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Need to sell 110+ new Mercedes-Benz Cars below list price

f0reclone

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Hello Fastlaners,
a business contact of me here in germany whom I can trust very well has bought a ship load (about 110) of new Mercedes-Benz cars (different models for example E350 4Matic). He bought them for a lot cheaper than the list price because on the ship was a fire but the cars were not damaged. Now they are sold by him in germany for a price of 40% below list price. I've got the chance to refer buyers to him and keep 4% of the sales. I know thats a little commission. Maybe I can talk to him to higher the price by 4-6% and keep 8-10%.

What are your thoughts on this deal?

What would be a good strategy to find buyers?


Thank You.

f0reclone

P.s.: I'm not trying to sell anything to anybody of you.
 
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becks22

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Hello Fastlaners,
a business contact of me here in germany whom I can trust very well has bought a ship load (about 110) of new Mercedes-Benz cars (different models for example E350 4Matic). He bought them for a lot cheaper than the list price because on the ship was a fire but the cars were not damaged. Now they are sold by him in germany for a price of 40% below list price. I've got the chance to refer buyers to him and keep 4% of the sales. I know thats a little commission. Maybe I can talk to him to higher the price by 4-6% and keep 8-10%.

What are your thoughts on this deal?

What would be a good strategy to find buyers?


Thank You.

f0reclone

P.s.: I'm not trying to sell anything to anybody of you.

A good way to get rid of most or a good portion of the cars at once is to act as a wholesaler. You could contact some used car dealerships in Germany and see if they want the inventory. For individual buyers, don't have a lot of good ideas to get rid of them quickly. I would be careful though about who you sell them to- This sounds like an episode I watched of American Greed.
 

RHL

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I'd bet 110 brand new Mercedes that MB would not allow the brand to be devalued to the tune of 40%.

But I have a gambling problem so don't trust me

Or the titles are branded from an insurance claim related to the fire (similar to what happens to hail damaged cars) and these things won't move even at 40% off.

Look, even at half off, 110 new Mercs is something like $3,000,000 worth of inventory. Unless you have no liability at all, including if a customer comes back and sues the seller for some reason (if you really don't, go for it by all means), IMO you don't seem to know enough about this to jump in or you wouldn't be asking questions like this. That's a lot of cars and a lot of value to unload. Have you ever sold a Mercedes before? Even one?
 
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Azure

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Does Mercedes not own the chain of distribution all the way down? I was under the impression that MB dealership were all corporate owned. It would be rather difficult for someone to own 110 brand new C classes. I've never seen a private car lot with that many new Benzes.
 

f0reclone

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First of all the cars aren't damaged in any way, maybe they have been stained a bit. All of them are beeing cleaned right now.

Look, even at half off, 110 new Mercs is something like $3,000,000 worth of inventory. Unless you have no liability at all, including if a customer comes back and sues the seller for some reason (if you really don't, go for it by all means), IMO you don't seem to know enough about this to jump in or you wouldn't be asking questions like this. That's a lot of cars and a lot of value to unload. Have you ever sold a Mercedes before? Even one?

I'm only referring buyers and taking commission. The only thing that could happen, the buyer returns the car (if B2C) and I must return the commission. So I've got no liability. Car selling is not our business so we didn't sell new cars in the past. Only our own
 

JDx

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No experience with new cars and brand distribution, but in for more info / to see how this goes
 
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RHL

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First of all the cars aren't damaged in any way, maybe they have been stained a bit. All of them are beeing cleaned right now.

Doesn't mean the titles aren't branded. Those stains could be enough to do it. If it was, you're in for a bumpy ride.
 

codo3500

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Depending on your region, get your commission up to 15% (let's face it, the guy is still making plenty). Go and offer local boat dealers 10% commission for referrals, pocket 5%. They'll have plenty of contacts after the cars, especially if they pull the whole "Look, don't tell anyone, but I know a guy that can get 40% off, but you have to keep it hush hush". That guy will tell 10 people at his next BBQ.
 

nradam123

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The same thing happened in a flood in Chennai here, all exotic cars in ridiculously low prices. I am not sure what happened with those cars though.
 
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minirich

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As far as I know are most of the MB dealers independent.

If he is selling the cars in europa or germany than the chance that someone will come back to sue you is relatively low. They usually sign a contract which will state that you buy the car as seen and will mention some important points of the history of the car.

The only company that owns all their car dealerships is Porsche (as far as i know) and VW/Audi is owning most of their dealerships.
 

FLM

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As far as I know are most of the MB dealers independent.

If he is selling the cars in europa or germany than the chance that someone will come back to sue you is relatively low. They usually sign a contract which will state that you buy the car as seen and will mention some important points of the history of the car.

The only company that owns all their car dealerships is Porsche (as far as i know) and VW/Audi is owning most of their dealerships.

Hey, that is actually wrong. Neither Mercedes, Audi/VW/Porsche are exclusively distributed by so called "Niederlassungen". There are plenty of big dealer groups, which distribute these car makers. Most of the dealerships from car makers in Germany are sold to private investors, because they are not profitable.
 
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minirich

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Hey, that is actually wrong. Neither Mercedes, Audi/VW/Porsche are exclusively distributed by so called "Niederlassungen". There are plenty of big dealer groups, which distribute these car makers. Most of the dealerships from car makers in Germany are sold to private investors, because they are not profitable.

I did not say MB was.

And it looks like they changed their policy since the last time I checked.
 

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