I was out of Tokyo for last one week on a business trip to UK. I was not able to reply many of my mails and I am sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused to you.

Well, on an experiment basis, our company exhibited cars at two Japanese car auction houses in Britain.  Profit was definitely not our objective; rather we wanted to learn by experience.  We could sell 6 of our 11 vehicles. We plan to put the remaining 5 cars on auction next time.

We found that cars which were more than 10 year old were popular in the auctions, as they were exempted from taking the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test.  In the retail market, however, one can see expensive cars with high quality were popular. The main cars exhibited in the auction were 4WD and sports cars. Not many standard cars were seen at the auction.

This trip was a package tour sponsored by the Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA), and 23 persons from used car exporting companies participated in this trip.  Best Trading is still a new player in this trade.  In this trip, I could meet the presidents of many big corporations, and was able to receive guidance from them on various issues. This was a rare experience for all participants to be on such a long tour with people from similar business field.  That was the best point of this trip.

Prices in Britain are very high. I was really surprised to see that most things were expensive than in Tokyo; almost by 1.5 times. Almost every day, the temerature was above 30 degree C. However, the air conditioners in public transport vehicles such as the train, taxis, and buses were not functioning well.  And I felt it was very hot.

In the countryside the beauty of similar buidings lined up against green backdrop was very picturesque. It will always remain in my memory.

I sincerely wish to express my gratitude to the auction house staff who helped us a lot since our arrival in UK and provided us with all the facilities. That’s a big help for us to build business with Great Britain in the future.  .

Technorati Tags: Tokyo, UK, Japanese car auction, Britain, SVA, sports cars, JUMVEA

This week two gentlemen who were visiting Japan from New Zealand on a business trip came to our office. They were interested in buying a car from Japanese used car auction for their personal use. I took them to Yokohama used car auction with me.

One of them found a nice car which he liked, but the auction had already ended. He was lucky that car was not sold in auction, so we tried to buy the car by negotiation ( It is possible for a buyer to negotiate with the seller though auction staff).

My customer was happy that we could buy the car after the auction was over. However later we found out that the car had a problem with the air conditioner. The air conditioner had run out of gas. If it was just a simple problem of being run out of gas, we can fix it for just about 3,000 yen. But I think the problem was different and the seller knew it very well. So he just mentioned to the auction office that the air conditioner had run out of gas. And so the auction inspector didn’t realize that problem and was not mentioned in the auction sheet.

In short, we were cheated by the seller. If we buy a car during the auction process, and later find problems which are not mentioned in the auction sheet, we can market that I cancel our order.  But since we bought the car after the auction was over, we could not cancel the order. It was not my customer’s fault, but I took it as my lack of observation, so.I discounted my customer for 100,000 Yen. My commission is 50,000 Yen and it was a loss for me, but I must take a responsibility for quality for my customer.

It was a sad affair, so ladies and gentlemen, please take extra care if you buy a car after the auction is over through negotiation.

The two  customers from New Zealand are Kiwi but their nationality is Iraq. They have a very serious problem in their home country, but I found them very bright and of good character. Though I do not wish to mix politics in this blog,  I just pray that their family and friends in their homeland Iraq can live peacefully.

Technorati Tags: Japanese, used car, auction, New Zealand, Iraq

Today I am still working till late night because of many mails received. I also wasted my time because one of our potential buyers sent me a bank transfer statement of 1500 GBP from UK to Japan. I thought it was a fake one. I sent him my passport copy and requested him to send his passport copy, but he did not comply with that. I told him I may have to go to UK embassy to find out more about the bank statements.

We are getting ready for UK Auto auction on 21st June in SOUTHAMPTON and 22nd June in LIVERPOOL.

We bought 11 vehicles -(1)FIGARO FK10 (2)HIACE LH103V (3)PAO PK10 (4) HILUX SURF KZN130W (5) SKYLINE ECR33 (6) LEGACY BG5 (7) FIGARO FK10 ( MR2 SW20 (9) CELICA ST202 (10) LANCER CN9A (11) DELICA PD8W

I am going to go there with more than 20 Japanese used car exporters who are members of JUMVEA. I will stay in UK from 18th to 23 th June, I want to meet each of my customers in UK. Please contact me at that time by email !!

Technorati Tags: UK, Japan, Auto auction, LIVERPOOL, HIACE, SKYLINE, JUMVEA