Flipping cars from auction sites to AT

[s94wht]

Does this happen often?

I've been looking at 997 C2Ss for a while now and there was one on collecting cars that I regretted not bidding on as I think I could've won it. Fast forward six weeks, and I find a car on AT that I thought looked quite good. Emailed the seller and everything, was told that they had a potential buyer lined up and if it fell through, they'd let me know. Ok, swell.

Just been back on CC and looked at the previous results and realised it's the same car! Even uses the same description and the professionally-taken photos. Only difference is they've marked it up 7 grand! Is this the sort of game we're playing now? I'm thinking if he does come back to me, I'll offer him a quid over what he paid at auction and tell him, there's your profit, take it or leave it. Cheeky bd.

[Glenn63]

Is this not how every single car dealer in the land works? Buy then sell for more.

[GreatGranny]

Seriously?!?

[Lester H]

Glenn63 said:

Is this not how every single car dealer in the land works? Buy then sell for more.

Also, to be fair, all but the utter ‘fly by night’ dealers and sellers from home have considerable overheads, like any retail outlet. They have to warrant the car for 3 months and anything above ,say £1500, will have a check over and basic safety items looked at, the dearer stock will get a lubrication service, unless done recently. MOT, too. Most buyers are honest , or no dealing could take part (as it used to say on the cover of ‘Exchange and Mart’ ) but a minority will plague the seller with niggles. Having said that, there will always be a few chancers selling out there, especially in the classic and specialist arena.

Edited by Lester H on Monday 27th January 11:40

[s94wht]

Lester H said:

Glenn63 said:

Is this not how every single car dealer in the land works? Buy then sell for more.

Also, to be fair, all but the utter ‘fly by night’ dealers and sellers from home have considerable overheads, like any retail outlet. They have to warrant the car for 3 months and anything above ,say £1500, will have a check over and basic safety items looked at, the dearer stock will get a lubrication service, unless done recently. MOT, too. Most buyers are honest , or no dealing could take part (as it used to say on the cover of ‘Exchange and Mart’ ) but a minority will plague the seller with niggles. Having said that, there will always be a few chancers selling out there, especially in the classic and specialist arena.

Edited by Lester H on Monday 27th January 11:40

Fair points. I just get the feeling that this guy is in the "chancer" category. It's not obviously a dealer and there's been no work done on the car since the auction (or surely it would be listed). Pretty sure this is just an attempt at a quick buck. Makes it more frustrating that I didn't bid on it before!

[Fady]

s94wht said:

Lester H said:

Glenn63 said:

Is this not how every single car dealer in the land works? Buy then sell for more.

Also, to be fair, all but the utter ‘fly by night’ dealers and sellers from home have considerable overheads, like any retail outlet. They have to warrant the car for 3 months and anything above ,say £1500, will have a check over and basic safety items looked at, the dearer stock will get a lubrication service, unless done recently. MOT, too. Most buyers are honest , or no dealing could take part (as it used to say on the cover of ‘Exchange and Mart’ ) but a minority will plague the seller with niggles. Having said that, there will always be a few chancers selling out there, especially in the classic and specialist arena.

Edited by Lester H on Monday 27th January 11:40

Fair points. I just get the feeling that this guy is in the "chancer" category. It's not obviously a dealer and there's been no work done on the car since the auction (or surely it would be listed). Pretty sure this is just an attempt at a quick buck. Makes it more frustrating that I didn't bid on it before!

Yes - but it's his car now and he can choose to list it at whatever price he likes!

[PoorCarCollector]

s94wht said:

Lester H said:

Glenn63 said:

Is this not how every single car dealer in the land works? Buy then sell for more.

Also, to be fair, all but the utter ‘fly by night’ dealers and sellers from home have considerable overheads, like any retail outlet. They have to warrant the car for 3 months and anything above ,say £1500, will have a check over and basic safety items looked at, the dearer stock will get a lubrication service, unless done recently. MOT, too. Most buyers are honest , or no dealing could take part (as it used to say on the cover of ‘Exchange and Mart’ ) but a minority will plague the seller with niggles. Having said that, there will always be a few chancers selling out there, especially in the classic and specialist arena.

Edited by Lester H on Monday 27th January 11:40

Fair points. I just get the feeling that this guy is in the "chancer" category. It's not obviously a dealer and there's been no work done on the car since the auction (or surely it would be listed). Pretty sure this is just an attempt at a quick buck. Makes it more frustrating that I didn't bid on it before!

Sour grapes then, don't sweat things like this, life is too short!

[s94wht]

Fady said:

Yes - but it's his car now and he can choose to list it at whatever price he likes!

Oh yeah of course he can

PoorCarCollector said:

Sour grapes then, don't sweat things like this, life is too short!

Not sweating per se, just glad I spotted it - if I ended up buying it and then found it I'd be annoyed!

[Jamescrs]

This happens all the time dealers, even those working from their driveway and claiming otherwise are always on the look out for cars to sell for profit anywhere they can. it's normal behaviour really.

[Acuity30]

How do you think a dealer, or even a hobbyist car flipper operates OP? Buy a car for £5000, give it a service and MOT and sell for the same amount out of the kindness of their heart?

[cayman-black]

I cant stop laughing, really?

[Bemmer]

So this isn't Buyers Remorse....!! It's "NOT" Buying Remorse...

[s94wht]

Bemmer said:

So this isn't Buyers Remorse....!! It's "NOT" Buying Remorse...

Exactly!

[s94wht]

Acuity30 said:

How do you think a dealer, or even a hobbyist car flipper operates OP? Buy a car for £5000, give it a service and MOT and sell for the same amount out of the kindness of their heart?

No but equally I don't expect them to buy a car for 5 grand, do the square root of fk all and list it for 7 either!

It's only frustrating because it was a car I wish I'd bought. Reminds me of when scalpers made it impossible to buy a PS5 for like two years. Or high end watches.

People have been quick to laugh and I get it, it was a bit of a daft question, but you'd probably think it was pretty cheeky as well if it was something you were after. My original post probably came off as more angry than I actually was, I was sitting here chuckling as I wrote it!

Perhaps individual car traders are more common that I thought and my original post should have been phrased more around that

Anyway, I have my answer now. Thanks all!

[Muzzer79]

s94wht said:

Does this happen often?

I've been looking at 997 C2Ss for a while now and there was one on collecting cars that I regretted not bidding on as I think I could've won it. Fast forward six weeks, and I find a car on AT that I thought looked quite good. Emailed the seller and everything, was told that they had a potential buyer lined up and if it fell through, they'd let me know. Ok, swell.

Just been back on CC and looked at the previous results and realised it's the same car! Even uses the same description and the professionally-taken photos. Only difference is they've marked it up 7 grand! Is this the sort of game we're playing now? I'm thinking if he does come back to me, I'll offer him a quid over what he paid at auction and tell him, there's your profit, take it or leave it. Cheeky bd.

Quoted for posterity.

Having the temerity to buy and sell a car for a profit now makes you a "cheeky bd"



Please, make that £1 offer over the auction result and let us know what response you get.

[paul_c123]

Even if he did absolutely nothing (which is clearly untrue.........for example auction fees, delivery) how much do you think it costs to "self warranty" an older Porsche 911 for 6 months?

[bennno]

s94wht said:

Does this happen often?

I've been looking at 997 C2Ss for a while now and there was one on collecting cars that I regretted not bidding on as I think I could've won it. Fast forward six weeks, and I find a car on AT that I thought looked quite good. Emailed the seller and everything, was told that they had a potential buyer lined up and if it fell through, they'd let me know. Ok, swell.

Just been back on CC and looked at the previous results and realised it's the same car! Even uses the same description and the professionally-taken photos. Only difference is they've marked it up 7 grand! Is this the sort of game we're playing now? I'm thinking if he does come back to me, I'll offer him a quid over what he paid at auction and tell him, there's your profit, take it or leave it. Cheeky bd.

Theres a 7% buying fees on collecting cars, then the costs of collecting, costs of prepping for sale, cost of putting a warranty on the car, plus dealer needs to make a margin (which could be entirely lost if theres a major issue on the car).

So OP is being naive, buy cheap from auction where it'd have cost you £20.8k with zero comeback, or buy from a dealer with more protection etc.

[Acuity30]

s94wht said:

No but equally I don't expect them to buy a car for 5 grand, do the square root of fk all and list it for 7 either!

It's only frustrating because it was a car I wish I'd bought. Reminds me of when scalpers made it impossible to buy a PS5 for like two years. Or high end watches.

People have been quick to laugh and I get it, it was a bit of a daft question, but you'd probably think it was pretty cheeky as well if it was something you were after. My original post probably came off as more angry than I actually was, I was sitting here chuckling as I wrote it!

Perhaps individual car traders are more common that I thought and my original post should have been phrased more around that

Anyway, I have my answer now. Thanks all!

It's nothing like PS5 scalpers at all.
A more realistic analogy is you're at a car boot sale, you see a Rolex for £2000, you decide you're not prepared to spend that much and walk away. Later on someone more clued up on watches pays the £2000 knowing it is worth a lot more. You see it on Ebay a week later for £4000 and you're butthurt you didn't buy it when you had the chance. Meanwhile the other guy who did his research is making a nice profit fair and square, because he knew what he was doing and what its true value was.

[Fady]

bennno said:

s94wht said:

Does this happen often?

I've been looking at 997 C2Ss for a while now and there was one on collecting cars that I regretted not bidding on as I think I could've won it. Fast forward six weeks, and I find a car on AT that I thought looked quite good. Emailed the seller and everything, was told that they had a potential buyer lined up and if it fell through, they'd let me know. Ok, swell.

Just been back on CC and looked at the previous results and realised it's the same car! Even uses the same description and the professionally-taken photos. Only difference is they've marked it up 7 grand! Is this the sort of game we're playing now? I'm thinking if he does come back to me, I'll offer him a quid over what he paid at auction and tell him, there's your profit, take it or leave it. Cheeky bd.

Theres a 7% buying fees on collecting cars, then the costs of collecting, costs of prepping for sale, cost of putting a warranty on the car, plus dealer needs to make a margin (which could be entirely lost if theres a major issue on the car).

So OP is being naive, buy cheap from auction where it'd have cost you £20.8k with zero comeback, or buy from a dealer with more protection etc.

Addtionally - if OP had actually bid, then that would also have driven the final price up beyond 19.5k to who knows what depending on whether the other bidder (winner) remained interested.

[paul_c123]

Here's some more things the OP is totally unaware of.....

1. VAT
2. The cost of advertising a £20k+ car on Auto Trader
3. The time it takes to valet/clean/polish a car.
4. The time it takes to re-valet/re-clean etc a car after a wannabe has a test drive
5. the cost of Motor Trader Insurance
6. The cost of Trade plates

And, that the motor trade industry is in fact one of the most marginal there is, after all the expenses etc are taken into consideration.