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After living overseas for the past 6 years I have now returned to these shores to find a difference in the trade with car supermarkets and deals on new, etc. I used to work in sales for main dealers many years ago and also bought and sold from home. Now I'm back I am thinking of starting up a car sales business just a few at a time but where would you suggest is a good place to source stock these days: the auctions, or are they too expensive? They certainly seem it, perhaps the shortage of used cars is the reason?
Asked on 18 July 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
It's a relative shortage of used cars from progressively fewer new cars sold over the past 3 years and also the fall in Sterling. This has made used British cars viable exports to places like Eire, where the strength of the Euro against Sterling effectively makes them about 30% cheaper. You could not pick a worse time to try to get back into the trade. Auction prices have risen month on month every month this year, though the rise has now probably peaked. To start selling from home you need to:-
1. Register for VAT.
2. Have somewhere to keep the cars off the public highway.
3. Obtain trade insurance.
4. Lodge about £20,000 in a bank account then try to get a cheque account at an auction house.
5. Get liability insurance.
6. Subscribe to www.motorindustrycodes.co.uk code of practice.
7. After you have been trading for a couple of years, apply for Trade
Plates so you can legally move untaxed cars around.
1. Register for VAT.
2. Have somewhere to keep the cars off the public highway.
3. Obtain trade insurance.
4. Lodge about £20,000 in a bank account then try to get a cheque account at an auction house.
5. Get liability insurance.
6. Subscribe to www.motorindustrycodes.co.uk code of practice.
7. After you have been trading for a couple of years, apply for Trade
Plates so you can legally move untaxed cars around.
Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.
Honest Used Car Prices
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