Van/commercial traders?

[m3jappa]

I know a few people who sell vans, used vans around 2-10 years old.

They all do VERY well, especially a mate of mine who appears to live the life of a somewhat B list celebrity

I have thought about giving it a go myself as on the face of things it looks pretty bloody easy, obviously the people i know who do it have been doing it a while and have the experience etc, my mate though has only been doing it for around 7 years though, sells 30 odd vans a month..... Ultimately buys cheap and sells cheap for a fast turnaround.

So what these guys do is buy a cheap highish mileage van at auction, maybe around 120k which are usually fleet so looked after quite well, bodywork will always be very tatty.
They then get the Polish or other Europeans to do the bodywork, possibly replace a few needed parts and then tax and test it. As far as i'm aware theres nothing immediately dodgy going on like clocking, but obviously they wouldn't admit that. The vans on their sites always have higher miles and when i look at them the vans are never councours condition but just good enough iykwim.

Its usually things like sprinters, vw vans and the like which are generally very reliable so usually need very little work to get them right.

Obviously theres things you need to have if your a trader but how do you go about them if your starting out? I mean i would really be testing the water.

Premises: no probs could rent some space pretty cheap which would have use of an office.

Finance: i know a finance broker who i am sure could point me in the right direction.

Insurances: public liability is easy and i imagine cheap but what about traders insurance? How would you go about getting that as i heard you need to prove your a trader- is there specialist policys out there for small guys?

Warrenty: just bought in from what i gather?

Body repair/mechanicals: i know a few Europeans who would point me the right way and i can easily do a few bits myself.

I'd like to take myself to a couple of auctions to just have a look, i know the people i know are usually buying via internet auctions so apart from pics totally unseen.

I fancy just buying one van and just seeing what happens. Obviously to get to the level these people are at is what takes knowledge and balls to go for it.

What else have i missed from the above? It may never happen but just a thought really.
Thanks

[Bebee]

m3jappa said:

I know a few people who sell vans, used vans around 2-10 years old.

They all do VERY well, especially a mate of mine who appears to live the life of a somewhat B list celebrity

What else have i missed from the above? It may never happen but just a thought really.
Thanks

Will he still be your mate if you do what he does?

[snuffle]

Luck is the only other thing you need


You might buy 3 total lemons in a row, wipe your savings and end up crying,

Or you might get lucky and be laughing all the way to your fortune.

One way to find out

[m3jappa]

Bebee said:

Will he still be your mate if you do what he does?

He would be put out but i'm sure he would get over it, we don't really see each other much now or even speak often sadly (just drifted apart as we got older). Trust me if it was the other way round he would have no hesitation

[m3jappa]

snuffle said:

Luck is the only other thing you need


You might buy 3 total lemons in a row, wipe your savings and end up crying,

Or you might get lucky and be laughing all the way to your fortune.

One way to find out

Very true actually, another friend of mine bought what seemed like a bargain van for his own use from auction. Apparantly had 49k on it and as soon as he drove it loud knocking from the suspension, then the clutch went after a few day then the turbo went.

I think the key would be to stick with fleet from larger companys.

You are right though luck plays a big part. Imo everyone needs some luck, i don't care what anyone says about it, you need some luck to get anywhere, its then that you make the most of it and impress or work hard etc.

[snuffle]

When I was younger, I used to buy blind from a large main dealer.

I'd get a phone call along the lines of "I've 10 cars I need £5000, do you want them"

I trusted the dealer, he knew if I said yes then I would pay up.

Out of the 10 on average

2 would make good money

4 would break even, after my own hours were paid

2 would break even but I'd be collecting cleaning etc for sod all

And the last 2 I'd take a loss on, sometimes a big loss, sometimes not so big.

[Bebee]

m3jappa said:

Bebee said:

Will he still be your mate if you do what he does?

He would be put out but i'm sure he would get over it, we don't really see each other much now or even speak often sadly (just drifted apart as we got older). Trust me if it was the other way round he would have no hesitation

Oh well in that case, go for it.

My 10p

Be very careful what you buy at auction.

We, a family run catering business, run a fleet a vans Toyota Hiace 55 plates that we bought new, buying new is something we never did since we started the business in 1979,we always bought second hand and sometimes from auction, most of the time we bought total dogs from auction, it was luck if we got a trouble free van. They are only any good to traders who are prepared to put the time, effort and cash into putting a van right before sale, and then to take it on the chin if they get any come back problems as a result of an unsatisfied customer.

We took the plunge in 2005 and bought 7 new Toyotas, and they have been trouble free so far, we are not likely to buy second hand or from auction again.

There is a dealer up the road from me, he has had some stock of 10 or 15 vans for over two years, it’s not moving, hard times.

[redgriff500]

I regularly see vans and cars at auctions making MORE money than I can buy them out of Ebay / AutoTrader.

It isn't as easy as buy 10 vans stick them in Autotrader and make £10k

The GOOD vans make GOOD money at auction as the guys with the big pitches get GOOD prices off the High St punters.

You can't compete with them and will be buying the less desirable stuff.

Buying cheap vans there will be losses on some.

[m3jappa]

I appreciate what your saying bebee. I'm not sure what this guy does to do so well, nothing hangs around too long with him, only cars are a struggle for him to sell (which he only takes in px occasionaly).

Of the other two traders i know one is also appearing to be well off, i know he is worth a few million but i am not sure if thats through this buisness. The other two i know are doing quite well, not breaking records but on the face of it they seem ok.

Maybe for all i know he just sells stters and tolerates people complaining 24/7. I'm not sure? But i do know that hes not done anything like going bust and starting in a new name etc.

I know when they come in the look fked and when he's done they generally pretty good.

[redgriff500]

Oh look into VAT too.

I see several large trade sellers not charging VAT which is illegal and will catch up with them eventually.

And you really don't want the VAT guys after you.

[Bebee]

m3jappa said:

I appreciate what your saying bebee. I'm not sure what this guy does to do so well, nothing hangs around too long with him, only cars are a struggle for him to sell (which he only takes in px occasionaly).

Of the other two traders i know one is also appearing to be well off, i know he is worth a few million but i am not sure if thats through this buisness. The other two i know are doing quite well, not breaking records but on the face of it they seem ok.

Maybe for all i know he just sells stters and tolerates people complaining 24/7. I'm not sure? But i do know that hes not done anything like going bust and starting in a new name etc.

I know when they come in the look fked and when he's done they generally pretty good.

I see what you're saying, and I hope I'm not putting you off, the dealer up the road from me might be totally ste at his business, and your mate is the dogs at what he does, some have it, some don’t, there’s the good entrepreneurial, the bad entrepreneurial and the ugly entrepreneurial, (I had to Google spell check that word) always get advice, do your homework on a van you are going to buy to sell. I might add that I’m no expert in the van trade, only that I’m a consumer of said, good luck if you go for it chap.

[m3jappa]

I am vat registered but not sure i could use that number for this as its a seperate buisness, would have to ask my accountant.

I must say my mate was one of those people who always knew how to turn a pound iykwim. Always had a wad of notes in his pocket as a youngster from selling various st

I may never do it but its nice to think about new avenues every now and then.

I tried starting two other buisness's over the years, the first was live coral import (farmed so no damage to the reefs). This sadly failed as the main problem was i underestimated how much money i needed. Lost a bit there

I then got ripped off over some speakers i was going to import and distribute. Basically trusted someone who i shouldn't of.

Still you never know until you try as they say.

One day rodney