Which auction?

[synergy 1]

Hi guys,

New to the forum and just finding my way round. A bit of background. I trade on a part time basis doing 1-2 cars a month. My main go to is BCA. What are the other go to places that people use and how do they compare to BCA.

Thanks

 

[EPV 631]

Its a secret. 

[Rory RSC 596]

Newsagent windows from postcards. Best deals are there. 

[synergy 1]

friendly lot on here lol.. 

[EPV 631]

Sorry, were you expecting to just pop in and nick a few pearls of wisdom for FA?

Welcome to the forum.

[synergy 1]

Just here to learn the trade, we all started from somewhere. Didn't mean any harm. 

Thanks for the welcome. 

[David Horgan 564]

1 hour ago, synergy said:

Hi guys,

New to the forum and just finding my way round. A bit of background. I trade on a part time basis doing 1-2 cars a month. My main go to is BCA. What are the other go to places that people use and how do they compare to BCA.

Thanks

 

All depends on what your direction is really , what age , price , type , sports , starter cars , family cars , estates , man or auto , blue or red ,big or little , fast or slow ,  7 seater , 4x4 , vans ,need to find a direction your happy with first i reckon , then  stock comes from various sources and after a while you will get the feel . 

Some buy private , some hate auction , some buy from dealers , ebay , online auction , all very different 

One thing for sure there isn't a one rule one answer fits all and if there was no body will tell you .

 

[Rory RSC 596]

Car dealer magazine have just launched an online digital guide which is worth a purchase.
 

 

[EPV 631]

41 minutes ago, synergy said:

Just here to learn the trade, we all started from somewhere. Didn't mean any harm. 

Thanks for the welcome. 

Manheim are similar to BCA.  Where are you based? 

[synergy 1]

Midlands, Solihull. 

Yes I've heard about manheim. Was considering signing up to them too.

 

[EPV 631]

They’re very similar really, probably best to pick one and stick with them, that way can move up the membership ladder and reduce your buyer fees. 

[AutoJacob 34]

BCA is the go to for most traders but not much point bothering with auctions for 2 cars a month. You need to be doing 10 a month atleast to make auctions worthwhile as you may as well go and buy privately.

I have 16 cars in stock currently and go auction once a week dependant on how busy we are.

[EPV 631]

38 minutes ago, AutoJacob said:

BCA is the go to for most traders but not much point bothering with auctions for 2 cars a month. You need to be doing 10 a month atleast to make auctions worthwhile as you may as well go and buy privately.

I have 16 cars in stock currently and go auction once a week dependant on how busy we are.

Yes and no, not a bad way to learn I think, couple a month for a few months until you have the hang of it etc 

[Lakeside 94]

5 hours ago, synergy said:

Midlands, Solihull. 

Yes I've heard about manheim. Was considering signing up to them too.

 

I’m not far from you. We use BCA, Measham and Walsall mainly. Walsall tends to be cheaper but measham usually has the better stock. We used to use Castle Brom a fair bit until it closed.

Recently started watching Perry Barr online and prices havnt seamed that bad but never bought from there and Wolverhampton’s a bit far out for us although we have nicked a couple over the years.

[Marc 6]

I only sell 3 or 4 month. I've bought private and auction. Auctions appear quite expensive but private buying is a right royal pain in the ass. Biggest con merchants out are the private seller. I'm 80 percent auction buyer now.

Every car has faults but at least the ones from auction are the ones the previous owner was honest enough not to try and flog on to some poor soul. The last private sale I went to the car had serious oil leaks,rear discs corroded, back window didn't work, needed a control arm etc etc and this seller.. A lady prison officer had it motd 2weeks earlier with one advisory!! Of coarse they go on auto trader valuation and think there fkd up 07plate is worth every penny 

[Lakeside 94]

3 minutes ago, Marc said:

 

Every car has faults but at least the ones from auction are the ones the previous owner was honest enough not to try and flog on to some poor soul. 

Unless it’s UKCGR/Pendragon.....

[twerp 69]

11 minutes ago, Lakeside said:

I’m not far from you. We use BCA, Measham and Walsall mainly. Walsall tends to be cheaper but measham usually has the better stock. We used to use Castle Brom a fair bit until it closed.

Recently started watching Perry Barr online and prices havnt seamed that bad but never bought from there and Wolverhampton’s a bit far out for us although we have nicked a couple over the years.

Similar stomping ground + Wolves + Notts + Perry Barr

Have you ever made it to Fleet auctions in Coalville ?

Small selection, but on when the big houses are running. Never been personally

[Lakeside 94]

18 minutes ago, twerp said:

Similar stomping ground + Wolves + Notts + Perry Barr

Have you ever made it to Fleet auctions in Coalville ?

Small selection, but on when the big houses are running. Never been personally

I havnt been to fleet auction but another dealer mate used it a lot,  he used to rave about it to be fair but I’ve never looked into them.

[Rory RSC 596]

12 hours ago, twerp said:

Similar stomping ground + Wolves + Notts + Perry Barr

Have you ever made it to Fleet auctions in Coalville ?

Small selection, but on when the big houses are running. Never been personally

Never heard of the fleet auctions there do you have any more info?

[Tim H 16]

There you go :

https://www.fleetauctiongroup.com/

[twerp 69]

I'm going to regret mentioning this... 

[synergy 1]

Thanks for the replies guys. Some useful insight on where to source. I've been doing it for about 18 months now and it's been tough to begin with but i'm getting the hang of it and it helps building up your business contacts and helping each other out. 

What I've realised so far is it's a bit of an unpredictable business. Some cars you think will sell quick just sit there and others you're not so hopeful on go like hot cakes. But networking with like minded people helps you grow. I hope to continue contributing my two pence worth to the forum and learning from it too. 

Cheers.

[Lakeside 94]

I take it you are working from home? 

If so cars that sell well on pitches don’t sell well from your doorstep in my expierience, I made that mistake at the start buying standard run of the mill stuff like Astra’s, Focus, Corsa’s, Fiesta’s etc. Problem is those sort of cars fetch top money at auction and only really tend to appeal to punters who want them on finance at £20 a week.

You need to find a niche market that most dealers won’t touch at auction but sell well from home, high mileage newer models or older prestige is working for us at the min as most customers like the fact they can have a flashy car on the drive for half the price most dealers would charge for a lower mileage example, the difference is the neighbors can’t see the miles on the clock. 

[CCC 31]

On 11/4/2018 at 2:18 PM, Lakeside said:

I take it you are working from home? 

If so cars that sell well on pitches don’t sell well from your doorstep in my expierience, I made that mistake at the start buying standard run of the mill stuff like Astra’s, Focus, Corsa’s, Fiesta’s etc. Problem is those sort of cars fetch top money at auction and only really tend to appeal to punters who want them on finance at £20 a week.

You need to find a niche market that most dealers won’t touch at auction but sell well from home, high mileage newer models or older prestige is working for us at the min as most customers like the fact they can have a flashy car on the drive for half the price most dealers would charge for a lower mileage example, the difference is the neighbors can’t see the miles on the clock. 

Hi,

Another newbie here. I'll do a full intro in the next few days (in reality a list of all the mistakes we've made) but this forum has been great for realising we're (my business partner and myself) aren't alone in making these errors in the first few months of trading. 

The best bit has been learning we're not alone in thinking that auction prices at the moment are way over where they should be. Though that's not stopped us buying over priced stock though.

The words above (quoted) were also great to read as we'd reached that conclusion, we need to find stuff that will work well within a small dealer environment, we'd considered a pitch briefly but costs round here are eye watering, finding storage at reasonable prices has been hard enough.

Anyway I'd like to thank all the posters for the wealth of knowledge that's to be found here and now I've moved from lurking to posting then I promise to try to contribute a bit too.

[Deon 0]

I new to the game too. I've bought a couple of cars from Manheim, I have nothing to compare them to, but they seem ok. I'm now looking at trying to buy privately local to me.