Platform for high value private car sales

carfinder

Hi Folks

Just looking for input and advice on a platform I am setting up specifically to cater for private sellers and buyers of high value second hand cars.

The platform will only allow cars to be listed that have have passed an independent 80 point mechanical check by a reputable firm.

The differentiation for the platform will be a 12 month vehicle warranty on cars bought through the platform.

We are hoping that the platform will provide the necessary safeguards to encourage sellers and buyers of high value 2nd hand cars to use the platform rather than using incumbent platforms like donedeal.

I would be grateful for thoughts and critiques of the proposed model.

Thanks

CF

sk8board

The question on everyone’s lips will be “define high-value?”.

Business cases for Transactional platforms are pretty simple, it’s (volume)x(avg tx value)

limiting yourself to both a price floor and market size (irelands market size for private ads of high value cars is pretty small) sets the ceiling for your business turnover.

Almost all high value cars are at dealers, and their listing costs are the same for a €1,000 car or a €250,000 car.

manno

I would definately think there could be a market for this if the price was competitive. Donedeal has become to expensive for what it is. I'm trying to sell my car on it at the moment, lots of views not many calls, car is high 30s.

There is no business reason to limit the sale price, simply offer the service to anyone willing to pay. I took high value to mean over circa 20K.

I think concerns on safeguards around payment is a big issue as well as the mech checks. Lack of instant payments up to now were a big stumbling block. The banks will only give you 10K of your own money on any given day and most people aren't confortable carrying large amounts of cash.

blackbox

I think that providing a secure way to transact the money would be the most important part of your service.

Sensible buyers will get their own checks on an expensive purchase.

If cars are fairly new the manufacturer's warranty should be transferrable.

Buddy Bubs

Best of luck with it. Theres some merit in if there's confidence in the warranties and checks provided and if you can help arrange finance. Otherwise it falls flat.

Are you talking prestige and rare cars or would a 2 year old ID4 for 30k be classed as high value?

What price would you charge a seller? Thats a key point. You'll have to be cheap enough at the start until you can prove your model works

User1998

You would have to charge an extortionate fee if your going to be standing over the cars for a full 12 months. No one in their right mind would stand over a prestige cars for 12 months without making a massive profit margin

Avatar in the Post

^^^ I’m guessing the seller would be standing over the 12 month warranty.

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546888#Comment_123546888

Which would likely mean zero sellers.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546888#Comment_123546888

That can’t be the case..

Avatar in the Post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546899#Comment_123546899

As it stands private sales are caveat emptor unless something obvious like two cars stuck together.

IF the OP is standing over the warranty he will need to take €’000s from the deal. Even then it would be risky unless large reserves in place.

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546920#Comment_123546920

I thought you were suggesting that the owner (seller of the car) would be guaranteeing the car?

Avatar in the Post

The OP probably needs to forget about the 12 month warranty. A car check itself will give comfort.

A platform where private sellers can make sales of high value cars could meet a need.

Avatar in the Post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546932#Comment_123546932

That’s what I imagined the OP had in mind

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546935#Comment_123546935

Donedeal already exists for that. Providing a mechanical inspection & warranty is what would make them stand out. A 3 month third party warranty could be viable IMO.

goochy

I don't think market is big enough . Would suit uk etc .easy to get high end dealers here to sell on SOR. There is a previous model 2018 bentley conti Gt for sale privately for a mad price for yonks. If a dealer was selling same car they would be selling for much less. Private sellers can be quite clueless . Having to sell your own car is also likely to put buyers off

sk8board

the market for private high value cars is minuscule here in Ireland.
donedeal has 2000 listings for private ads over €20k, and just 100 listings for cars over €50k

The financials just don’t add up when you consider the cost of a PPI and warranty on a private car, and how many garages would you need to partner with countrywide to provide the PPI.

What they are describing is a bmw dealership, who do a PPI on an expensive trade-in, and then add a 2 year warranty.

User1998

Opening an SOR garage would be a good idea. Customer gets a better or equal price to a private sale and doesn’t have to deal with viewings, time wasters, trade ins etc.

Dealer charges a 10% fee or €2,000 (whatever is higher) and provides warranty, finance, and trade in facilities.

Customer gets paid when the car sells or if they want to take the car back early they just need to pay a €200 admin fee for wasting dealers time.

Dealer gets to have a yard full of stock with none of their cash tied up in cars. Win/win for both parties.

Wouldn’t work out well for cars that need massive amounts of prep work but for newer cleaner cars its good.

bazz26

If someone thought they could make money from a business venture like this then I'd imagine they would be doing it already with a host of others too. My feeling is that there just isn't enough money in it to be sustainable, the Irish market is too small and the fees involved would need to be high to cover the low volume.

Regarding the warranty, presumably it will be an outsourced warranty from one of those 3rd party warranty companies like carprotect, etc. Cannot imagine these type warranties going very far with high value cars given they have exclusions or limitations on any claims made under them.

goochy

Do lewis beshoffs etc provide their own warranties ? Wouldn't think so

bazz26

I have no idea what Lewis or Beshoffs offer in terms of warranty but I'd expect your paying for it in the price of the car and they have their established customers. If they are offering something unique in terms of after sales backup on their cars then it's going to be difficult for someone new to come in and try to compete with them in a small market.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123547732#Comment_123547732

To be fair European Prestige was new to the market here and has far outgrown them. They now have locations in London and NI selling million pound hypercars

goochy

The English outlet doesn't add up . Seem to have more hyper cars for sale now then long-established dealers like Romans Hartleys and Amari . They just branched out to uk and suddenly had the most high value cars in uk

manno

Why are ye focusing on supercars? Supercar buyers are likely to go to a dealer. The target market here as I understand it is the average man or woman who wants to buy a car for 20 - 50k but doesn't want to pay over the odds at a dealers. The economics of a waranty definitely doesn't stack up. I do think a platform to rival done deal is required as their prices keep going up and they don't offer much. The new platform needs to have some features that make it stand out, whether or not it's a good business model ???

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546888#Comment_123546888

In terms of the warranty, if I was buying a "high value" car, I'd want a dealer fix any issues, not some random mechanic. Presumably, these cars will still be under a manufacturer's warranty which would also need to be adhered to with any warranty work from the OP.

littlevillage

Would a friendly dealership not sell your high value car for you? They would display the car in their showroom, handle all enquiries /viewings and would be able to handle payment/finance and maybe even offer a warranty. This will cost you a nice little fee obviously.

Soo in summary I don't think OP has a business case.

MojoMaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123546767#Comment_123546767

Donedeal is too expensive?? The price of this new service would have to be many many multiples of the current Donedeal charge 😂

You're listing on Donedeal for what…50 quid? For a car asking high 30s? Consider that pretty good value.

grayzer75

If I was looking for a 'high end' car I would be inclined to head to a pro in the game e.g. Morgan's in Warrenpoint https://morgancars.net/used-cars-for-sale/ or - just tell them what you want and they will source it. I wouldn't fancy using a 3rd party site if spending cash like that. Plus they would help sort out the VRT also.

Are you looking to set up an Irish version of JamesEdition https://www.jamesedition.com/cars - I'm not sure if there's a big enough market for that here tbh.

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058416554/platform-for-high-value-private-car-sales

how are you going to cover an entire country with a physical inspection - and who are 'they' ?

I wouldn't let any Joe Soap near/under my 'high value' car.

Outside of that, the market here is tiny. Can't see it being sustainable.

goochy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123548818#Comment_123548818

Beshoffs all the way . On the selling side i have thought before that the likes of the ' business post ' should have a full page with about 50 of the best used cars for sale in the country . The Sunday business Post was where dealers advertised high end cars before the Internet. The Internet is fine but only if you go out of your way looking for cars . The business post worked as you could check out what the likes of lambe & o connor had while flicking through the paper having your breakfast

Austin1

Provided that the minimum value threshold is not too low, I think a platform like this would suit my needs and I'm sure I'm not alone. I bought a new electric car in 2023 and paid in cash. Would love to trade up to a newer model at some stage, but that dealer's 'sales model' in Ireland is not conducive to accepting trade ins. (Technically they do it but are famous for ridculous low-ball offers) Therefore I need to sell it privately. I tried this once before with a 5 yr old Merc E class and got nowhere on the traditional car selling websites. If your platform can cut out the time wasting tire kickers, I'd be happy to allow any thorough inspection on my car as its low mileage and in perfect nick.

goochy

You can't cut out tyre kickers