Who is doing well?

[TangoVictor32 90]

14 minutes ago, trade vet said:

I thought Nottingham and also Derby have rejected lowe emission zones ?

Haha 

Nottingham city council is hell bent on bringing it in!

They're even looking at idling charges were you sit with your engine running. A recent visit to the city shows how its totally ruined with cycle paths that are empty and unused with cyclists still using the road 

And these paths are kerbed reducing road space.

[Nick M.K. 574]

While the no-cars and no-parking in city centres mantra quickly kills off the British high street. 

[trade vet 696]

5 minutes ago, TangoVictor32 said:

Haha 

Nottingham city council is hell bent on bringing it in!

They're even looking at idling charges were you sit with your engine running. A recent visit to the city shows how its totally ruined with cycle paths that are empty and unused with cyclists still using the road 

And these paths are kerbed reducing road space.

Are you sure Victor,I may be wrong but from what I am reading the proposed Nottingham clean air zone effecting only buses,taxis and heavy goods vehicles has now been rubber stamped by government.

[tradegirl 112]

4 hours ago, justina3 said:

I skipped right to the end of this post as for me reading how well someone else is doing when your own business could be better is the single worst motivator i have ever found.

There will always be someone with more cars who is selling more making more buying more, but on the flip side there will always be just as many people having the bank take there shirt of there back.

my two pence worth.

No Justin, for me if he/she is doing it, I can do it. What am I doing wrong? How could I improve? Is it my stock profile, is it my photos, prices, etc. That sort of thing. Whereas if the used car trade is heading to hell in a handbasket (I know it's not, but hypothetically speaking) I need a plan B.

But of course I understand what you mean.

And with my logic, does that mean that other traders who do everything they, but are still struggling, are doing something wrong? Probably not.

And I'm also aware that my logic is skewed because true entrepreneurs have made money out of recessions and Great Depressions, so it shouldn't matter how well or badly anyone else is doing.

I'm aware of this, but still...others doing well in my field helps me somehow.

Edited May 26, 2019 by tradegirl

[CCC 31]

1 hour ago, Nick M.K. said:

While the no-cars and no-parking in city centres mantra quickly kills off the British high street. 

It's interesting times.

I've been reading a lot recently and a few books have talked about how widespread car ownership enabled the growth of shopping malls in the US in the 1950's and that, coupled with the building of the Interstates killed off "Main Street" more than 50 yrs ago there.

Here in the UK we're seeing the death of the standard high street, but places with leisure alongside retail are doing OK. Where I live (small market town) the Town Centre is doing fine. Yes, poor businesses are closing but good ones are doing OK, and there are lots of coffee shops (and new pubs) but all are doing OK, our biggest problem is now parking. Meanwhile there is no attraction at all to visiting the standard shopping centres in the local towns, as they're all identikits with chain stores, none of which are particularly enticing. Our local Ironmonger beats B&Q on price and offers double the level of customer service and is thriving.

I guess we're in just another cycle. When you think about groceries in the last 100 yrs we've been through travelling stores (wife's grandfather had one of these), corner shops with made your order up/delivered, supermarkets, home delivery. 

Meanwhile people are moving back into town centres to replace retail (L&G just announced plans to build old peoples residential homes in vacant town centre locations).

We just need to ensure we adapt to what's ahead.

 

[Tom 164]

3 hours ago, Tony911 said:

January, February and March best start to the year ever for us April wasn't to bad but this month has died with only 4 sold and to top it off with the last price brigade can only see it being the worst month of the whole year I am hoping it will pick up. Diesel now are a no for us as the new emissions charges come in to Leeds January 2020 and other parts of the country so we have started to buy a few hybrids and to be honest they are having the most interest but not cheap stock as lots of dealers are doing the same

Not even euro 6 diesel which are  ulez compliant?

[Tony911 79]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Not even euro 6 diesel which are  ulez compliant?

Nope

[grant8064 219]

5 hours ago, TangoVictor32 said:

They're even looking at idling charges were you sit with your engine running.

Pretty sure idling has been a fixed penalty issue for a while now.

On the topic of how things are; 2019 has given us our best ever and worst ever months with no rhyme of reason between either. Stopped trying to work it all out long ago, just concentrate on cash flow.

[EPV 631]

5 hours ago, tradegirl said:

No Justin, for me if he/she is doing it, I can do it. What am I doing wrong? How could I improve? Is it my stock profile, is it my photos, prices, etc. That sort of thing. Whereas if the used car trade is heading to hell in a handbasket (I know it's not, but hypothetically speaking) I need a plan B.

But of course I understand what you mean.

And with my logic, does that mean that other traders who do everything they, but are still struggling, are doing something wrong? Probably not.

And I'm also aware that my logic is skewed because true entrepreneurs have made money out of recessions and Great Depressions, so it shouldn't matter how well or badly anyone else is doing.

I'm aware of this, but still...others doing well in my field helps me somehow.

It doesn’t help you, it never will. Somebody selling 5 cars in one day, 300 miles away from you, will have no bearing on whether you are doing something right or wrong. I’m completely with Justin, no point in knowing how others are doing and comparing it to you. I like to know how my trader mates on here are doing just because, well, they’re mates/acquaintances but that’s all it is. If you’re not selling cars is it ok, if nobody else is? Will that pay your bills? 

I had my best month last month. I’m possibly going to have my worst this month. A month is too shorter a period of time to assess your performance anyway. Three months minimum in my eyes. 

[Tony911 79]

33 minutes ago, EPV said:

It doesn’t help you, it never will. Somebody selling 5 cars in one day, 300 miles away from you, will have no bearing on whether you are doing something right or wrong. I’m completely with Justin, no point in knowing how others are doing and comparing it to you. I like to know how my trader mates on here are doing just because, well, they’re mates/acquaintances but that’s all it is. If you’re not selling cars is it ok, if nobody else is? Will that pay your bills? 

I had my best month last month. I’m possibly going to have my worst this month. A month is too shorter a period of time to assess your performance anyway. Three months minimum in my eyes. 

Agree

[Dealer 54]

10 hours ago, Tony911 said:

January, February and March best start to the year ever for us April wasn't to bad but this month has died with only 4 sold and to top it off with the last price brigade can only see it being the worst month of the whole year I am hoping it will pick up. Diesel now are a no for us as the new emissions charges come in to Leeds January 2020 and other parts of the country so we have started to buy a few hybrids and to be honest they are having the most interest but not cheap stock as lots of dealers are doing the same

Funny enough I had an auris hybrid, all it attracted was foreign gentlemen from the Yorkshire area (taxi drivers) due to the impending changes. Glad to get shot of it after over 100 calls and not 1 viewing. 

[Dealer 54]

Who is doing well?................. Autotrader! 

[Nick M.K. 574]

11 hours ago, Dealer said:

Funny enough I had an auris hybrid, all it attracted was foreign gentlemen from the Yorkshire area

I love the political correctness in this sentence 

[Dealer 54]

39 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

I love the political correctness in this sentence 

It's OK Nick......... They definitely weren't Bulgarian! 

[Max Branning 149]

20 hours ago, tradegirl said:

No Justin, for me if he/she is doing it, I can do it. What am I doing wrong? How could I improve? Is it my stock profile, is it my photos, prices, etc. That sort of thing. Whereas if the used car trade is heading to hell in a handbasket (I know it's not, but hypothetically speaking) I need a plan B.

But of course I understand what you mean.

And with my logic, does that mean that other traders who do everything they, but are still struggling, are doing something wrong? Probably not.

And I'm also aware that my logic is skewed because true entrepreneurs have made money out of recessions and Great Depressions, so it shouldn't matter how well or badly anyone else is doing.

I'm aware of this, but still...others doing well in my field helps me somehow.

Its easy to have a wobble when its slow, same as its easy to get over excited when your flying.

End of year results are what matter not a good or bad week.

If you have the right stock, prepared well, advertised well, priced well...then all you can do is wait for the car to sell, and it will eventually, they always do.

Cars wont go out of fashion , people don't like walking or public transport !

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

1 hour ago, Dealer said:

It's OK Nick......... They definitely weren't Bulgarian! 

I was about to say that there can't be that many Bulgarians in Yorkshire but I remembered my first (and last) trip to a beautiful place called Rotherham. I arrived there by train, the doors opened and waiting to get on was a friend of mine from Bulgaria :-)  Definitely a small world  

p.s. Auris Hybrids are very popular among the Bulgarian Uber drivers in London but for some reason they like to buy them new from Toyota with a "Uber" discount. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Nick M.K.

[David Horgan 564]

Acquaintance  of ours says hes doing well 

Sold 9 on Sat he says and took 30k on the card terminal . 

Hows did that take place? i ask  , simple he knocked £8,000 of the total take of 9 cars , Still thinks he did well  all because hes had them too long . He forgets how much they have cost him to buy , Hasn't a bloody clue 

Makes me wonder how many more out there doing the same , Money turners NOT money earners 

Brags about his VAT bill being low WOW  Duh 

Truth is his vat bill rent bill and £4,000 advert bill is due mmmmmmmm all at once . 

[trade vet 696]

6 hours ago, David Horgan said:

Acquaintance  of ours says hes doing well 

Sold 9 on Sat he says and took 30k on the card terminal . 

Hows did that take place? i ask  , simple he knocked £8,000 of the total take of 9 cars , Still thinks he did well  all because hes had them too long . He forgets how much they have cost him to buy , Hasn't a bloody clue 

Makes me wonder how many more out there doing the same , Money turners NOT money earners 

Brags about his VAT bill being low WOW  Duh 

Truth is his vat bill rent bill and £4,000 advert bill is due mmmmmmmm all at once . 

VAT bill love it,all these guys who tell you they only work for ‘ 2 grand a bonnet ‘ etc and you ask them what their last VAT bill was and they go quiet .

[XFS 70]

I,ve just come back into the trade after a couple of years. As we know, it’s all in the buying and buying decent stock has always been hard work, loads of miles, loads of wasted journeys looking at misdescribed shitheaps and loads of time standing at the block and spent online.

Its taken me two days to stock up. 70k spent, 5 cars bought, all grade 1 and 2 and all appart from one at Cap below.

Its been to easy. And that is what worries me. It’s never been easy to buy before, so that leads me to believe it’s going to flipping near impossible to sell. I should be excited. Now I,m worried that I should have kept my money in the bank and stayed out of it.

[trade vet 696]

18 minutes ago, XFS said:

I,ve just come back into the trade after a couple of years. As we know, it’s all in the buying and buying decent stock has always been hard work, loads of miles, loads of wasted journeys looking at misdescribed shitheaps and loads of time standing at the block and spent online.

Its taken me two days to stock up. 70k spent, 5 cars bought, all grade 1 and 2 and all appart from one at Cap below.

Its been to easy. And that is what worries me. It’s never been easy to buy before, so that leads me to believe it’s going to flipping near impossible to sell. I should be excited. Now I,m worried that I should have kept my money in the bank and stayed out of it.

Ha Ha,There is a lot of good stuff not attracting bids.I bought a few very cheap ( I thought ) Lex at the local block the other week.When I went to pay for them later,one of the supermarket buyers was going through the unsolds and probably picking similar stuff up a lot cheaper. !

[metcars 394]

On 26/05/2019 at 3:50 PM, CCC said:

It's interesting times.

I've been reading a lot recently and a few books have talked about how widespread car ownership enabled the growth of shopping malls in the US in the 1950's and that, coupled with the building of the Interstates killed off "Main Street" more than 50 yrs ago there.

Here in the UK we're seeing the death of the standard high street, but places with leisure alongside retail are doing OK. Where I live (small market town) the Town Centre is doing fine. Yes, poor businesses are closing but good ones are doing OK, and there are lots of coffee shops (and new pubs) but all are doing OK, our biggest problem is now parking. Meanwhile there is no attraction at all to visiting the standard shopping centres in the local towns, as they're all identikits with chain stores, none of which are particularly enticing. Our local Ironmonger beats B&Q on price and offers double the level of customer service and is thriving.

I guess we're in just another cycle. When you think about groceries in the last 100 yrs we've been through travelling stores (wife's grandfather had one of these), corner shops with made your order up/delivered, supermarkets, home delivery. 

Meanwhile people are moving back into town centres to replace retail (L&G just announced plans to build old peoples residential homes in vacant town centre locations).

We just need to ensure we adapt to what's ahead.

 

In 2019 large numbers of buyers consider shopping as a hobby. It's what you do at the weekend or evening. Ideally a large Shopping Mall, where there is free parking, undercover from weather, toilets and lot's of options for food and drink. The high street is dying because the way people shop has changed. And it will keep changing.

I find it interesting how the online shops are seen as the 'bad guys', and the local shops are the 'good guys'?

[Nick M.K. 574]

6 minutes ago, met said:

I find it interesting how the online shops are seen as the 'bad guys', and the local shops are the 'good guys'?

Same with used car retail. 

[Rory RSC 596]

3 hours ago, trade vet said:

Ha Ha,There is a lot of good stuff not attracting bids.I bought a few very cheap ( I thought ) Lex at the local block the other week.When I went to pay for them later,one of the supermarket buyers was going through the unsolds and probably picking similar stuff up a lot cheaper. !

Plus the Vendors have been having it away for the last couple of years with everything going for over cap clean now its starting to drop when they have a high reserve a sale or 2 later and you can grab some bargains on the unsolds.

 

3 hours ago, met said:

 

I find it interesting how the online shops are seen as the 'bad guys', and the local shops are the 'good guys'?

Interesting point projecting that small caring local business image on a national scale still has legs.

[tradegirl 112]

On 5/27/2019 at 0:12 PM, Max Branning said:

Its easy to have a wobble when its slow, same as its easy to get over excited when your flying.

End of year results are what matter not a good or bad week.

If you have the right stock, prepared well, advertised well, priced well...then all you can do is wait for the car to sell, and it will eventually, they always do.

Cars wont go out of fashion , people don't like walking or public transport !

 

You're right Max, end of year results are what matter, but there's a long time until the end of the year, and the last wage we took was the 16th May. Prior to that was the 5th of May. In 2014/2015 (and I know there's no sense looking back) we never had it this bad. We would sell 3 cars a day some weeks, and never less than a car a week as home traders, with fewer cars in stock and less money invested than we have now. I paid off £12k personal debts those first 2-3 years, and by 2016 I'd also saved £9k, as well as my holidays, etc.

I don't need to look at end of year takings to know I'm not in the same position as then. So I'm just a little worried/wondering if this job is what will buy me my house, or if I should be working a plan B, because as it currently stands, I'm broke and only living to work and pay work bills.

Having said that, I'm working on improving the business, making changes. Lord knows I have enough time on my hands. And if I'm worthy enough or cut out for it, I'll make it work and I'll be among those who do well enough in the high seasons, to be comfortable/unphased in the low seasons.

[Rory RSC 596]

3 minutes ago, tradegirl said:

You're right Max, end of year results are what matter, but there's a long time until the end of the year, and the last wage we took was the 16th May. Prior to that was the 5th of May. In 2014/2015 (and I know there's no sense looking back) we never had it this bad. We would sell 3 cars a day some weeks, and never less than a car a week as home traders, with fewer cars in stock and less money invested than we have now. I paid off £12k personal debts those first 2-3 years, and by 2016 I'd also saved £9k, as well as my holidays, etc.

I don't need to look at end of year takings to know I'm not in the same position as then. So I'm just a little worried/wondering if this job is what will buy me my house, or if I should be working a plan B, because as it currently stands, I'm broke and only living to work and pay work bills.

Having said that, I'm working on improving the business, making changes. Lord knows I have enough time on my hands. And if I'm worthy enough or cut out for it, I'll make it work and I'll be among those who do well enough in the high seasons, to be comfortable/unphased in the low seasons.

Did you work to lower margin? Did you work harder? Did you work more hours? What did you do better back then?