i know there are a lot of people in the trade on here .
just wondering how companies like gsf , euro car parts or smaller
ones work when they are buying their supplies ??
say i were to have a stock of parts which are not
listed on their cataloques etc . how would i go about
being a supplier ??
-would i have to be registered as a limited company ?
-when and how would i get my money from them ??
-what sort of warranty would i be asked to provide for the parts ?
any help much appreciated
Really thats down to the company, We only deal with major companie. Bosch, lucus(trw), nissens, kayaba, sachs, ultraparts, and many more. We are not even close to the scale of ECP or GSF we only have 34 branches in the country. However some individual branches do buy from local businesses if they find its easier to sort from. I dont work on payment side but I believe they use BACS on a 30 day payment normally. Warrenty wise is dependant on goods
Originally Posted by Bigfoot
what company do you work for if you dont mind saying ?
34 branches is not bad tbh , looking at ecp website they have around 58 .
should have mentioned i am mainly wanting to supply plastic and rubber parts
such as coolant tanks , suspension bushes ,engine mounts etc specially
for older cars (pre 96 )
i also wonder what sort of rough profit do these companies work with ?
I work for a company called Motor Parts Direct, I am the IT assistant, but I upload all pricing to the system, so technically control what profit we make, but other people make that decision for me. All rubber mounts we deal with come from Pearl. As for plastics we dont really deal with those as there is not that much of a market with garages after them.
As for profits your looking in the region of about 30-40% on all these companies. Times are hard to keep in the red due to running costs, as you noticed LSUK went down just recently.
-Without a doubt. You will need to be vat registered.
-As bigfoot says 30 days credit is the norm.
-That's upto you really, the longer you offer the more you can ask for your product.
One thing you will need to do though is manufacture your parts to the appropriate ISO or British (Safety) Starndards for the relevent application. Particulary things like suspension components and engine mounts. i would imagine you'd need to send them away for testing, prove you are auditing production standards and apply for the certificate.
oh, and as for turnover. 15% annual profit is considered world class in UK manufacturing. Most places operate at about 10-12%.
i thought you would only need to vat register after earning over
60k a year as a company ?
good point there
i wont be manufacturing the parts ,however the manufacturers i will
be buying the parts from do comply with ISO 9000 standards which
i guess will be good enough ???
Im no economist so really couldn't tell you if it's 60k earning before vat registered etc.
Im a production engineer for a large manufacturing firm. I know from experience that if i want to contract out for example a machine guard to a small fabrication firm, or buy a spare part from a new supplier, even stationary, they need to be on our ordering system. Any company can be added to the system, but before they are accounts do some research on them and always ask me for their vat number. I should imagine most places work the same when purchasing, it's their protection against been ripped off.
Again on the relevent standards im no expert, tbh i thought it was ISO9001 or is that quality? anyway, if your supplier is all ligit in that area then no worries.
Do it, dont tell the tax man, make a few million and head for Rio
[quote=Schakal;14147]
should have mentioned i am mainly wanting to supply plastic and rubber parts
such as coolant tanks , suspension bushes ,engine mounts etc specially
for older cars (pre 96 )
[quote]
the market for pre 96 stuff is rapidly diminishing.
you need to look at the amount of cars on the road in the age bracket you are thinking.
the ONLY way you will be able to compete is to goto china. there are several companies which will copy items if you send originals over...however, you will need to buy alot in one go and a container will be about £500 to hire.
there are easier ways to make money.
this is where ebay is your friend and car forums are your advertising space.
i wouldnt go through a car parts distributor, as your profits will be cut...
Euro Car Parts, when we supplied them, paid by cheque every two months and they were always late with payments. They also insist on a no quible warranty. In all honesty, they were possibly the worst company we've ever dealt with...
They also used to send their pick up boys over sometimes without orders or anything, trying to get stuff free
thats why you dont get many GSF employees going to ECP, however GSF get alot of ex ECP guys staying there.....
or as a person once said."You've tried the Indians, now try the Cowboys....'
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