RIYADH, 29 April 2007 — Used car salesmen rarely get any respect thanks to the unscrupulous techniques used by some of them, but that hasn’t kept away young men who are flocking to the used car market in Riyadh’s Al-Naseem district to become the middlemen between seller and buyer. Some of these brokers, Saudi and non-Saudi alike, do this work on the side when they aren’t busy being teachers, students or something else full time.

On the weekend the market is packed, and among the crowds are these 18- to 24-year-old men seeking to squeeze a commission from bewildered car sellers. “I decide on the price after examining the car, its mileage, how old it is, its general condition and so on,” said Nasir Al-Ghatani, a twenty-something Saudi part-time car broker who works the market about four hours on most days.

Men like Al-Ghatani can be seen congregating around car shoppers. Some work with established vendors at the market to attract customers to one particular store. Some brokers prefer to specialize in a particular car type or style.

Saud Al-Mutairi, who appears to be in his late teens and studies at a local high school, said he’s considering a career as a car salesman.

“My brother has been doing this for years,” he said, adding that he earns between SR4,000 and SR6,000 a month, and more during the summer vacation season. “It’s a profitable business.”

Ahmad Haglan, who deals with different car shops, said that many brokers deceive customers. He added that customers themselves tend to come up with different tricks to deceive brokers.

“Some place a baby seat inside the car to make people believe that the car belonged to a family and therefore well maintained. Others add religious signs and tapes in their cars to give the impression that the owner of the car is a pious man and not a joy rider,” said Haglan.

Even the shop owners might fall in the trap of the brokers. A car shop owner, who preferred to stay anonymous, said that vendors have to be careful.

“Once I discovered that the car I bought was still owned by a car company and the person who sold me that car has not finished paying off the vehicle. Authorities took the car from me and gave it to the company. I lost SR35,000 in that transaction.”

This goes to show that in the business of used cars, it’s a buyer-and-seller-beware world.