someone wrote, it’s nice if you’ve shown a car to a punter, you sell it, then they see it. Occasionally it motivates them to buy something else. This happened yesterday, however all it made the tosser do was offer me £1300 for an alternative £1800 car 

[trade vet 702]

When we had a main road pitch,we had big Sold tickets.During the Klondyke years,punters who enquired about sold stuff,we used to offer to do them a favour and put them ‘in the book’ to get flrst chance of the next one. They loved that.Now with AT sometimes we might buy a dozen Astra estates but say we have 27.A few days later change the ad to only 13 left,it does hurry up the punters.

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

Just out of interest Trade Vet, when were the Klondyke years? Was it before I was born? I turned 40 this year.

[trade vet 702]

4 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

Just out of interest Trade Vet, when were the Klondyke years? Was it before I was born? I turned 40 this year.

It’s different for everyone who has been around in this job for years.Most recent Klondyke period for us was 94 to 98 with 2 other periods years earlier.It can be very upsetting for millennial car dealers when the old guys reminisce about ‘the good old days’.

[Lakeside 94]

I do it especially on eBay, as Grant said, just to stick to fingers up at all the low ballers and the “you’ll never get that much for it mate” brigade.

[grant8064 219]

2 hours ago, Lakeside said:

I do it especially on eBay, as Grant said, just to stick to fingers up at all the low ballers and the “you’ll never get that much for it mate” brigade.

It's more satisfying than knocking out something overage or with a massive lump in it!

Few better feelings in the world which probably means I need to improve my sex life or find a new hobby