Who Else Hates Selling Cars?
Discussion
I'll start with a few examples:
An old Almera Tino I sold last year, up at £895 aiming for the £500 it was worth, got offered £300, guy was a Salty Sally when I declined the offer, told me I'd never sell it for more than than, sold 2 days later for £550, guy still owns it today. Not such a bad story compared to a few others
ST170 I just sold, a guy bought it on eBay, never bothered showing up for it, another came, viewed it, wouldn't buy it because the coils weren't new. This was a £700 Focus ST170 that'd had it's clutch done, a rare unicorn in the ST170 market. Guy bought it a week later for £650, wasn't gonna take under £700 but the guy was an enthusiast, knew him from the owners club, it was still a quick £200 profit.
Blue 2000 Turbo, guy came to see it, had it at £2295, I was again happy at £1600 due to it's short MOT, that was still a nice £700 profit in a weekend, guy came to buy it, agreed on £1550, he asked to get it Wednesday (today) so I agreed to hold it for him, today came and he didn't show, couldn't be arsed replying without being pressed. Asked me to miss work tomorrow so he could come get it, I agreed I'd miss work for the £150 that I'd miss from doing so, he won't agree to that I imagine, so this one I'll most likely end up putting 12 months on and selling up at £2495 for £2K.
Silver 2000 Turbo, this is a tidy car, if it wasn't a Version 4, I'd be keeping it to myself. Had it at £2395, but my dad's old Leon 225 has come up for sale. I go on holiday Friday, and there's not a chance it's gonna be here when I'm back, so I agreed I'd come see it to buy it, with just under a week to sell the Subaru. This was on the back of having what I thought to be a genuine sale for the blue one, the ST170 was paid for at this point as a buffer in case I take a hit on either Subaru. I'm pretty much giving the Subaru away so I can get the Leon, borderline not making a profit, but I've got some parts I swapped on it that I'll make a few hundred on, I have offer after offer for £1K, which is more of an insult than offer for a solid rust free 2000 Turbo, then any "serious" offer I get ends at "whats the post code", never hear from them again. I have two "interested" guys that were kind of interested to come tomorrow, but that's not gonna happen, I imagine I'll go away with both Imprezas still here, in which case I'll lose the Leon. If that happens, the silver 2000 Turbo is going at the £2K-£2395 I want for it as I'll be in no rush to sell, the blue Impreza will get 12 months on it and I'll either sell it at the price I want for it, or I'll put a few hundred into it and keep it. As much as I said I'd like to sell cars instead of IT, I sure didn't mean it. I like buying cars, I hate selling them. It seems that everyone out to buy a car is out to waste your time. I'm putting a chunk of it down to me being young and inexperienced obviously, but it's an insult to offer someone over £1K less on their car when it's only up at £2k and a bit. Not sure if this is even a thread so much as a rant, but either way I feel better for typing it. Images of said cars are below if anyone's interested:
An old Almera Tino I sold last year, up at £895 aiming for the £500 it was worth, got offered £300, guy was a Salty Sally when I declined the offer, told me I'd never sell it for more than than, sold 2 days later for £550, guy still owns it today. Not such a bad story compared to a few others
ST170 I just sold, a guy bought it on eBay, never bothered showing up for it, another came, viewed it, wouldn't buy it because the coils weren't new. This was a £700 Focus ST170 that'd had it's clutch done, a rare unicorn in the ST170 market. Guy bought it a week later for £650, wasn't gonna take under £700 but the guy was an enthusiast, knew him from the owners club, it was still a quick £200 profit.
Blue 2000 Turbo, guy came to see it, had it at £2295, I was again happy at £1600 due to it's short MOT, that was still a nice £700 profit in a weekend, guy came to buy it, agreed on £1550, he asked to get it Wednesday (today) so I agreed to hold it for him, today came and he didn't show, couldn't be arsed replying without being pressed. Asked me to miss work tomorrow so he could come get it, I agreed I'd miss work for the £150 that I'd miss from doing so, he won't agree to that I imagine, so this one I'll most likely end up putting 12 months on and selling up at £2495 for £2K.
Silver 2000 Turbo, this is a tidy car, if it wasn't a Version 4, I'd be keeping it to myself. Had it at £2395, but my dad's old Leon 225 has come up for sale. I go on holiday Friday, and there's not a chance it's gonna be here when I'm back, so I agreed I'd come see it to buy it, with just under a week to sell the Subaru. This was on the back of having what I thought to be a genuine sale for the blue one, the ST170 was paid for at this point as a buffer in case I take a hit on either Subaru. I'm pretty much giving the Subaru away so I can get the Leon, borderline not making a profit, but I've got some parts I swapped on it that I'll make a few hundred on, I have offer after offer for £1K, which is more of an insult than offer for a solid rust free 2000 Turbo, then any "serious" offer I get ends at "whats the post code", never hear from them again. I have two "interested" guys that were kind of interested to come tomorrow, but that's not gonna happen, I imagine I'll go away with both Imprezas still here, in which case I'll lose the Leon. If that happens, the silver 2000 Turbo is going at the £2K-£2395 I want for it as I'll be in no rush to sell, the blue Impreza will get 12 months on it and I'll either sell it at the price I want for it, or I'll put a few hundred into it and keep it. As much as I said I'd like to sell cars instead of IT, I sure didn't mean it. I like buying cars, I hate selling them. It seems that everyone out to buy a car is out to waste your time. I'm putting a chunk of it down to me being young and inexperienced obviously, but it's an insult to offer someone over £1K less on their car when it's only up at £2k and a bit. Not sure if this is even a thread so much as a rant, but either way I feel better for typing it. Images of said cars are below if anyone's interested:
aaron_2000 said:
I'll start with a few examples:
An old Almera Tino I sold last year, up at £895 aiming for the £500
Just some friendly advice from someone with over 25 years experience in the trade. Use it or ignore it as you see fit.An old Almera Tino I sold last year, up at £895 aiming for the £500
Either price the car high, because it's worth it due to condition / spec etc, and hold out until you find someone who wants it bad enough, or price it cheap and sell it quick.
Your model of pricing it high until someone is brave enough to bid you in the balls for it is leaving you open to all these timewasters. If you hold out for top price then you'll save yourself the bother of entertaining messers who only want it cheap and you can tolerate fussy people better if they are paying top money.
If you advertise it cheap then you'll have more enquiries so if someone lets you down then there will more likely be someone right behind him to take his place.
Wooda80 said:
Just some friendly advice from someone with over 25 years experience in the trade. Use it or ignore it as you see fit.
Either price the car high, because it's worth it due to condition / spec etc, and hold out until you find someone who wants it bad enough, or price it cheap and sell it quick.
Your model of pricing it high until someone is brave enough to bid you in the balls for it is leaving you open to all these timewasters. If you hold out for top price then you'll save yourself the bother of entertaining messers who only want it cheap and you can tolerate fussy people better if they are paying top money.
If you advertise it cheap then you'll have more enquiries so if someone lets you down then there will more likely be someone right behind him to take his place.
Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it. Either price the car high, because it's worth it due to condition / spec etc, and hold out until you find someone who wants it bad enough, or price it cheap and sell it quick.
Your model of pricing it high until someone is brave enough to bid you in the balls for it is leaving you open to all these timewasters. If you hold out for top price then you'll save yourself the bother of entertaining messers who only want it cheap and you can tolerate fussy people better if they are paying top money.
If you advertise it cheap then you'll have more enquiries so if someone lets you down then there will more likely be someone right behind him to take his place.
From the post I assume that you are a trader, and you seem to be aiming for a large percentage profit on the cars. If you dislike it so much, maybe try a different job, or knock back the percentage you are trying to take?
What are you doing to them to add that much value, a service and a decent warranty?
What are you doing to them to add that much value, a service and a decent warranty?
James_B said:
From the post I assume that you are a trader, and you seem to be aiming for a large percentage profit on the cars. If you dislike it so much, maybe try a different job, or knock back the percentage you are trying to take?
What are you doing to them to add that much value, a service and a decent warranty?
It's more or less a side thing, more a chance to drive cars I want to drive, but wouldn't/couldn't own as a primary car yet. I work in IT full time, every car I've ever owned I've serviced, all but one I've had inspected, and all but two I've put a 12 month ticket on. Each one gets detailed ETC. What are you doing to them to add that much value, a service and a decent warranty?
I'm sure you recently said you are 18. In this case you have clearly hit the ground running so fair play to you, you must be working hard. At 18 I was still selling dodgy fags to school kids 
I also hate selling cars as I find it a hassle and don't like dealing with the buyers. I tend to try and find reasons why it can wait a bit longer. Stupid really as it's money sat doing nothing. I think it's because they're my own personal cars and I tend to get attached to them.
I also hate selling cars as I find it a hassle and don't like dealing with the buyers. I tend to try and find reasons why it can wait a bit longer. Stupid really as it's money sat doing nothing. I think it's because they're my own personal cars and I tend to get attached to them.
I’ve not sold many cars privately, but those I have have tended to be easy. The last two were a 911 GTS and a C63 AMG.
In each case the first to view paid the full asking price. The one before was a B7 RS4 which I sold to an Audi specialist. They tried to knock me down a bit, but had to admit that as it was probably the best one in the country they could not really expect much of a deal.
In each case the first to view paid the full asking price. The one before was a B7 RS4 which I sold to an Audi specialist. They tried to knock me down a bit, but had to admit that as it was probably the best one in the country they could not really expect much of a deal.
aaron_2000 said:
It's more or less a side thing, more a chance to drive cars I want to drive, but wouldn't/couldn't own as a primary car yet. I work in IT full time, every car I've ever owned I've serviced, all but one I've had inspected, and all but two I've put a 12 month ticket on. Each one gets detailed ETC.
If you buy cars with the intent of reselling them you are a trader, no matter what you might call yourself. I'm sure you are declaring your profits to HMRC as well as meeting your obligations under the CRA. Spent the night making calls and sending messages, a friend through a Subaru specialist I'm mates with is looking for a few wagons, offering £1400 for the blue car and £1500 for the silver. If it was any scenario other than me wanting that Leon which I've got someone lined up to buy, then I'd put 12 months on both and hold out for what they're really worth, especially the silver one. For the sake of ease of time, I'll seriously consider it. It eases my mind knowing I have £350 in parts from the silver car to sell, I still feel it deserves a better home than a yard. I'm not turned off selling completely, I just know it's the low rate cars I'm selling right now. It's not a loss on either car, infact it's a nice profit for 0 work on the blue car, it's just the stress of pushing it so close. I'm never stressed at work, yet a hobby is stressful. I just need to get into a groove, trial and error. I do wanna stick with Subaru's, made some good contacts through them, I see the money to be made with them too.
No mention of mileage in the add. This always leads me to believe that the mileage is really high.
First line of the add you say it’s immaculate yet in the next sentence you say there is rust on the one arch. I would be wondering what else is incorrect in the add.
Also, everyone selling a Subaru claims the bhp to be this or that. Unless you have proof, say nothing. Most Subaru’s are 280bhp if you believe the adds!
First line of the add you say it’s immaculate yet in the next sentence you say there is rust on the one arch. I would be wondering what else is incorrect in the add.
Also, everyone selling a Subaru claims the bhp to be this or that. Unless you have proof, say nothing. Most Subaru’s are 280bhp if you believe the adds!
Camelot1971 said:
aaron_2000 said:
It's more or less a side thing, more a chance to drive cars I want to drive, but wouldn't/couldn't own as a primary car yet. I work in IT full time, every car I've ever owned I've serviced, all but one I've had inspected, and all but two I've put a 12 month ticket on. Each one gets detailed ETC.
If you buy cars with the intent of reselling them you are a trader, no matter what you might call yourself. I'm sure you are declaring your profits to HMRC as well as meeting your obligations under the CRA. How much he declares to HMRC after advertising and preparation costs is entirely between him and HMRC.
The CRA takes into account the age of the goods and the price paid, which given we are talking about 15-20 year old cars priced at 5-10% of the new cost, I would suggest that the obligations are not onerous.
Crack on with it lad.
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