jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

Thinking of doing a bit of second hand car dealing on the side, does anyone on here do this? I'm wandering what sort of insurance im gonna need I'm only 23 though and afaik you need to be 25 for trade insurance? I just want to be able to drive back from the auctions or drive to a test centre, nothing spec. Also at what point do you have to start paying flash gordon tax? cheers

Snazy

Sounds like you will need traders, and probably trade plates too, which I would think requires you to register as a business, which in turn means paying and declaring to lovely GB from the word go

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

For tax you need to register yourself as a business within 3 months of starting trading.

Dont be tempted to try and avoid paying the tax by selling the cars through local papers, side of the road etc... as the IR has teams of people who spend their time looking for people who do this.

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

Bang goes that plan then, sounds like more trouble than its worth. I'm only talking about 1 car a month max. I mean buy it, Tart it up and stick some test on it. Would that be such a crime? Wont be making a living on it just trying to increase my rainy day fund!

David Lock

Plus when you become a dealer you will have responsibility for the car after it's sold for a time, 3 months I think. Fraught with problems and worry and may be expenditure. And the market is in a bit of a mess at the moment.

I think you should move on to Plan 2

34srm

everything is doom amd gloom on there lately

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

I havent got a plan 2 I rekon the market will pick up when the likes of car *cough* craft start to go under. They'll be plenty of less well off people in the market for a cheap motor

Luan Pra bang

Don't listen to the scare mongers. IF you need insurance speak to an insurance company to see what they offer. It is not unkown for people to get insured online so they can drive for 2 weeks then cancel the policy with a full refund . The IR have much bigger fish to fry than you with a few cars and don't tell them a thing until you have traded 20-30 cars and it becomes a real business.

mattvortex

I understand that if you buy and sell more than 5 cars in a year , then DVLA will class you as a trader.

psl wise

dont mention it to em them

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Wing it for a few cars, stick them on a normal policy, see how it goes

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

tried it for a while think its more trouble than its worth! idiots coming round or phoning all the time offering silly money thinking your desperate to sell for bugger all money! ring,ring hello."yeh im callin bout da car ya sellin" (cars up for £1500) "wots ya best price" well that would be £1500.."will ya take 7 for it. get the picture..

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I do the odd one, if an opportunity presents itself, last one I did was a manky diesel Golf, M reg, sold a Merc for a friend as her husband had died, the buyer didnt know what to do with his shed so I said I would give him 200 quid, he said 250 and its yours, I did a little bit of paint, minted the bollocks of it and sold it for 750, didnt even have to drive it as he drove it to ours to pick up the Merc. I struck luck as it came MOTD and taxed, its amazing what one mans is when its anothers new car, he had spent 700 on it in November as well.

Didnt even have to advertise it, lady my mum know was getting excited about having it, strange as they are a horrible rattly contraption

It helps selling from a nice house, even an old tip of a Golf looks ok in front of a nice Gaff, dont oversell the car, point out some failings and get the punter on your side, just be honest and slightly gloss over anything expensive....

Beware of certain sections of society, they drive a very hard bargain, especially when there is a Toyota Carina on offer.

David_Dickson

I Used to sell the odd car here and there but it was a lot of hassle. As said above, being available for people to view, loads of no-shows, stupid offers and general stupidness on the buyers part are a pain in the chuff.
As things are, the market is a bit slow. Its flooded with decent used cars so buyers can be very choosy. You need to find a niche and aim for it.... low mileage few years old family stuff, executive stuff, sub £500 runnabouts etc. Depends on what the demand is in your area.
where are you going to advertise? My local free ads paper told me when I tried to place the fifth ad in a year that they would class me as a trader and I needed to pay trade rates, so that knocked that on the head, unless you use a different mobile number each time and give a false address for the ad. Ebay gets you a very wide audience, but fees can take a significant chunk of profits on low value stuff.
In aberdeenshire, there are 2 car auctions, which can be a good source for cars if you know what you are doing, but there are dozens of people with the same idea bidding against you so prices can spiral out of control there. I noticed in recent months that russian types are spending every evening at the auctions....there are sales on at both locations on the same night. they were buiying a car from the cheaper out of town auction, ragging the nuts off it and entering it straight into the dearer auction in town in an effort to turn a quick profit. lmao.

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the advice guys might still give it ago. It's all about finding something local cheap, smarten it up a bit and stick it on ebay, I rekon thats the way to go.

jjones

if you live in a town aim at small cars. cheap o buy and tend to sell a lot quicker than your specialist/expensive stuff.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

And also, they attract less ********* !

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

Ok Ive bought the first victim off a work mate, nice and cheap taxed and mot'd etc. Whats the best course or action with the V5 though? What will happen if i sign the yellow section bearing in mind I'm not a proper motor trader? Tax runs out at the end of may so I don't want to be messing about waiting for a new V5 for 2 weeks plus or adding another previous owner ie me?

SiPie