|
Just curious how you do it these days? Is it hard to do?
|
dont bother mate.........it really isnt worth the hassle anymore
If you want to do it hand your notice in at work and advise the tax office you are going self employed and your off..........ive seen plenty of people go to the looney bin doing this job and dropping dead honestly,please dont do it.......
|
Why is it so hard to start up then? Ive been in and around the motor trade since I was 18 and all the cars ive bought and sold ive made profit on, just never persued it as a source of income.
Apparently though, you need some capital to start up - a guy I know start with 50k worth of starting stock.
Is it the legal side of things in terms of buyers rights that is killing it?
|
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=39208&...f
some links to other threads in there as well.
good luck if you do go for it!
|
I think that with any business there is a big step between doing something as a hobby/sideline and doing it for a living.
Premises, rates, insurance all have an impact. Accountant/legal fees, tax/vat,
Can you do it single handed ? How do you manage buying in stock? what about holidays? etc etc
If it has to provide your entire income how many cars do you need to shift, allowing that you would need trade insurance at what £100 - £200/month ? CAP or Glasses £20/month (guessing at numbers here) Tax &NI at 30 - 60% depending on turnover, type of business etc
I think the key is probably having a niche. I know of several mechanics who have tried to be traders and not been able to make a go of it. But I know that at least one of them bought various cars that he liked rather than cars that he could sell (e34 328 coupes and things)
Near me there are a couple of businesses which have started small and grown quite well. They both specialise in premium europeans. One is mainly BMW the other is BMW/Merc.
They both charge(or at least sticker) what I consider silly prices and it looks as if p/ex go straight to auction because they dont have a pile of older different cars.
the bmw one started about 5 years or so ago with half a dozen cars on the forecourt, they now have 50? and have set up a service workshop.
So I think specialise and go premium. Maybe minis? bmw diesels? lexus?
What cars do you know ?
|
|
|
|
|
I wonder if you mean a trader, or retailer? After 15 years in the retail car trade, and the usually obligatory redundancy, I did it for 4 years as a trader, buying from trade and selling to trade, but it's hard work. I found that buying the cars in sufficient quantity was the hard bit, as most people responsible for selling trade stock were looking for a bung on the side, and I never ever got into that game . Perhaps I was naive, but that's how it was. I did retail the odd car from home, but with VAT, income tax, insurance for demo drives, warranties (mandatory now) it's difficult to compete with the 'private' seller. I came to my senses when I bought a Vauxhall Senator for £26,500, sold it 2 hours later for £26,650, and thought what would have happened whilst if I had an accident driving it to the buyer? Car had paint, call it £25,500, month off the road being fixed, book drop of £700 or £800, capital tied up, what price? Having said all this, I know people who have done really well, but not for me. Good luck. Mike
|
I have been running my own car valeting business for 4 years and its working very well so I have the basis of a business already and I know some valeting companies also do cars as a sidline, which is what I was thinking.
I can get trade insurance for £800 a year to drive any car in my possession or ownership which i used to have and they still send renewals to back it up.
The warranty bit is all that really worries me. VAT only applies if your earning a fair bit.
|
If you've never dropped any money on a car you must be unique in the world, Stu - but good luck anyway if you go for it.
|
|
|
|
I'm afraid VAT has nothing to do with your earnings Stu, it's turnover, IRO £60, 000 I think now. That's not many cars, 20 at £3000 each for example, plus your valeting work. Sorry!
|
Yes I know what the limit is for VAT - if I was taking home 45k, I think id be quite happy.
As for dropping money on a car - those that I have bought to sell on, ive always made money, but I havent done that many, say 3-5 a year at most. If I did it as an occupation, I think id have to be very selective about what i was selling on to maintain that kind of luck.
|
Turnover means the TOTAL amount received.
If you buy a car for 12K and sell it on for 15K your TURNOVER is £15K. Your profit (which will also be taxed) is only £3K. It does not take much to get to the vat registration limit. If you would be happy with £45K turnover then you have very low expectations.
.*******
Do NOT mess with the vat man.
|
|
You don't have to SHOUT at people to get over your point. Stu said he'd be happy taking home 45k, not with a turnover of such.
|
Capitals for emphasis as should be clear to most readers. Thats not shouting.
THIS, I SAID THIS, IS SHOUTING!!!!! Get over it.
If Stu takes home 45K then he *will* (prefer that?) be over the vat reg limit. From his post he doesnt seem clear on the vat requirements.
He may benefit from the margin scheme, depends on where/how he aquires vehicles, but Im not aware of anything in the regs that alter the registration limit even under the margin scheme.
|
Capitals are shouting and imply aggression, as do multiple exclamation marks.
Anger management might be a good idea.
A lesson in grammer and punctuation might be beneficial too.
|
|
Get over it mate. I can see that he is not "shouting". It's called placing emphasis to get the point across.
|
|
|
It's "grammar", not "grammer".
V
|
I wasnt very clear about what i meant about the 45k bit.
Since I already have a business set up, the car selling would be for extra income on top of that, so I would be able to be selective about what I bought, thus stay at the cheaper - £1000-2500 mark, which would keep turnover down and if you buy right cars in right place, theres some profit to be made there, perhaps on modern classics such as the Mini etc?
I had some sucess with old Rovers believe it or not - bought an M-reg 214 with 105k on it for £200 and sold it on the day the V5 came through for £495, albeit as private seller. Also did an early new shape Metro with 110k but with new MOT on it, bought for £250, sold £750.
My turnover for the valeting is only 20k as I dont do it full time for health reasons, so I have about another 25k I can make up somehow.
On my 20k from the valeting, I make 90% profit give or take although I know Im possibly looking at more like 25-35% on cars if chosen well?
It was just an idea - really not sure what to do about the warranty situation though on older cars.
|
>>>A lesson in grammer and punctuation might be beneficial too.
Er........glass houses, stones etc.
|
|
Capitals ............... might be beneficial too.
Dipstick. Get over yourself.
|
If you want to make a proper living out of selling motors then you'll definitely be over the VAT threshold.
My advice would be to specialise in a marque or particular model. That way you get to know prices, faults etc. Do lots of research before buying any cars. Specialise in something reliable (e.g. German or Japanese). Don't specilise in cars like FIATs or Renaults or anything with a K-series (unless you want to argue with your customers a lot..!).
One suggestion I have is specialising in small auto's - there seems to be strongly rising demand for these (aging population etc) and most of your customers will be 'nice' people. Just an idea...
|
I like your suggestion alot and Ebay is a great place for finding small autos if the prices are right as there is usually a fair few on there.
I sold an E reg Micra auto with 76 k on it a couple of years back. Bought for £250 and sold the day V5 came through ( day it went online ) and had huge volume of calls on it. I got £475 for it.
Id want to sell something slighly newer than that though, perhaps like Suzuki Swift autos and little Daihatsu's? They dont tend to come in too expensive for age and mileage. I like Daihatsu cars alot, theres something very honest about them.
|
|
Yes, Diahatsu's seem to be good little cars - never heard a horror story about one. Steer clear of Renault Clio auto's though - a bag of trouble. Any of the little Jap autos are good - although the Micra CVT was perhaps not the best.
|
I dont like french cars at the best of times so no chance of me bagging a Renault! I think perhaps the cheaper end of the small auto market seems to be the best - there just doesnt seem to be enough cars to go around.
I think I will look into just doing Suzuki, Daihatsu and maybe older VW Polos. I dont want to sell cars with faults or have boomerangs all the time, so they sound like the safest bets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
