Hi all,

I'd like to conduct some market research on a possible business venture I've been considering.

Some of you may know the company named Streetside Classics; they have 3 locations in the U.S. I was thinking of starting something similar but much smaller, of course. It would be an indoor showroom where classic car sellers offer their cars for consignment.

The company and seller agree to a price the seller will accept if/when the car is sold. The seller also pays a small, fixed cost to cover advertising and light up-keep on the car until it's sold. The consignor will then endeavour to sell the car at a premium to the agreed-upon price, keeping the premium.

The benefit to the seller is that someone else gets to deal with all the tire kickers and time spent on numerous viewings. The benefit to the buyer is they get to have a selection of classic cars for consideration under one roof.

So, would you consider using a service like this, as a seller and/or buyer?

Would you use a consignment service? single choice
	Yes, I would.
	No, I wouldn't.
Votes accepted starting: 08/28/13 11:22 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

I chose the yes option. I would use the service as a seller, but not as a buyer. Unless of coarse the car was rare and I had no other options than to pay a premium. then again, rare cars are really out of my budget anyway.

it's a nice idea, but sellers have so many options to gain a much bigger audience, via the "interwebs", at little to no cost. and don't forget the insurance you would have to carry if something catastrophic happened.

There is a classic car dealer near me in the next town over.

Other than on the first few sunny days of spring, the place looks like a ghost town. From what I have heard, 90% of his business is advertizing over the web - Epay, craigslist, etc. I would think you wouldn't need a fancy bricks and mortar building if you are simply doing that. A bombed out warehouse would work with some nice lighting and a background for photography. (I'm sure a few bikinis would help too) :D)

Property taxes, business taxes, insurance, etc are incredibly high, at least around here too. But I'll stay off my political soapbox for now. And that's before you even pull the first car through the door to sell.

I'd expect a few year's worth of operating loss before any kind of profit shows up.

All I can advise is "be careful!".

I agree that as a seller it sounds like a good idea but I think that those type of shops still do the majority of their sales and advertising over the web and you would have a lot more competition than you may think.

There may be a market for a heated / cooled storage facility (vehicles, equipment, documents, etc.) in your area.