In the first section of this mini series on how to make money buying and selling used cars, we looked at what personal skills someone wanting to be profitable in this business would have to have. In the second part we looked at the best sites to locate such a business and in this section, we will look into acquiring our stock – our cars or trucks.
So, where can you get second-hand cars or trucks from? You will almost certainly get people coming in off the street trying to sell you their cars or trucks. That is frequently a good source of supply, if you carry out the necessary checks to make sure that they are not stolen, but this source will dry up from time to time – particularly in the summer.
Other places to obtain stock are private auction houses, bankruptcies, bereavements and government auctions, where cars or trucks are often quite heavily discounted.
At private auctions, anyone can bid for the lots that go under the hammer. Sometimes there is a minimum selling price, sometimes there is not, but the seller must pay to put his car in the auction anyway, which means that he has a vested interest in selling it to recoup this cost. If a car does not reach the minimum bid, try talking to the seller privately, you could pick up a genuine bargain.
If you are oblivious of local car auctions where you live, try looking in the local paper under “Up And Coming Events” or in the Yellow Pages under “Actions” or “Car Auctions” or go on line and make the same query including your locality.
Government auctions are fantastic sources to buy stock of any kind, including vehicles and machinery. These goods are usually either government surplus (new and used) or assets seized from the public. In The USA, it is best to register your interest in the auction catalogues of the two main governments auctioneers: the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration (GSA). Other countries have similar departments, which your local authorities can help you to get in touch with.
These government agencies auction off tens of thousands of vehicles or every conceivable description every year in the USA. Cars and other vehicles form a large slice of these auctions in monetary value – you would honestly find it hard to comprehend how many cars or trucks the government owns in the name of the people, from limos to lawnmowers. They all have to be replaced on a regular basis according to a schedule and the old ones are sold off.
The incredible fact that works so well in the business person’s favour, is that the government is more interested in clearing out their sheds of all this stuff to make room for more than it is in spinning a profit on it. All you have to do is register with the Department of Defense and the GSA and they will send you their auction catalogues automatically. This way you will have time to examine the goods before you bid.
The next part in this mini series will discuss how you can work out the value of the items that are being auctioned off.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a range of subjects, but is now involved with remote car alarms. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Laser Temperature Gun.