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Used car dealerships


Aellerix

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I don't know how popular or unpopular this opinion is, but I believe that used car dealerships have to stop. It's an OOC abuse of the system that GTA World runs on.

 

How? Unlike real life, most people on the server change cars really often - as often as multiple times a day which, in turn, makes car dealerships the most profitable businesses on the server while, in real life, they would barely function - as they do. There have to be rules regarding what can and can't happen because, as it stands right now, anyone can just do an ad saying they're running a dealership and that's it.

 

I'm speaking from experience. While I ran Denov Dealership, I've seen dozens of different dealerships, some more official than others - from Autopia to Wilson's Dealership that was selling cars through SMS. That's not realistic under any circumstances. Moreover, the profit made from these businesses - which is all IC, that's the issue - is enormous. You probably don't have exact numbers but I can tell you what we made so you can get an idea. Two people running the dealership made in a day around ~300,000 in profits. On bad days, $200,000 and on good days, up to $600,000. That's just profits. I've personally managed to go from $300,000 in total assets to $2,500,000 in two weeks. Again, without breaking any rules and fully role-playing it (including an office, checkups and everything). Some make less and some make even more but I consider this to be an exploit and I want to know what other people think about it.

 

And some first-seen insider information, to clarify what I'm talking about, here are my profits during the last week of activity. There's two sheets, check them out and see what I'm talking about.

 

CLICK HERE

 

Objectively speaking, I don't find it fair for people, myself included, to be making half a million in profits in a day while others make $3,000 from bartending or as little as $2,000 from taxi-ing around all day.

Edited by Aellerix
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What is the actual problem here? Dealerships are providing a service for which there is a demand. People aren't being scammed, and if they are willing to pay the listed price then this is what the car is worth it to them. If you believe that it is too profitable, you can reduce your asking prices and compete with other dealership that you believe are paying too little for used cars, and asking too much when they are selling.

 

The inevitable result from this post will be that more people will try to do the same thing, and make money this way. More competition will reduce the margins.

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Only thing I would prefer is them having actual shops to do them in, not random parking lots. Its already been proven possible with Octavians dealer and it looks beautiful. The sooner they transition to the indoors design and not random parking lots it will be just like any normal business.

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It's still unrealistic, unless some drastic measures are taken. In their current state, the few people running the dealerships will make millions in a really short time by not doing much while others who work twice as hard in jobs that realistically make ten times more money - barely get by. If there was a time limit on when you can buy and sell a vehicle, instead of going through five cars a day (even as an individual), the story would be different. And again, everyone's starting a dealership. Yes, that's how the economy works here, but there have to be some rules. I think there's a pretty clear issue here, seeing how much they make compared to other businesses, and the problem is that there's no rules being broken for this to be accomplished. It's all perfectly legal, both ICly and according to the rules too. It's not about the RP, it's about the money, from my perspective. 

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Most dealerships handle in absurd prices. Solution for me? I simply have one car I enjoy and I stick to it, and when I do buy or sell them I do it myself directly without going through them. 

 

If you go to some sleezy dealership expect to be scammed. But then again i do agree, half a million in profits is an issue. But I've no idea how it could even be fixed. 

Edited by Memozzy
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Just now, Mecovy said:

Only thing I would prefer is them having actual shops to do them in, not random parking lots. Its already been proven possible with Octavians dealer and it looks beautiful. The sooner they transition to the indoors design and not random parking lots it will be just like any normal business.

This does make a lot of sense! Strict enforcement of business licenses should resolve a lot of these issues. It does mean that there's a large barrier of entry, likely lessening competition and increasing prices further though.

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18 minutes ago, Mecovy said:

Only thing I would prefer is them having actual shops to do them in, not random parking lots. Its already been proven possible with Octavians dealer and it looks beautiful. The sooner they transition to the indoors design and not random parking lots it will be just like any normal business.

This is the problem I see at the moment. 
 

Speaking as the owner of Sunset Autos, we use the dealership as more a social RP spot as various people come and hang out throughout the day. There are other businesses/areas of business which make just as much cash. 

Edited by Epic
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15 minutes ago, Aellerix said:

It's not about the RP, it's about the money, from my perspective. 

 

In a server where mechanics can make $100,000 or more a day, I have trouble being sympathetic to the idea that car dealerships are making too much money. Especially when running a car dealership requires some form of financial risk(whereas being a mechanic doesn't). There's also the fact that making a sale typically warrants RP than watching mechanics RP with themselves in the garage.

 

But I do believe that there may be a bit of an issue with 'dealerships' just choosing parking lots and then behaving as though they own the land. I don't necessarily agree that dealerships should be required to get some sort of special business license. But there should be more effort that goes into securing real estate to actually run their businesses.

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When garages made too much money, they were dealt with. I don't see why dealerships shouldn't be sentenced to this same treatment. There are far to many dealerships that operate, starting up and closing down at a moments notice. There's no standards of them and given the amount of money they can make in such a short span of time. The depiction of a used dealership is not realistic either. Why should they just use a parking lot, when every other business needs a lease or purchase of a property? With many of those also requiring expensive interiors to function in the intended way. But not dealerships. I know of one dealership that has a mapped interior (there may be a few more, I don't know).

 

We're not even trading a large price for outstanding roleplay here. Not once has someone give me an outstanding roleplay experience when buying or selling with a dealership. Where is the authentic dealership experience? How many times do you have to ask who's in charge when you go to a dealership? Almost every time for me.

 

If dealerships should be allowed to make as much money as they do, I damn well expect the roleplay to be outstanding. Right now, it's not.

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