# Secret Collectors Network (SCN)

> The UK's buyer-led marketplace for enthusiast and collector cars.

## What is SCN?

Secret Collectors Network is a UK-based online marketplace where serious buyers of enthusiast, classic, and collector cars post "wanted" advertisements describing exactly what they are looking for. Sellers — whether private individuals or verified dealers — pay a small one-off fee to unlock the buyer's contact details and reach out directly.

The model is deliberately inverted compared to traditional car classifieds: the buyer sets the terms and describes precisely what they want, and sellers come to them.

## How it works

1. A buyer creates a free account and posts a wanted ad describing the car they are searching for (make, model, year range, specification, colour, budget, location preference).
2. Sellers and dealers browse all live wanted ads on the public marketplace.
3. When a seller has a matching vehicle, they pay a one-off fee to unlock the buyer's contact details (phone number and/or email address).
4. The seller contacts the buyer directly — no auction, no bidding, no middleman.

## Key features

- **Buyer-led**: buyers set the terms; sellers find them
- **Verified buyers**: buyers can pay a one-off £10 fee for an identity-verification badge, giving sellers confidence they are dealing with a serious, genuine enquirer
- **Sponsored listings**: buyers can pay £20/month to promote their wanted ad to the top of search results
- **Dealer membership**: verified dealers pay £250/month for unlimited access to all buyer contact details across the entire marketplace, plus a dealer profile page and club affiliation badges
- **Contact privacy**: buyer contact details are never shown publicly; they are only revealed after a seller pays the unlock fee
- **Dealer-listed ads**: dealerships can also post wanted ads on behalf of clients, with contact details included at no extra charge to sellers
- **Success stories**: buyers who found their car through SCN can mark their ad as "Found on SCN", creating a public record of successful matches

## Unlock pricing (for sellers wanting to contact a buyer)

- Standard free wanted ad: £25 one-off per ad
- Verified or sponsored wanted ad: £10 one-off per ad (discounted because the buyer has been verified)
- Active dealer membership: unlimited unlocks across all ads for £250/month
- Dealer-posted ads: free to contact (no unlock fee)

## Buyer plan pricing

- Free listing: manual review within 24–48 hours, no badge
- Instant Verification: £10 one-off, instant verification badge, priority visibility
- Sponsored listing: £20/month, top placement, Sponsored badge, sellers pay only £10 to unlock

## Vehicle types

Enthusiast cars, classic cars, collector cars, rare cars, limited-edition cars, sports cars, performance cars, vintage cars, historic vehicles — any car that a serious collector or enthusiast would actively seek out. Common examples include: Porsche 911, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar E-Type, Land Rover Defender, Ford GT40, McLaren, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes SL, BMW M-series, and other classic, performance, or rare vehicles. The platform is UK-focused but buyer interest is not limited by geography.

## Who uses SCN?

- **Buyers**: UK-based private collectors and enthusiasts who know exactly what car they want and want sellers to find them
- **Sellers**: private individuals, independent specialists, and classic car dealers across the UK with a matching vehicle to sell
- **Dealers**: verified specialist and franchised car dealers with a monthly membership giving them full marketplace access

## Terminology

- "Wanted ad" / "wanted listing": a buyer's advertisement describing the car they are looking for
- "Unlock": the act of a seller paying to reveal a buyer's contact details
- "Verified Buyer" badge: shown when a buyer has completed identity verification (£10 one-off)
- "Verified Dealer" badge: shown on ads posted by dealers with an active SCN membership
- "Sponsored" badge: shown when a buyer is paying £20/month to promote their ad
- "Found on SCN": badge shown when a buyer successfully found their car through the platform

## Why use SCN instead of traditional classifieds?

Traditional car classifieds (AutoTrader, eBay Motors, PistonHeads) require sellers to advertise their cars and wait for buyers. SCN flips the model: buyers describe exactly what they want, and only motivated sellers with a matching car pay to get in touch. This eliminates tyre-kickers for sellers and gives buyers access to cars before they hit the open market — including barn finds, estate sales, and private collections that never get advertised publicly.

## Important URLs

- Live marketplace (full React app): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/
- Marketplace — server-rendered, JavaScript-free, bot-readable: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/marketplace
- Post a wanted ad: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/wanted/new
- Dealer directory: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/dealers
- Success stories (found ads): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/found
- About: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/about
- FAQs: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/faqs
- Contact: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/contact
- Sitemap: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/sitemap.xml

## Machine-readable content

The following URLs return server-rendered content readable without JavaScript execution:
- All active public wanted ads (HTML, with JSON-LD ItemList schema): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/marketplace
- Full ad index as plain text (one ad per block, all fields): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/llms-full.txt
- Individual ad pages (HTML with JSON-LD WantedAd schema + noscript body): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/wanted/{id}
- FAQ structured data (HTML with JSON-LD FAQPage schema): https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com/faqs

## Contact

- Email: support@secretcollectorsnetwork.com
- Website: https://secretcollectorsnetwork.com