How to Be Successful As A Car Dealer In Nigeria

In Nigeria, car dealership refers to the practice of purchasing vehicles from abroad at a discount and reselling them for a profit there. The most popular purchase sources are auction and bidding websites.
 
The Cotonou market in the Republic of Benin is another place where automobiles from all over the world are imported and sold at a very low cost. Both new and used automobiles are in demand in the dealership business; you only need to consider the demand before purchasing each one to resell.
 
What You Should Do To Sell Cars
 
1. Purchase a license for a car dealership
 
In order to sell cars in Nigeria, one must submit an application and pay the required “Car Dealership License” charge. You are officially recognized as a licensed auto dealer, which has many benefits. By doing thus, you can acquire a franchise for a specific business and sell exclusively its automobile models. There are auction websites that only allow certified merchants on their platform, where you can find incredible offers. Finally, you avoid facing legal consequences.
 
The road safety offices in your local regions will have details on the application procedure and other license-related information.
 
2. Buy your vehicles.
 
As a licensed dealer, you are allowed to purchase vehicles at auctions and other online bidding venues. Cars are more affordable at auction than on other websites, or you may plan a vacation to the Benin Republic. It is currently permitted to import vehicles through the ports in Lagos, so buy one and drive it all the way to Lagos.
 
To have the car delivered to your location, you could hire a driver. When purchasing an automobile from a foreign country, you typically do so over the phone or entirely online, much like you would on Amazon. When prompted for your shipping address, which in this case must be the port due to customs clearance, you must enter it.
 
3. Online Car Listing
 
You can post classified ads for the cars in your inventory on a large number of well-known websites. It is a wise decision to list them on websites like jiji.com and similar ones as they have a large audience. You must list your vehicles on car sales websites where other dealers offer their vehicles at a price they choose and wait for buyers.
 
Although the websites offer required fields you can fill out, here are some of the ones you must complete when posting online in case they don’t make filling out some of the fields mandatory.
 
Include the location.
To avoid paying expensive delivery expenses, many prefer to purchase their vehicles directly from the seller.
Add only high-quality images of the vehicle.
Write a brief description of the car, mentioning its make, model, mileage, any flaws, and any modifications. Indicate whether it is new or old and any additional information you see relevant.
 
Perhaps the most significant piece is your contact information.
 
There could be other fields not covered here. However, when posting anything online, they are the most significant ones. Most websites allow you to submit an ad for free, but it would be good idea to choose a paid ad if available.
 
4. Locate a Garage and a Lot of Land
 
It won’t be sufficient to just lock the cars in the garage. To display your automobiles outdoors, you would need a display or a plot of land. More Nigerian vehicle sellers like this technique.
 
Shops may need to construct a garage if they don’t have enough room or the necessary amenities to store an automobile. The garage structure might be composed of steel and have a high ceiling similar to a steel warehouse structure. Additionally, it can be located somewhere other than where your auto dealer shop is actually located. potentially a brief drive. To prevent incidents, the garage should have strong security measures in place.
 
5. A list of necessary items
 
Your capital is really important to this firm. Starting out, you can have as few as 1-2 automobiles or as many as 30–50 cars. The size of the company may vary, even if it is a franchise, based on the agreement that was reached with the franchisor. So, we’ll list the prices of the necessities you’ll need to buy to launch your own car dealer business. We won’t mention the cost of the autos, but here are some broad numbers:
 
At about N650,000, a saloon automobile costing N1.2 million may be purchased.
You may spend about N6-7 million for an SUV that costs N10 million.
where you might profit anywhere from N500,000 to N3,000,000.
 
6. Employ one or two people
 
If you are managing a large establishment, you might require as much assistance as a guy would require for labor-intensive tasks like parking and driving automobiles to and from the garage, car cleaning, and assistance with sales. even auto repairs occasionally. However, if the space is tiny, 2 of you may be sufficient for the entire task. Consider hiring someone with automotive experience because it will be beneficial.
 
7. Margin of Profit
 
After clearing customs and all of the small expenses associated with bringing a vehicle into the nation, you can earn up to N500,000 for typical saloon cars. SUVs draw more buyers since you can make up to 1 million Naira or more from the sale of a single vehicle. Accordingly, we may estimate the profit margin to be around 30%. However, given that Nigeria bases its import tax calculation on the dollar’s rise and fall, the margin could vary drastically at any time.
 
8. Quick Recap
 
Starting a business requires N779,000 in funding—the cost of automobiles.
Margin of profit: 17% to 30%
The vicinity of highways and busy roads is ideal.
Online presence is a tool for business.
Potential clients are regular people.