One Man's rubbish is another Man's treasure.

I just thought I'd share a short story with you regarding choosing stock to sell on. This is perhaps one of the most valuable bits of information that I'll give away for free on this blog. See? I'm a nice guy! :)

About 15 years ago I was living in a small village in Cheshire. I was friendly with the guy who owned the local petrol station. It was a quaint little place, flower beds near the entrance and those old pumps that were attended rather than self service. A girl would come out in all weather and "fill you up" whilst exchanging small talk. The garage had a lot of frontage and I came to an arrangement that allowed me to park up to 10 cars for sale there. I used to valet the car at home (literally minutes away) and then put them up for sale with a price on the screen, and a spec sheet in the window with my mobile number on. It was a bit "Arthur Daley" but quaint at the same time!
These were only cheap cars. Ranging in price from £500 to £2000 and most of my stock was being sourced from two independent car garages in Warrington. Initially I would cherry pick what I wanted from their part exchanges. After a couple of weeks however it was apparent to both garages (the owners were friends) that I was shifting quite a lot of motors within a short space of time. They offered to let me have ALL their part exchanges on a sale or return basis.  I was happy with that as long as the cars were clean and roadworthy and so within a few days all manner of stuff was appearing.

Now you have to remember prior to this it was MY money at risk so I would take safe bets such as Fiestas, Micras, Sierras, etc. Now however ALL the cars were coming to me without me having to pay for them until sold so there was no risk. I frowned at what cars turned up on the first delivery. A Renault 5 and a Nissan Bluebird was amongst them.
I valeted each one and put them up for sale as normal, wouldn't you know it, I sold them ALL within 72 hours. I couldn't believe it. It was a real BIG lesson for me that there are buyers for all makes of cars!

I will now trade ANY make of car. The golden rule still applies about being the cheapest out there but they do sell! There are owners clubs for all types of cars. I've sold Daewoos to people who haven't drove anything else for 10 years, Hyundai wotsits to guys who swear by them. It is actually amazing! The good thing is, not a lot of people have had the good fortune to learn the lesson that I did. They have always played with their own money and are unwilling to take a chance on the outsider so as a result you pick up the obscure stuff for buttons in the auctions. Check it out!

Sadly the little petrol station was shortly afterwards sold to property developers who built 6 huge detached properties on there. I miss that little place!