Hello and looking for advice

[Sasleeds 0]

Hi guys new to the site I'll start by giving you a bit of back ground on myself.

I've been in the motor trade for 19 years as a painter and own a small mobile repair business, never had much to do with sales other than having to deal with main dealer sales when working in the bodyshops.

I've just moved to a new house were we have quite a bit of off road parking and was looking into buying and selling the odd car as a little side income, was looking into first time buyer/second cars things around the £1k to 2k retail.

I already have trade insurance as i move other people's cars around when working on them.

My main quest is sourcing the cars is there any point going to auction with the cars im looking at or is it better trying to source private deals?

Thanks in advance for any help

Edited October 15, 2018 by Sasleeds
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[trade vet 698]

You must have a lot of contacts at franchised dealers.They are the ones to buy cheapies from.

[Max Branning 149]

Try to source from wherever you can, deals to be had at auction and private just need to do the legwork.

 

[Dave2302 387]

43 minutes ago, trade vet said:

You must have a lot of contacts at franchised dealers.They are the ones to buy cheapies from.

+1

 

32 minutes ago, Max Branning said:

Try to source from wherever you can, deals to be had at auction and private just need to do the legwork.

 

LIKE

[Sasleeds 0]

46 minutes ago, trade vet said:

You must have a lot of contacts at franchised dealers.They are the ones to buy cheapies from.

Sadly not we don't have anything to do with the dealers as they tend not to pay  we concentrate on private customers.

Do you use parkers or anything like that or just see what prices are like for simillar cars in the area and try and work a deal that way?

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

6 minutes ago, Sasleeds said:

Do you use parkers or anything like that or just see what prices are like for simillar cars in the area and try and work a deal that way?

 

NOOOOO

I use CAP, swear by it, webuyanycar.com and tghe large auction houses also use it so it's more relevant than ever. 

Do not look at Parkers and don't always go for the so called Retail Back pricing because you might be missing out on profit.  

[Sasleeds 0]

14 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

NOOOOO

I use CAP, swear by it, webuyanycar.com and tghe large auction houses also use it so it's more relevant than ever. 

Do not look at Parkers and don't always go for the so called Retail Back pricing because you might be missing out on profit.  

Thank you do you use cap for both buying and your selling price?

[Nick M.K. 574]

4 minutes ago, Sasleeds said:

Thank you do you use cap for both buying and your selling price?

Once you use it to buy, it's difficult to disregard it when selling. 

It doesn't account for options so it's best to use a combination of CAP and Autotrader when selling (if you list on AT of course)

[Sasleeds 0]

7 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

Once you use it to buy, it's difficult to disregard it when selling. 

It doesn't account for options so it's best to use a combination of CAP and Autotrader when selling (if you list on AT of course)

Brilliant thank you and another stupid question which cap product do you use?

[Nick M.K. 574]

2 minutes ago, Sasleeds said:

Brilliant thank you and another stupid question which cap product do you use?

I am not sure how to answer this. CAP. The price guide. Online. 

[justina3 518]

I am a tad confused i use two painters both are flat flat out and earning some serious good money, if your have a skill such as yours why you want to move over into sales confuses me no end, it seems every man and his dog sees the grass being greener over the other side, trust me when you get over to the other side its either astra turf of you need glasses.

 

[Sasleeds 0]

6 minutes ago, justina3 said:

I am a tad confused i use two painters both are flat flat out and earning some serious good money, if your have a skill such as yours why you want to move over into sales confuses me no end, it seems every man and his dog sees the grass being greener over the other side, trust me when you get over to the other side its either astra turf of you need glasses.

 

We are flat out usually I work 7 days a week sometimes, but sometimes we have spare afternoons or days and it doesn't hurt to try and make a bit extra 

[trade vet 698]

11 minutes ago, Sasleeds said:

We are flat out usually I work 7 days a week sometimes, but sometimes we have spare afternoons or days and it doesn't hurt to try and make a bit extra 

If you are doing mobile bodywork stuff like scratched bumpers and small locals,I agree with Justin.If you are any good you should be in constant demand.We know a guy who spends a day doing 2 or three for us on our premises and gets around £400.He is always busy and picks and chooses who he works for.

[EPV 631]

29 minutes ago, Sasleeds said:

We are flat out usually I work 7 days a week sometimes, but sometimes we have spare afternoons or days and it doesn't hurt to try and make a bit extra 

See a similar thread made here the other day mate, it's not something to be fitted in around other things. Let's say you buy and prep a couple, the phone rings 

 

"Can I come and see it in 2 hours?"

Now if you're bang in the middle of a job, which is likely, then no sorry, mr customer, you can't.

And the reality is that selling small cars, fiestas, corsas, for a couple of grand, is that they are ten a penny and people have plenty of choice, meaning that they will go and see another one.

If however you chose to sell miley lumpy estates that had a bit of spec and were wanted by people who needed a large cheap but comfortable shed to ferry the dogs, kids and crap around, they would no doubt wait for you to be available. 

I'm not saying sell miley lumpy estates, I'm saying that might be a better stock profile to suit your daily life.

And yes, buying privately is an excellent way to start. If you can paint, what better than to find a low owner, high mileage, well maintained estate/suv car that needs paint in several panels and buy it cheap and paint it and hoover the shit out of it and take some nice photos and sell for a profit. 

Selling small first time cars is an art I think and needs a pitch to do it.

[NickGCS 14]

2 hours ago, Sasleeds said:

 

Do you use parkers or anything like that or just see what prices are like for simillar cars in the area and try and work a deal that way?

 

We use CAP too alongside this new “Cazana”, I was sceptical at first but they compliment each other very well. Cazana actually lists same spec vehicles for sale and the prices they are up for, allowing you to retail back/and compare against Cap figures to see what everyone else might be bidding!

 

[stockedup! 63]

If you can repair stuff yourself try looking on the salvage auctions, there are some bargains to be had. Take pics of the cars so you can show people what damage they have had to them, be upfront about it. A mate of mine does a few, amazing how little it can take to write a car off, particularly those older in years. Just a thought!

[sparky 274]

2 hours ago, justina3 said:

I am a tad confused i use two painters both are flat flat out and earning some serious good money, if your have a skill such as yours why you want to move over into sales confuses me no end, it seems every man and his dog sees the grass being greener over the other side, trust me when you get over to the other side its either astra turf of you need glasses.

 

Indeed. It's becoming a bit of a theme on here, before you know it we'll have plastic surgeons and barristers wanting a piece of whatever cake is left.

2 hours ago, Sasleeds said:

We are flat out usually I work 7 days a week sometimes, but sometimes we have spare afternoons or days and it doesn't hurt to try and make a bit extra 

Or you could take some time out to smell the roses. FWIW, the suggestion about salvage stuff seems pretty sensible to me.

[lastyboy 23]

2 hours ago, NickGCS said:

We use CAP too alongside this new “Cazana”, I was sceptical at first but they compliment each other very well. Cazana actually lists same spec vehicles for sale and the prices they are up for, allowing you to retail back/and compare against Cap figures to see what everyone else might be bidding!

 

I quite like Cazana as well. Overvalues the odd car by miles but on the whole its good . £35+ VAT a month is a good deal too.