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The hardest part of running a used car business is buying cars, and for me it’s a full-time task.
Some would say it’s an addiction, as I’m forced to spend too much time browsing auction listings on Carwow and Motorway every night.
I’m a fan of any of those sites. I like the format and the fact that you have the ability to take a look at the cars when you pass by to pick them up.
I check to gather as many as possible, i. e. cars that are indexed for sale according to my buying parameters locally.
I prefer it because it saves shipping costs that reduce your margin and waste too much time if they turn out to be poorly described.
Last week 4 seemed to be mid-week and hit all my parameters. If you’ve seen any of my videos or listened to the Car Dealer Podcast, know that I like that they have smart retail ratings of car dealers and that they cost under £7,000 in detail.
I think cars with a detail score above 90 are very temporary sellers for me. Right now my average days to sell is 16. 5 days and if it reaches 30 I start to worry.
Last week, 4 cars that reached those figures made the impression on the road: an Audi A1, a Nissan Qashqai, a Vauxhall Mokka and a Hyundai i20.
With the help of AI, I developed a bid strategy. It’s anything I do myself, but for the purposes of the AI Car Conalership project, I tried to try it out.
The effects were, as you can see in the video above, and the AI gave me an order of preference to bid.
I’m going to spoil the video and tell you what I earned, but let’s just say I earned it “reasonably. “
The week also ended with two discounts: a Suzuki Celerio at the beginning of the week and a VW Polo at the end. Both were sold to almost new drivers who surely enjoyed the cars.
I consider my favorite part of buying and selling used cars to be assembly and serving visitors. The visitor service part of my job and keeping other people satisfied is my number one priority.
It really makes me smile to hand over a car to a new driver who is incredibly excited to begin the adventure of a lifetime in their own vehicle. I will not forget this day and it is a day that will stay with you and it is vital that you do everything you can to make it special.
It turns out it’s working so far, and I’m incredibly proud of my reviews.
On the sales side, things were a bit calmer. Despite a few attempts, nothing changed, but I guess that’s how the cookie falls apart some weeks.
You can stay up to date on Clever Car Collection and my trials and tribulations in the car business on our YouTube channel or pay attention to our podcast.
James is the founder and editor-in-chief of Car Dealer Magazine and CEO of parent company Baize Group. James has been an automotive journalist for over 20 years, writing about cars and the automotive industry.
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