Traders - Make an effort!

[Rich_W]

If you're going to try and whack another 50% on a car you bought a while back. Do the decent thing and hide this fact!

New Ad
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3597339.htm

2 weeks earlier.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3566765.htm

[poing]

Nicely done by the trader though, just shows what can be done with some nice pictures and a bit more detail in the advert. I guess since it's a dealer they won't get the entire £995 in actual profit but should hopefully make some money out of it.

[halo34]

Noticed them a while back as I was keeping an eye on E39s - they were even using the sellers pics but with a bumped up price at one point!!

Must be making profit as few cars appearing from them like that (its pretty blatant though!).

[Deranged Granny]

They can really work wonders; not only does the car look better, but it has also done 1000 fewer miles...

[VolvoT5]

How much money do these backyard traders make anyway? Seems like a chunky investment (and hence risk) for not a great return. And of course even an experienced buyer could get a lemon and make a massive loss, although I assume they would just try and punt it on as traders like this rarely offer any come back.

I sold my car last year and it was the cheapest on offer for the model at the time (IMO the others were overpriced as they were not selling). Some guy was in a massive rush to buy it, raced up and practically snapped my hand off within 24hrs of the advert going live and it was damn obvious to me he was a trader who thought he was getting bargain of the century.

Although he denied being trade at the time, I now see the car is now back up for sale with the same mileage for only £200 more than he paid me! A quick google of the telephone number reveals he has bought and sold a lot of cars, so he is clearly trade and has had £1000s tied up for 6 months for < £200 return, probably a loss when you factor in travel/fuel/etc.

I wonder if it is really worth the bother to buy for 2k, try and sell on for 3k (minus haggle) with all the risk involved?

[halo34]

hora said:

That's actually VERY tempting. Seriously tempting. Could it be it books higher(?) And within the two weeks he's realised its not shifting or.... Has an issue so is flexible on pricing?

Any obvious issues on these? I imagine electrics or timing chain?

Seriously tempted.

I looked for months and a few came up through these guys. I was put off since they seemed to just recycle cars that were for sale previously on ph classifieds.

If you mean the e39 itself its a pretty solid car - I was absolutely 1% away from getting one of the 530ds.

Think the 530i is very solid - cooling system is main issue and will need work if not already done?

Edit was getting confused with 530d

[MrDarkBlack]

hora said:

That's actually VERY tempting. Seriously tempting. Could it be it books higher(?) And within the two weeks he's realised its not shifting or.... Has an issue so is flexible on pricing?

Any obvious issues on these? I imagine electrics or timing chain?

Seriously tempted.

You did notice that it's gone up by a grand in 2 weeks, not down?

Edited by MrDarkBlack on Wednesday 15th February 22:28

[Rawwr]

What's the problem? He'll probably take £2,500 for it and I'm not sure I'd waste that much of my time for a £495 profit. Fair play to him.

[Megaflow]

I don't see a problem. Lets assume for a moment he paid the full £2k for it. He is a trade seller, so therefore he is immediately liable for any problems in the first 3 months, so he has to set aside some for that, he will also no doubt have to factor in a full valet and MOT. So the car probably owes him £2200-2300 before he even puts it up for sale, then the bloke has got to make a living out of it, lets say it owes him £2300 and he gets £2800 for it £500 gross margin.

If he sells 50 cars a year, he's only made £25k and needs to pay the taxman, etc out of that!

ETA: And somebody picked up a real gem with this... http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3581677.htm

Edited by Megaflow on Wednesday 15th February 08:09

[Raize]

The worst ones are when people buy a car, then sell it on for more.

Without ever removing it from the first persons driveway. :x

[Rich_W]

Another one

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3699924.htm

This was for sale LAST MONTH for £2,500 on AutoTrader in Morden, Surrey.



£1250 profit for what? A clean and some photos? Also had the "expensive private plate" back then! But evidently it's worth part exing for a Z4M or a 996 Carrera 4S? Numpties

[tercelgold]

They may be a "trader" but I bet the V5 still has the previous owner on it and they asked the seller for the entire V5 as they are really in the trade. (fell for that once myself)

Edited by tercelgold on Saturday 3rd March 20:55

[C. Grimsley]

It looks to me as if they have, seen a margin for profit and took the plunge, you go to work for a living, this is there way.

Done.

Carl

[VolvoT5]

tercelgold said:

They may be a "trader" but I bet the V5 still has the previous owner on it and they asked the seller for the entire V5 as they are really in the trade. (fell for that once myself)

Yeah, fell for this myself, the buyer was quite insistent on taking the whole logbook. I only twigged how significant it was the next day and being concerned potential speeding tickets I immediately wrote to the DVLA informing them of the buyers details. I got a swift letter back from the DVLA stating I was no longer the registered keeper, lesson learnt!

I bet the guy was far from pleased to have to sell it on with additional owners though.

Rich_W said:

Another one...

I have to say I like the advert and marketing job he has done though, some effort has gone in at least. £3750 seems too much and I doubt many people would value the plate at 4k (I guess if the right person comes along..?).... but still a nice effort.

The thing that bugs me is the fact that most of these guys are pretending to be private sellers, so wanting to take the profit without any of the risk or responsibilty a 'proper' trader has to take.

Edited by VolvoT5 on Saturday 3rd March 21:55

[Fox-]

You know you've undervalued your car when a trader has it off you for resale. I did wonder why that 530i was only £2k when it appeared in the barge thread. It's probably worth almost that in bits!

[Rich_W]

Not sure if serious.

Original Advert With Trader and 101K

BMW

New Advert with Private seller and 102K

BMW

[confused_buyer]

VolvoT5 said:

Yeah, fell for this myself, the buyer was quite insistent on taking the whole logbook. I only twigged how significant it was the next day and being concerned potential speeding tickets I immediately wrote to the DVLA informing them of the buyers details. I got a swift letter back from the DVLA stating I was no longer the registered keeper, lesson learnt!

If the buyer asks for the whole V5 you just keep the yellow slip and send that off and that does the same job as far as the seller is concerned. You'll still get the exact same letter back from the DVLA saying "thank you for telling us you no longer own....etc."

[FleshMechanic]

Rich_W said:

Another one




£1250 profit for what? A clean and some photos? Also had the "expensive private plate" back then! But evidently it's worth part exing for a Z4M or a 996 Carrera 4S? Numpties

Did no one else notice the plate's close association with VBRJ?

[Save Ferris]

Ive been following Alfa GTV's for a bit, and noticed this last week...

Sold for £600 on eBay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330694550724?ssPageName=...

Couple of days later here on PH for £1295
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3708556.htm

[blearyeyedboy]

MrDarkBlack said:

You did notice that it's gone up by a grand in 2 weeks, not down?

Edited by MrDarkBlack on Wednesday 15th February 22:28

Yes, but it's clearly accumulating value quickly! What an investment opportunity!