In the first part of this mini series on how to make money buying and selling used cars, we looked at which personal skills someone wanting to be successful in this business would have to have. In the second section we looked at the best places to locate such a business and in this section, we will look into sourcing our supply – our vehicles.
So, where can you get second-hand cars or trucks from? You will probably get people coming in off the street trying to sell you their vehicles. That is usually a good supply of stock, if you carry out the essential checks to make sure that they are not stolen, but this source will dry up from time to time – especially in the summer.
Other places to obtain supply are private auction houses, bankruptcies, bereavements and government auctions, where cars or trucks are often very heavily discounted.
At private auctions, anyone can bid for the items that go under the hammer. Sometimes there is a minimum selling price, sometimes there is not, but the vendor must pay to enter 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 might pick up a real 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 inquiry including your region.
Government auctions are great places to buy supply of any type, 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 bodies, which your local authorities can assist you to get in contact with.
These government departments auction off tens of thousands of cars or trucks or every imaginable description every year in the USA. Cars and other vehicles form a large percentage 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 unbelievable fact that works so well in the business person’s favour, is that the government is more engrossed in clearing out their sheds of all this gear to make room for more than it is in turning a profit on it. All you need 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 inspect 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 variety of topics, but is now involved with remote car alarms. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Laser Temperature Gun.