Newbie intro

[Hargy 0]

Hi folks. I’ve only been on here a couple of weeks and really enjoying the posts. A wee bit about me. I work full time so am one of those dreaded part time home traders (hiss). I always had a passion for cars and like most I used to lose fortunes buying cars for personal use only to trade up too often  

I started trading a bit last year and so far it’s been very successful  I sold about 20 cars making good profit, the only car I lost money on was one bought at auction  lesson learned, no test drive, no buy, I sold it to WEBUYANYCAR because I didn’t want to catch a local buyer.  I’ve started very well this year with a very simple method that’s helped me trade with very little car valuation experience  I use Autotrader used car valuations, I aim for cars that are selling around trade-in value and try to sell at private rates  so far I haven’t had any problems at all. I have a valeting machine and really go into detail to make all cars look their best, then I’ve a really good camera which makes the cars stand out in the ads I Place. I only post on Gumtree and Facebook so no overheads there. the thing is that I sell from my house and my driveway is getting a bit crowded so I’m now looking at renting a unit, say 1000 sq ft so I can prepare the cars in  and maybe store them  I’m looking to take it all away from my house now but that’s really the next step in business  as I said I work full time as a sales rep, earn about £45K with company car so it’d be too big a risk leaving my job  I also use Warrantywise for any car that can qualify for it  I see they don’t get a good review on here  any reasons why?  

Enough about me fellas, just wanted to say hi  

 

[trade vet 704]

2 hours ago, Hargy said:

Hi folks. I’ve only been on here a couple of weeks and really enjoying the posts. A wee bit about me. I work full time so am one of those dreaded part time home traders (hiss). I always had a passion for cars and like most I used to lose fortunes buying cars for personal use only to trade up too often  

I started trading a bit last year and so far it’s been very successful  I sold about 20 cars making good profit, the only car I lost money on was one bought at auction  lesson learned, no test drive, no buy, I sold it to WEBUYANYCAR because I didn’t want to catch a local buyer.  I’ve started very well this year with a very simple method that’s helped me trade with very little car valuation experience  I use Autotrader used car valuations, I aim for cars that are selling around trade-in value and try to sell at private rates  so far I haven’t had any problems at all. I have a valeting machine and really go into detail to make all cars look their best, then I’ve a really good camera which makes the cars stand out in the ads I Place. I only post on Gumtree and Facebook so no overheads there. the thing is that I sell from my house and my driveway is getting a bit crowded so I’m now looking at renting a unit, say 1000 sq ft so I can prepare the cars in  and maybe store them  I’m looking to take it all away from my house now but that’s really the next step in business  as I said I work full time as a sales rep, earn about £45K with company car so it’d be too big a risk leaving my job  I also use Warrantywise for any car that can qualify for it  I see they don’t get a good review on here  any reasons why?  

Enough about me fellas, just wanted to say hi  

 

Hi.  Stick to what you are doing Hargy.You are under the radar.Little costs,no VAT or premises and £45k day job.Try and do 2 or 3 per month from home I would say.There are plenty of car dealers out there with pitches,staff and debt to service who would love to be in your position.See what the others advise ?

[Tony911 79]

42 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Hi.  Stick to what you are doing Hargy.You are under the radar.Little costs,no VAT or premises and £45k day job.Try and do 2 or 3 per month from home I would say.There are plenty of car dealers out there with pitches,staff and debt to service who would love to be in your position.See what the others advise ?

This 

 

Especially at quiet times

[justina3 518]

I would stay on the current path for a year see what you make on the side then go from there, would giving the cars your full time attention bring you in the same money or more, i am quite unique in the car sales world as we run various side lines and quite often the car sales comes in last for net profit, but demands the most attention almost every month.

 

[Dave2302 387]

12 minutes ago, justina3 said:

we run various side lines and quite often the car sales comes in last for net profit, but demands the most attention almost every month.

This is oooooooh soooooooo true !!

[Hargy 0]

Thanks for the honest advice lads. Really appreciate input from experienced sellers. This really did start out as a hobby but it’s very addictive. I’d actually advise someone in my position the same but it’s starting to take up so much time and I enjoy the buzz. The thing is it’s a bonus when I sell a car not a necessity which would happen if I’d premises. 

Whats your thoughts on Warrantywise though?

id never heard of self warranty through Lawgistics. I don’t have a garage myself and rely on a few local ones so I’d be scared of looking amateurish in front of a client if there was a problem. 

[justina3 518]

if you have sold 20 cars and not had a single problem you dont sound amateurish for sure. 

[MattR 177]

45k, a company car, and a sideline selling cars? Really, truly, dont give up the day job. Unless you hate it. Ive no idea about warrantywise, but have good experiences with WMS.