Dealers selling bikes on behalf of the owner

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by tigersaw

So what did the dealer get for his trouble?

Kinda why I asked the question really. If the dealer has it up for price x, and the buyer re-negotiates a much lower price with the owner, how is the dealer supposed to make a living? Just seems an odd setup.

When I was looking for my SV I rode up to preston to look at a 2000, 26k Looking well used and left outside. I asked wether the shop owned it or him and he said it's confidental information? so I said well if I'm buying it off the seller and not yourself I would like to know everything I can off someone who has rode it not you the middle man. his face droped and he gave me the number. Rang blah blah (25mins later) walked straight out.

Was asked why I left I said, you've got it up for £1.7 the seller wants £1k why would I throw £700 away just becasuse you want to make profit?

Anyways, got one from someone local with 7k on the clock, everything stock mint condition couldn't be more pleased to ride this away as it was same price with 16k less miles.

[tigersaw]

Surprised he put up with your attitude.
He probably would have dropped a few hundred, leaving himself a few hundred for his time, expense and trouble.

I wasn't rude atall to him, I only asked because it stated on the bike selling for XXXXX so I asked just to confirm.

And i didn't tell him "why would I throw £700 away just becasuse you want to make profit?" I was meant to say why would I throw £700 away just becasuse he wants to make profit?

if he where to try and make £200/300 i wouldn't have minded but £700.

[littleoldman2]

Typically non food retailers try to make a gross profit of 35%, after wages, rent, rates, utilities, insurance of all kinds etc, etc they are left with about 15% profit which is then taxed, so the real profit is 10%. So a £700 headline profit is really more like £200. My last 5 bikes have been bought privately, because of this. I've nothing against dealers, but all those overheads make them very expensive unless you need to make use of the dealer facilities or place a value on a particular dealers reputation.

Vehicles have always been cheaper bought privately. You pay for so called peace of mind and aftersales service with a dealer. Well done to the OP and an awesome first bike? for your son. With that low mileage, it`s like a brand new bike. I question the commitment of the dealer who can sell a bike unserviced? Part of the peace of mind (the inflated price) is that the bike has been checked over and serviced ready to go. If its purely on a commision basis the dealer price should have been the sellers lowest price plus 15% or whatever.
cheers,
chris

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Why has he lost £500?

The dealer will either be taking a fixed selling fee, or taking commission as a percentage, or a slice of the profit if it's like TimWilky's trade on scenario. I don't know what percentage they'd take if on commission, but if the bike sold for 1900 instead of 2500 then he lost £60 for each 10% of commission he was taking.

The only way he'd take a hit of '£100 vs the £600' (which was only loss of £500 'potential' profit anyway, not an actual loss) was if he bought the bike for £1800, and sold it for £1900 rather than £2500. That's not the case or you wouldn't have been in contact with the 'owner' of the bike to negotiate a price.

I see where you are coming from.

The seller wanted 2k, the dealer was only prepared to offer £1.8k. However if he could get a buyer at £2.5 he'd give her the extra 200 quid. The bike has sat there since September with nothing doing so when we offered £1.9k cash she bit our hands off cos she needed the money.

The follow up to this is that we now need to sell a surplus moped. So I went back to the shop we got it from and asked if they could sell it on our behalf. Which they have agreed to do so it will sit in their showroom and they get 10% if they sell it. If we sell it *through an MCN ad they get nothing. Standard way of working apparently.

And the smug factor has hit 11 out of 10 cos they checked their "secret book" of used bike prices and trade price on the Honda with7k on the clock is £1.9k with a retail of £2.6k. This bike has done 251 miles.

And the complete s*** factor has also hit 11 out of 10 cos the battery wouldn't hold a charge so the previous owner has stumped up for a new (Honda) one at £55.

So my son has the deal of the century;
The dealer it turns out gets nothing.
The seller is probably £300 *- £500 light on what she could have realistically got.*

Result for us but I do feel sorry for her.

Scariest moments of my life:

Riding his new baby home (with him in the car behind) from*the Honda dealer where she had her first service. He'd *only ridden a twist and go before so he didn't feel up to it. I doubt I got over 20 mph.

And wonderful Dad stuff this afternoon. He's passed his CBT obviously but he also passed his car theory test this week. So he has some idea. A slow and gentle ride out for a coffee and he was immaculate. He stalled once. So did I pulling out of the drive.

Happy son, happy Dad and a ride out with my twin sons on their*matching bikes to the best greasy spoon we can find to*look forward to.

[Winder]

Can I add a twist to this?
Say I see a bike I like in MCN or something on a private sale but I can't afford it. I tell the seller I'll give him the asking price but if he could take it to his local dealer so I could get finance.
Dealer gives seller the asking price, I give dealer 10% cash as his "profit" and pay off the full private price on a finance deal on which they also make money?

Is there any legal or other reason why this wouldn't work?

Originally Posted by Winder

Can I add a twist to this?
Say I see a bike I like in MCN or something on a private sale but I can't afford it. I tell the seller I'll give him the asking price but if he could take it to his local dealer so I could get finance.
Dealer gives seller the asking price, I give dealer 10% cash as his "profit" and pay off the full private price on a finance deal on which they also make money?

Is there any legal or other reason why this wouldn't work?

No reason why not although he would negotiate the 10% dependant on how much the value of the bike was as warranties cost approx £82-£100 dependant on age of bike, term and cover. As the money is going through the dealer he would legally have to provide a warranty on the bike.

It would depend on the bike, mileage, condition etc as regardless of warranty given the dealer would then enter a contract with you and should you wish to "back" the bike he would be the one liable for that not the private owner.

The dealer would also be liable to pay the Vat on the profit too..so for 10% it may not be worth his time on a bike worth £2k. Finance doesnt pay as much commision anymore as it used to, in some cases just a tenner LOL.

So very much depends on the dealer and bike and deal at the time.