I live and work in the UK and contemplating exporting used cars parts to Nigeria. The parts I intend exporting include – engines, dashboards, abs pumps, a/c condensers, gearbox ecu’s, cylinder heads, kompressors, crankhafts etc.  I I live and work in the UK and contemplating exporting used cars parts to Nigeria. The parts I intend bringing include – engines, dashboards, abs pumps, a/c condensers, gearbox ecu’s, cylinder heads, kompressors, crankhafts etc. I plan to buy the parts from auto breakers and yards and inspect carefully prior to shipment.

I don’t have any experience in this type of business and would appreciate advice and suggestions on this proposed business.

1) Which are the most popular cars in Nigeria?
2) Are there any restrictions to the importation of used cars parts to Nigeria?
3) What kind of profit margin can one expect from this business?
4) What are the risks inherent in this proposal?

I would really appreciate your input, advice or suggestions on this my business proposal as I am by nature very risk averse,

you will make some mistakes ,but i just hope it will not be too much.In Nigeria Nissan ,Toyota engines ,and you can try peaguot,its better you have a shop,so that you put somebody and collect money.but ther eare instanst buyers.But business is profitable in long run ,not in the short period.exchange rates fluctuations may shorten your profitss oemtimes.the sucess of the business depends on the person in Nigeria who sells it and send back the money for another purchase.

olas2u:

you will make some mistakes ,but i just hope it will not be too much.In Nigeria Nissan ,Toyota engines ,and you can try peaguot,its better you have a shop,so that you put somebody and collect money.but ther eare instanst buyers.But business is profitable in long run ,not in the short period.exchange rates fluctuations may shorten your profitss oemtimes.the sucess of the business depends on the person in Nigeria who sells it and send back the money for another purchase.

Thank you Olas2u for your insight on the types of engines most sought after in Nigeria. You also alluded to mistakes, can you kindly give examples of some of he mistakes and difficulties i should anticipate.
I am well aware of the importance of having a honest and trustworthy person in Nigeria. What are your views on supplying to stablished traders?
Regards

olas2u:

Well those are real life experiences,you can see he does not have any idea

Thanks olas2u, your real life experience will help the poster and somebody else from falling into trouble.

femmy2010:


This tribal input is unwarranted oo.

Abeg make you share your real life experience from your clearing experience now. Let people know the bad and the good side so that they can learn some lesson.

I can help you on that and the reason is because im also here in uk and starting out on the same business the only advantage i have now is that i have an experienced mechanic who does the breaking of vehicles into parts for nigerians. so i know which kind of cars to break but need information on the spare parts buyers in Nigeria.






contact info:
markethquk@gmail.com
markethquk@hotmail.co.uk
markethquk@yahoo.com

@burgerking

This is a trade that is very, very fragile, very delicate
I do not mean to scare you, but you have to tread carefully. I once went into the trade but my experience was not funny.

Here are the potential dangers
  1. Market demand changes very frequently. The theory of  demand of supply is very stong here if you know what I mean.
  2. Whoever is buying from you wants to buy at the least possible price. He doesn't care if you are making any profit or otherwise. Some are very greedy.
  3. Selling on credit is at times inevitable and should that happen, the concern is -- would you be able to get the whole sum back at agreed date?
  4. If you have a space allocated to you in the market to sell your wares, you are paying rent on the space which gets burdensome if you can not sell early enough
  5. If somebody must sell for you, then make sure he is not one of the market agents/touts or whatever they are called. The problem with these guys is  they add up their own interest on your asking price. They look for a profit margin that you who have laboured to get the goods down do not have. They may be calling you on phone that somebody is about to pay a price lower than your price, meanwhile the customer is paying much higher. They are very terrible guys.

Do your homework and outsidework very well and I wish you all the best

There is nothing wrong importing used auto parts into the country .Most of the importers dealing in this kind of business also buy from Uk but the issue is,getting the right person to market the goods for you here in Nigeria,though,there are lots of buyers at ladipo market who are ready with their cash to buy the whole container from you even before the clearing process .

On the type of car parts to imports,Nigerians have alots of flairs for toyota ,honda and peogeout cars.You can buy their used engines in bulk coupled with some auto parts .

What government is going to charge you is just 5% of the total amount of the goods imported .

You can contact this number 08186116315 for the clearing of your container at the sea port ,,i can assure you of prompt and efficient delivery.

Feel free to ask more question while i can also advise you on the best shipping line that work with the best terminal here in Nigeria

I will advise you not to ship car parts arbitrarily. if you make good use of this forum (as some do) you can make shipments only on special requests (sometimes called pre-order). send a picture of what you intend shipping to whosoever is making the requests to gain his approval and satisfaction with the part(s) you are shipping, else your goods may face serious challenges such as incessant rejections based on irrelevant criticisms. Nigerians are very selective (I must say) and are also high falutin critics. They may request for a particular product, but on arrival, will bluntly reject it citing frivolous excuses. so, in a nut shell, be sure they are satisfied with what they see, make them pay some form of initial deposit (just to get their financial commitment), ship the parts and ask for your balance to be paid into your account on collection. Hope that helps.

pato405

pato405:

I will advise you not to ship car parts arbitrarily. if you make good use of this forum (as some do) you can make shipments only on special requests (sometimes called pre-order). send a picture of what you intend shipping to whosoever is making the requests to gain his approval and satisfaction with the part(s) you are shipping, else your goods may face serious challenges such as incessant rejections based on irrelevant criticisms. Nigerians are very selective (I must say) and are also high falutin critics. They may request for a particular product, but on arrival, will bluntly reject it citing frivolous excuses. so, in a nut shell, be sure they are satisfied with what they see, make them pay some form of initial deposit (just to get their financial commitment), ship the parts and ask for your balance to be paid into your account on collection. Hope that helps.

You are on spot. Good point

All advice given is good, but I will like you to bear this in mind as you live. Life it's self is risk so we keep on taking risk every day as it's only God that guide one's steps. The used car parts business is very profitable business in Nigeria but pray for God's direction and don't put your trust in man my broda. I have a lot of people in the business both my tenants they are doing pretty well.

@poster: You confessed that you didn't have any experience on used spare parts and I believed you especially when you mentioned dashboard from UK (RH steering). Well I must tell you that Nigerian business/market have no room for on the job training! A lot of experienced guys are facing tough times selling their goods when it get to Nigeria not to talk of someone that have no experience at all. What I will advice you to do is partner with someone that is already in the business and doing good. And when I say partner, this person must involve some serious money not just sit and wait for you to buy the parts, ship them, clear them and he will only market/sell them! NO. You also have/need to be flexible enough to visit naija once or twice a year depending on how often you ship. Like some have said already, do your homework very well before investing your money. Some Nigerians in UK go to places like Germany or Austria to buy used parts since they have more Japanese and German cars like Mercedes over there. Good luck!

I will advise you strictly not to get involved in that biz. From my experience lots of people are in the biz already. Moreover the end buyer don't buy at good prices. They will always price it down. Instead you should look into bringing those cabstars. U get real price for that.
Wish you good luck.

you can try some form of internet sales model - some dealers on nl have done very well from that. a situation in which people contact u with parts requests , you agree on a price, then ship it down. i think if you a honest and plan properly, that is a buiness model that can fly. one of the problems car owners have in nigeria is the proliferation of fake spare parts

just an idea - but the internet is a niche you should consider, imho.

My honest advice for u is ensure that from the beginning u put God first.I have been in this for over 2yrs now but my first experience nearly put me off.My problem start with a incompetent shipper 3rd rated type who did not the measure of a van and could not ascertain avan has a bulk head or not.From the beginning everthing works well,until i met shipper.
1.Make sure you have people u can trust to clear your goods,otherwise u end up paying demurrages and goods will be at the mercy of custom officer.(a)Ensure u know the amount of clearing a goods especially van or trucks otherwise you pay double surcharges.(b)Check price of various engines i.e research well as price of these goods fluctuate on daily basis

2.It is true that the guy who said that u should not attempt to put your goods to Yoruba traders is not being racist or tribal every traders wants to make good profits and goes home happily

3.Trust yourself and whoever that you asked to look for buyer for try as much to check as it is common practice in naija to put their on price on top in all ramification of business.and ready to do underhand to police and custom officers.Wish u all the best in 2012.DON'T FORGET MARKET RESEARCH IS THE ROOT OF ALL BUSINESS even iya alakara do research b4 venturing to business of akara!!!!!!!!

lol' ,
JDB2009

Thank you guys for your different contributions. They have been richly revealing and i have really learnt a lot from your various takes on this proposal. I know every business involves some measure of risk taking but any adverse outcome can be reduced to a minimum by a thorough market research which informed the opening of this thread. There is always some inertia and anxiety before embarking on a new venture but it is important to be careful but not be cowed into a state of retreat or indecision. I have decided to proceed with this venture in early 2012 and i have trusted people back home in Nigeria who are very dilligent and committed.

I have equally done some research here in the UK which is still ongoing and i have made contacts with several salvage yards who would supply the parts. I have also made contact with a shipper with whom had previously done some business in the past.
My aim is to focus on the common autos used in Nigeria- Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Peugeot.
What years are most commonly sought after - 1995 to 2000, 2000 to 2005 or 2005 to 2010. My guess is that more cars will fall into the 2000 o 2005 bracket.
Is it better to focus on a few parts i.e. less than 10 or should i just order as many different parts as possible? If you think i should focus on a few number of parts, kindly give your reason and examples of the parts that would move fast.
I look forward to your continued and constructive input into this thread.

Pre order is not a good business deal for spare parts, he is talking about parts and not cars. Spare parts needs to be readily available and its not worth the stress of pre-ordering it unless it is for someone who already have it as an established business in the UK. l would also add that 50% of the spare parts market is from Europe but out of this, l may award only about 10% if upto that from the UK, majority of traders buys from Germany and the cars that they normally go for is

VW Golf models
Opel
Mercedes
BMW
Toyota amongst others but these are the major ones, special order applies to big cars that parts are generally expensive and seller feel that it ties down their money especially when no one asks for them. lt is also cheaper to buy a whole car and have it broken down for you and you take the vital parts and sell the others, that is how it is done especially in Germany, you can meet up with and interact with people/importers that are already in the business, they should be able to give you more insight and it is important to know which parts moves i.e which parts you can have your money back as soon as it drops into the off loading site, there are ready buyers waiting to buy off as soon as it drops. Most people also prefer loading inside buses, danfo as it is called or mitsubushi L300. There are much to do and money to make from it only with the right information. Good luck

Ok poster, first test of your readiness for business. I am making a Pre-order.

I need the left side doors (front and back) of 2008 Toyota Corolla. What will be your delivery price to Lagos? Let us get it rolling from here. The experience may assist you.

I will advice you to do bulk engine sales,without bisecting it.I deal in engine sales at ladipo warehouse,Lagos Nigeria.The fastest selling engines,are that of Honda,Nissan,and Toyota(especially that of Camry 2000-2002).I have bulk buyers,that we work together,that will be willing to clear it as soon a the container anchor Tin-Can Port.If you are willing to do business kindly get in touch with me on 234-8134340380 (Austin Essien)anticipating doing business with you,Merry Christmas.

y2kaustin:

I will advice you to do bulk engine sales,without bisecting it.I deal in engine sales at ladipo warehouse,Lagos Nigeria.The fastest selling engines,are that of Honda,Nissan,and Toyota(especially that of Camry 2000-2002).I have bulk buyers,that we work together,that will be willing to clear it as soon a the container anchor Tin-Can Port.If you are willing to do business kindly get in touch with me on 234-8134340380 (Austin Essien)anticipating doing business with you,Merry Christmas.

Hi Austin, Thanks for responding to my thread and offering an informal offer to do business with me. I am still in the process of doing a market research and conducting feasibility studies. If at the end process, i feel the margin is reasonable and risk not too great, i will definitely give you a call.
Regards

Landlord2:

Ok poster, first test of your readiness for business. I am making a Pre-order.

I need the left side doors (front and back) of 2008 Toyota Corolla. What will be your delivery price to Lagos? Let us get it rolling from here. The experience may assist you.

Mate, i am tempted to take up your challange but if you re-read my post, i am currently researching the market. As you know, this is a very technical market and i want to be sure of my ability to compete with well established players before taking a plunge. If at the end of my consultations i decide to use 'pre-order' as a business model, i would definetly get in touch.
Regards

ok,i will be waiting to hear from you soon.incase,you will need my assistance in your feasibility studies,don't hesitate to call on my attention.Do have a rewarding week and year end.

JDB2009:

My honest advice for u is ensure that from the beginning u put God first.I have been in this for over 2yrs now but my first experience nearly put me off.My problem start with a incompetent shipper 3rd rated type who did not the measure of a van and could not ascertain avan has a bulk head or not.From the beginning everthing works well,until i met shipper.
1.Make sure you have people u can trust to clear your goods,otherwise u end up paying demurrages and goods will be at the mercy of custom officer.(a)Ensure u know the amount of clearing a goods especially van or trucks otherwise you pay double surcharges.(b)Check price of various engines i.e research well as price of these goods fluctuate on daily basis

2.It is true that the guy who said that u should not attempt to put your goods to Yoruba traders is not being racist or tribal every traders wants to make good profits and goes home happily

3.Trust yourself and whoever that you asked to look for buyer for try as much to check as it is common practice in naija to put their on price on top in all ramification of business.and ready to do underhand to police and custom officers.Wish u all the best in 2012.DON'T FORGET MARKET RESEARCH IS THE ROOT OF ALL BUSINESS even iya alakara do research b4 venturing to business of akara!!!!!!!!

lol' ,
JDB2009

JDB2009, nice one above, I work in Lagos and I'm currently researching the line of biz in issue. Kindly send me your mobile: toni.cann at gmail dot com I'll like to enquire about one or two things. Thank you.

burgerking:

I live and work in the UK and contemplating exporting used cars parts to Nigeria. The parts I intend exporting include – engines, dashboards, abs pumps, a/c condensers, gearbox ecu’s, cylinder heads, kompressors, crankhafts etc.  I I live and work in the UK and contemplating exporting used cars parts to Nigeria. The parts I intend bringing include – engines, dashboards, abs pumps, a/c condensers, gearbox ecu’s, cylinder heads, kompressors, crankhafts etc. I plan to buy the parts from auto breakers and yards and inspect carefully prior to shipment.

I don’t have any experience in this type of business and would appreciate advice and suggestions on this proposed business.

1) Which are the most popular cars in Nigeria?
2) Are there any restrictions to the importation of used cars parts to Nigeria?
3) What kind of profit margin can one expect from this business?
4) What are the risks inherent in this proposal?

I would really appreciate your input, advice or suggestions on this my business proposal as I am by nature very risk averse,

@burgerking, read carefully in btw the lines of all that has been advised esp the advice of DB2009. In addition what do you really want to achieve doing the business? extra change? or something steadier to maintain your family? this will inform the model you will elect to operate (mildly aggressive or easy going trading model) I ve been doing my own research here in Nigeria in the last 7 months of 2011 while mopping up the small small capital i could get to start. I was fortunate to meet some trustworthy young guys like myself running similar shows, I ve had to close from work and drive down to the market to understudy them and gather 'business intelligence' in the last 7 months, now I ve learnt stuffs, done some local trading cycles (with a smaller amount) earned their trust and trusted them appreciably too enough to spread out to international importation come this January, 2012. I am saying all this cos I ve the hunch that you being a NLder and interested in what I am interested in, we will still cross paths somehow (that if you tarry long in the trade as am planning to). lol!
Lest I forget, just in my little knowledge, do not bother your head with pre-ordering for spare parts of 'economy cars' like toyotas, hondas etc, it may not worth your while unless you answer the above questions and you come to the conclusion that you just only need extra change to do fine boy. I cant start typing all the reasons IMHO why I think pre ordering of spare parts is a slow plan. At your intervention level into the market (as an exporter from UK, whose goods will be sold into the Nigerian market)you may never be able to compete favourably or make enough margin using that model.
It is just my opinion o! Anything is possible through God. ok, let me pause here for now, cheers, later.

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Hi guys. I am just starting the business too from USA. I will take orders for Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Honda. If interested, pls contact me at marlboroltd@yahoo.com

y2kaustin: I will advice you to do bulk engine sales,without bisecting it.I deal in engine sales at ladipo warehouse,Lagos Nigeria.The fastest selling engines,are that of Honda,Nissan,and Toyota(especially that of Camry 2000-2002).I have bulk buyers,that we work together,that will be willing to clear it as soon a the container anchor Tin-Can Port.If you are willing to do business kindly get in touch with me on 234-8134340380 (Austin Essien)anticipating doing business with you,Merry Christmas.

I want to go int ocar parts business,but i intend to learn the trade for a few months before i venture,I feel that a big spare part dealer shop is the appropriate place to learn.How can you help me in achieving this dream?.If you can recommend me to a dealer who will be willing to accept me,ksince your in Ladipo i know you will know a lot of them.Thanks in anticipation.My email is rudzob2001@gmail.com

hw are you business and family hope fine sir. I'm a licensed customs agent which my office based @1/3 creek road apapa here in lagos have been in the field of clearing for the past 10year with a good recommendation from ncs I will be glad if you can grant me the opportunity to be handling your consignment my company name is couvani nig ltd here are my contact +2347035864656.thanks I will b glad to hear back from you.thanks from femi ogundokun

Hi OP so how did you get on with this used car parts export venture?

Seeing as you said you're risk averse did you eventually go into it?

Lol, Don't send anything to Nigeria without some kind of deposit at hand. I have 2 clean Peugoet 407 hanging unsold in 9ja now. If you must send without deposit, then make sure it is very dead and the money is worthless to you cos we are very poor people that like big things we can't afford.

Even if you want to sell a Range Rover sports of 2013 model for 1 million Naira, you would still find someone that would ask you if it can fly for 650k, lol. Mehn, hold your cash, keep your job or keep seeking one and forget that country if you have limited experience.

I know what you mean about Nig folks seeking impossible deals. It appears the thinking is, "if he is willing to sell for that price then he must have factored in a huge profit for himself already" so they will still haggle anyway whatever the price.

Shame about your 607s, are they in Lagos? Are they RHDs?

Hi Guys,

23 year old Iraqi, born and bred in London, United Kingdom. I've lived here all my life and have a bunch of Lebanese friends that live in Victoria Island... They told me about the business in Nija. Taking orders for UK cars. Will beat anyones price... Already have experience in shipping to Port Said in Egypt would love to take a crack at Lagos.

Email: majid.aljassas@gmail.com
Skype: majidaljassas
Mob / Whatsapp: +44 777 609 9987

Hello people, I am new to this forum, but I believe I am in the right place as you all are discussing a subject I want to deeply get involve in. I live in the US and I want to start exporting car parts home to 9ja. My problem however, is finding a mechanic that will disassemble the salvage cars that I get and prepare them for export. If anyone has such a contact, I will be eternally grateful. Also, I do not intend to just give all away because I am in a hurry to sell. Consequently, I will need a warehouse to store my merchandise as I wait for the right client. How do I get a warehouse on a permanent bases.
Also, I intend to export all the undamaged parts of the salvage. Considering this scenario, can anyone give me an approximate amount of salvage Toyotas, Hondas, or BMWs that will fill a container.
Thanks for your assistance.