Another SoR story - Williams Crawford

[T8]

The two points that resonated with me from my first read of this article were:

Firstly, the broker in a commission based sale will never take anything like the same hit as a seller and will therefore be a lot happier if a less than optimal price is achieved. I realised this many years ago when dealing with a number of Estate Agents.

eg. I came across far more that were happy to take an easy 1.5% of the first £240k offered rather than doing some work to get the expected £250k as this effort would only earn them £150 more. Some actually seemed shocked at my reaction to their suggestion that I meekly give up £10k.

Secondly, the issue with the settlement paperwork had me thinking back to the time I sold my 996T on SoR.

I wanted to clear £28.5k and agreed that the middle man would get 10% so the car was advertised at £32k. After a couple of weeks I had call to say that a buyer was lined up but the deal - involving a part-exchange - would mean me clearing a bit less. I was asked what my bottom-line was and a few hours after saying £27.5K was told the sale had gone through. The £27.5k was in my bank within a couple of days and I received a receipt showing that as the buy-in price.

I have no issue with the deal done and will definitely use the SoR process again but it did dawn on me that I never actually knew what the broker had got for the car nor what the £££s commission taken actually was.

 

[IMI A]

The two points that resonated with me from my first read of this article were:

Firstly, the broker in a commission based sale will never take anything like the same hit as a seller and will therefore be a lot happier if a less than optimal price is achieved. I realised this many years ago when dealing with a number of Estate Agents.

eg. I came across far more that were happy to take an easy 1.5% of the first £240k offered rather than doing some work to get the expected £250k as this effort would only earn them £150 more. Some actually seemed shocked at my reaction to their suggestion that I meekly give up £10k.

Secondly, the issue with the settlement paperwork had me thinking back to the time I sold my 996T on SoR.

I wanted to clear £28.5k and agreed that the middle man would get 10% so the car was advertised at £32k. After a couple of weeks I had call to say that a buyer was lined up but the deal - involving a part-exchange - would mean me clearing a bit less. I was asked what my bottom-line was and a few hours after saying £27.5K was told the sale had gone through. The £27.5k was in my bank within a couple of days and I received a receipt showing that as the buy-in price.

I have no issue with the deal done and will definitely use the SoR process again but it did dawn on me that I never actually knew what the broker had got for the car nor what the £££s commission taken actually was.

But the broker isn't just a broker and if you dont trust his or her word you shouldn't be dealing with them in the first place. From my perspective the key is what I am being returned. If the broker making 10k on top I dont care if Ive agreed a sale price. Lets say 911 Virgin took £5k out of my 964 C2 I sold via them. An engine rebuild on one of these is lets say 15k. They sell car and take a big risk with a 12 month warranty which I always insist on as I drive the cars. Leaks common and often require a full rebuild to fix properly so SOR is not all roses.

Different dealer I know played a blinder and sold a very well tuned 997.1 turbo for £80k a year ago with 12 month warranty. He took £5k profit out of it. Three months later third gear synchro and £10k gearbox rebuild required. Dealer had to wear the loss and end box to Sport and Classic for fixing. Even at trade prices all that working prepping and advertising the car for nothing. Its a tough gig the car biz.