How To Make Money Buying And Selling Used Cars Part 4

In the first part of this short series on how to make money buying and selling used cars, we looked at which personal traits someone wishing to be successful in this business would have to have. In the second section we looked at the best sites to locate such a business; in the third we looked at sourcing our supply - our vehicles and in this section, we will look at valuing that stock.

Whether you source your vehicles from auctions or from private persons, you will have to be able to work out their value correctly, so, how do you determine the value of used cars or trucks? The easiest way to know a vehicle's average market, trade-in or wholesale worth is to subscribe to a car dealers' used car guide. Most western countries have one, but in the USA the most used one is called the National Automobile Dealers' Used Car Guide or N.A.D.A.

NADA not only publishes monthly guides to second-hand cars, it also publishes monthly guides on older or classic cars, smaller boats, larger boats, SUV's, mobile homes, RV's, snow mobiles and motorcycles. Look them up on the Internet and sign up to their subscription list for the kinds of vehicles that you are interested in.

These used motor vehicle guides normally include foreign or imported cars nd trucks as well and are a consensus of sales and auctions over the entire country, therefore a little local intelligence is essential as well as your area may operate at slightly above or slightly below the national norm, which could present you with additional opportunities for (wholesale) sales by shipping cars into or out of your district.

Sometimes or in some areas, a permit is required to run a used car business. This is nothing more than tax by another name normally, so simply requires you to pay a fee. In other areas, it may be a way of weeding out dishonest traders and may require an test of same kind, so it is worth checking your district's requirements before you start trading.

Some regions have looser laws than others on buying and selling second-hand cars, allowing 'occasional sales'. 'Occasional sales of motor vehicles' is normally deemed to be no more than five sales in a twelve month period.

When you are starting out you can make use of this allowance, if your district allows it, to keep your expenses down to a minimum in the costly early days of establishing your business, but as soon as you see yourself exceeding this maximum quantity you should apply for a license immediately to avoid incurring any penalties. These penalties can be severe ranging from a fine to disbarment from trading, so be very careful.

You will also need to learn how to collect taxes from your sales and your wages to yourself and to your employees. You will also need to learn how to hand these monies over to the correct authorities on time, but your accountant or book-keeper can assist you there.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on various subjects, but is now involved with entry door locks. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Escort 8500.