Hiya,

What would the approx charge I would expect to pay for the above service after the auction cost of the car. I suppose this cost would cover auction fess, deregistration and transport to the port etc. I got a quote for this and was just wondering were they making a tidy profit on this also.
Cheers.

 

£350 unless its a very distant auction. How much have you been quoted?

Simon

 

Thanks Simon,

I have been quoted between £500 and £600 depending on where it is. I thought myself that this was a bit over the top.

 

Theyre having a laugh. Its common Im afraid, Ive looked at a lot of auction sites for people and they all seem to inflate their costs.

Another 'scam' to look out for is charging you 'sales tax'; they claim it back as we do VAT.

Simon

 

I was thinking as much. Why they can't just be straight. Their sourcing fee was low and seemed to be genuine. I would prefer to pay the extra to them if they were straight about it rather than putting it in as a hidden charge.

If I were making the payments directly to the auction house, how would the agent in question make a gain on this. This may not be the process but just wondering.

 

Youve hit the nail on the head there, the majority of firms/web sites Ive seen tempt you with a low 'fee' and then inflate every other cost; some are exaggerated but some are nothing short of fraud. Id be happy to look at the firm for you if they have a website.

You cant bypass the agent as he will be the member of the auction house. Japanese auctions are closed unlike ours, punters cant deal with them in any way. Be wary of Japanese companies who represent themselves as auctions too. Their common scam is to hold an auction for say, an Impreza, thats entered in tomorrows real auction. They use the real auction pictures and copy the details off the appraisal sheet..... The highest 'bidder' on their site is then charged a fee for them to make the bid at the real auction, on their (your) behalf; irrespective of whether the bid is realistic or not.....In virtually every case the 'highest bidder' bid way short of market value (which virtually all cars sell at), so they have little chance of doing anything beyond losing their 'bidding fee'...


Simon